Micronesia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It is distinct from Melanesia to the south, and Polynesia to the east. The Philippines lie to the west, and Indonesia to the southwest.

The name Micronesia derives from the Greek mikros (μικρός), meaning small, and nesos (νῆσος), meaning island. The term was first proposed to distinguish the region in 1831 by Jules Dumont d'Urville.

The following islands and groups of islands are considered part of Micronesia:

Total Land Area: 1,229.95 square miles (3,185.6 km²)

The only empire known to have originated in Micronesia was based in Yap.

Much of the area came under European domination quite early. In the early 17th Century Spain colonized Guam, the Northern Marianas, and the Caroline Islands (what would later become the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau), creating the Spanish East Indies, which was governed from the Spanish Philippines until the Spanish-American War in 1898.

Full European colonization did not come, however, until the early 20th century, when the area would be divided between:

Megan Leah McCormick (born 1973) is one of the main hosts of the Pilot Productions travel/adventure series Globe Trekker (also called Pilot Guides in Canada and the United States and originally broadcast as Lonely Planet).

McCormick was born in Glendale, Ohio, and raised in Florida. As a child she had an interest in ballet. In 1996 she began a job in Japan teaching English. She graduated from Boston University with a B.S. degree in Philosophy and Political Science.

Since 1998 she has been a presenter on Globe Trekker, and has hosted episodes on Greece, Ghana, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, China, India and Egypt. She hosted the New England episode, where she herself attended university. She has also presented Treks in a Wild World, a show which places more emphasis on ecotourism and history combined with adventure elements. Before joining Pilot Productions, McCormick worked behind the scenes on The News with Brian Williams on the CNBC and MSNBC cable networks.

Etta James (born Jamesetta Hawkins; January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012) was an American singer. Her style spanned a variety of music genres including blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, soul, gospel and jazz. Starting her career in the mid-1950s, she gained fame with hits such as "Dance With Me, Henry", "At Last", "Tell Mama", and "I'd Rather Go Blind" for which she wrote the lyrics. She faced a number of personal problems, including drug addiction, before making a musical resurgence in the late 1980s with the album The Seven Year Itch.

James is regarded as having bridged the gap between rhythm and blues and rock and roll, and is the winner of six Grammys and 17 Blues Music Awards. She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Grammy Hall of Fame in both 1999 and 2008.Rolling Stone ranked James number 22 on their list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time and number 62 on the list of the 100 Greatest Artists.

Jamesetta Hawkins was born on January 25, 1938, in Los Angeles, California, to Dorothy Hawkins, who was only 14 at the time. Her father has never been identified. James speculated that her father was the pool player, Rudolf "Minnesota Fats" Wanderone, and met him briefly in 1987. Due to her mother being often absent from their Watts apartment, conducting relationships with various men, James lived with a series of foster parents, most notably "Sarge" and "Mama" Lu. James referred to her mother as "the Mystery Lady".