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This was a very interesting article. I did not know about the special statuses of Micronesia with the US. Similarly interesting about Puerto Rico being the larg

This was a very interesting article. I did not know about the special statuses of Micronesia with the US. Similarly interesting about Puerto Rico being the largest bankruptcy ever in US history and it being a potential model for NJ and IL (because of their massive pension debt [0]). [0] https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2022/07/07/states-unfunded-pension-liabilities-persist-as-major-long-term-challenge https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/...

alephnerd 3y ago
> special statuses of Micronesia with the US Yep. It's a holdover from WW2 - most of Japan's island territories in the Pacific were handed to the US, UK, France, NZ, and AUS by the UN to be managed and governed. Most of those territories were given independence and sovereignty in the 80s-90s, but because of their tiny size they still remain dependent on those countries, Taiwan (development grants for recognizing Taiwan), and China (development grants for not recognizing Taiwan).
- eatonphil 3y ago
  Also reminds me about non-self governing territories: https://www.un.org/dppa/decolonization/en/nsgt https://www.un.org/dppa/decolonization/en/nsgt
  - alephnerd 3y ago
    Yep. The Special Committee on Decolonization was started specifically to help with giving soverignity to the various Pacific islands. The US gave soveriginity to most of it's former territories back in the 80s
- matwood 3y ago
  Which is how/why the next summer olympics in Paris will hold the surfing part of the competition in Teahupo, Tahiti. https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/50760437 https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/50760437
  - jhbadger 3y ago
    That's a bit different. Tahiti's ties to France go back long before WWII as it was a French "protectorate" (colony) starting in the 1840s, and has been under French rule ever since, although now it (as part of French Polynesia) is an "overseas country" of France meaning it has a large degree of self-rule not unlike Puerto Rico's relationship to the US.
Auracle 3y ago
Fun fact - I’m a photographer in rural Minnesota and I photographed 3 different senior girls from Micronesia one winter. Apparently a town about an hour from me has a little community of people from there, which I’d never known before.
- TMWNN 3y ago
  I bet that there is some sort of food processing facility there. That is why there is a Marshall Islands consulate in Springdale, Arkansas. <https://www.kuaf.com/ozarks-at-large-stories/2017-10-02/new-rmi-consul-general-takes-helm-in-springdale https://www.kuaf.com/ozarks-at-large-stories/2017-10-02/new-...>
troupo 3y ago
GCP Gray has a nice quick overview of all territories and their overlapping, conflicting, and controversial statuese: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASSOQDQvVLU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASSOQDQvVLU (just six minutes)

alephnerd 3y ago

> special statuses of Micronesia with the US Yep. It's a holdover from WW2 - most of Japan's island territories in the Pacific were handed to the US, UK, France, NZ, and AUS by the UN to be managed and governed. Most of those territories were given independence and sovereignty in the 80s-90s, but because of their tiny size they still remain dependent on those countries, Taiwan (development grants for recognizing Taiwan), and China (development grants for not recognizing Taiwan).

eatonphil 3y ago
Also reminds me about non-self governing territories: https://www.un.org/dppa/decolonization/en/nsgt https://www.un.org/dppa/decolonization/en/nsgt
- alephnerd 3y ago
  Yep. The Special Committee on Decolonization was started specifically to help with giving soverignity to the various Pacific islands. The US gave soveriginity to most of it's former territories back in the 80s
matwood 3y ago
Which is how/why the next summer olympics in Paris will hold the surfing part of the competition in Teahupo, Tahiti. https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/50760437 https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/50760437
- jhbadger 3y ago
  That's a bit different. Tahiti's ties to France go back long before WWII as it was a French "protectorate" (colony) starting in the 1840s, and has been under French rule ever since, although now it (as part of French Polynesia) is an "overseas country" of France meaning it has a large degree of self-rule not unlike Puerto Rico's relationship to the US.

Auracle 3y ago

Fun fact - I’m a photographer in rural Minnesota and I photographed 3 different senior girls from Micronesia one winter. Apparently a town about an hour from me has a little community of people from there, which I’d never known before.

TMWNN 3y ago
I bet that there is some sort of food processing facility there. That is why there is a Marshall Islands consulate in Springdale, Arkansas. <https://www.kuaf.com/ozarks-at-large-stories/2017-10-02/new-rmi-consul-general-takes-helm-in-springdale https://www.kuaf.com/ozarks-at-large-stories/2017-10-02/new-...>

troupo 3y ago

GCP Gray has a nice quick overview of all territories and their overlapping, conflicting, and controversial statuese: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASSOQDQvVLU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASSOQDQvVLU (just six minutes)