Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands | |||||||||||||||
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1947–1994 | |||||||||||||||
Anthem: "The Star-Spangled Banner"[1] | |||||||||||||||
Status | United Nations Trust Territory under the administration of the United States | ||||||||||||||
Capital | Saipan | ||||||||||||||
Common languages | English (official) Micronesian languages | ||||||||||||||
Chief of State | |||||||||||||||
• 1947–1953 (first) | Harry S. Truman | ||||||||||||||
• 1993–1994 (last) | Bill Clinton | ||||||||||||||
High Commissioner | |||||||||||||||
• 1947–1948 (first) | Louis E. Denfeld | ||||||||||||||
• 1981–1987 (last) | Janet J. McCoy | ||||||||||||||
Legislature | Congress | ||||||||||||||
Historical era | Cold War | ||||||||||||||
• Trusteeship | July 18, 1947 | ||||||||||||||
• Termination of administration (Marshall Islands) | October 21, 1986 | ||||||||||||||
• Termination of administration (Micronesia) | November 3, 1986 | ||||||||||||||
October 1, 1994 | |||||||||||||||
Currency | United States dollar | ||||||||||||||
ISO 3166 code | PC | ||||||||||||||
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The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from 1947 to 1994. The Imperial Japanese South Seas Mandate had been seized by the US during the Pacific War, as Japan had administered the territory since the League of Nations gave Japan a mandate over the area from Imperial Germany after World War I. However, in the 1930s, Japan left the League of Nations and invaded additional lands. During World War II, military control of the islands was disputed, but by the war's end, the islands had come under the Allies' control. The Trust Territory of the Pacific was created to administer the islands as part of the United States while still under the auspices of the United Nations. Most of the island groups in the territory became independent states, with some degree of ties kept with the United States: the Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands and Palau are today independent states in a Compact of Free Association with the US, while the Northern Mariana Islands remain under US jurisdiction, as an unincorporated territory and commonwealth.