Pulap or Pollap is an

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can ...

with a total area (including the

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into '' coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons' ...

) of , of which is emergent land, consisting of three islands, Pollap in the north, Tamatam in the south, and Fanadik at the western fringe of the reef. The atoll is located in the

Pattiw Pattiw or Western Islands is the name of the westernmost area of the State of Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia, consisting of the three islands or atolls of Houk, Poluwat and Pollap, with a total land area of and a population of 2,7 ...

group in the

Caroline Islands The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the centra ...

, located about to the west of Chuuk. Politically, the atoll belongs to the state of Chuuk,

Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (; abbreviated FSM) is an island country in Oceania. It consists of four states from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosraethat are spread across the western Pacific. Together, the states compri ...

and consists of the two

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

Pollap (in the north) and Tamatam (in the south). The total population as of the census of population in 2000 was 1,270, of which 905 were in Pollap and 365 in Tamatam municipalities.

History

The first recorded sighting of Pulap Atoll was by the Spanish navigator Alonso de Arellano on 17 January 1565 on board of the

patache A patache (occasionally "patax" or "''pataje''") is a type of sailing vessel with two masts, very light and shallow, a sort of cross between a brig and a schooner, which originally was a warship, being intended for surveillance and inspection of ...

''San Lucas''. In a Spanish chart of 1879 this atoll appears as ''Los Martires'' (The Martyrs in Spanish). In April 2016, three shipwrecked sailors were rescued from Fanadik after spelling out HELP with palm leaves. They had been stranded for three days after their vessel was overturned by a large wave after departing Pulap island, forcing them to swim two miles to shore at night. They were rescued by the U.S. Navy and

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

after a passing plane spotted the message and notified the authorities.

References

Municipalities of Chuuk State Atolls of the Federated States of Micronesia {{Micronesia-geo-stub