THE GROUP DESCRIBED.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 153, 28 June 1907, Page 5

THE GROUP DESCRIBED.

The Caroline Islands, which, with the Pelew and Ladrone Islands, were bought from Spain by Germany for about £840,000 in 1899, are divided into the East and West Carolines, and are scattered over a large area, centring in about the tenth degree of north latitude, and the 150 th degree of east longitude, between the Philippines and the Marshall Islands. Both groups form part of the German New Guinea protectorate. The whole archipelago numbers about five hundred islands, of which the chief are Tap, Ponape, and Kusai. The total population of the group is no more than 50.000. The chief export is copra. The revenue and expenditure for 1905-6 was only £17,250, of which £8050 came from Imperial subsidy. The imports, according to a recent return, declined from £42,650 in 1903 to £35,500 in 1904 The exports similarly decreased from f3B 550 to £34,000. The population is mainly of Malay origin, with some Chinese and Japanese, and the white population is inconsiderable, amounting to 92 in the East Carolines (37 German) and 47 in the West Carolines (16 German). The native portion of the East Carolines is about 42,000, and of the West Carolines 13,264. The group is of coral formation, and the snght rise of most of the islanda above sea-level renders them, extremely liable to inundation.