Yap

Yap Proper is four islands close together, Rumung, Maap, Gagil-Tomil and Yap itself, with Colonia, the small capital, on the harbour. Beyond them the state runs for some 965 km of ocean and about 149 specks of land, most of them atolls. The stone discs, up to about four metres across, were first quarried in the limestone caves of Palau, some 400 km south, and the danger of the voyage added to their value. They still change hands for dowries and land without leaving their place in the village.

Most of the mantas are residents. They come in daily to cleaning stations in the lagoon channels, so divers see them in every month, and a law of 2008 protects them up to 12 miles offshore. February to April fall in the drier trade-wind season. Yap Day, two days of dance and food around 1 March, moves from one municipality to another each year.

• Stone money banks Rows of carved stone discs along village paths; the largest piece is on Rumung, in the north.
• The manta channels Cleaning stations in the reef channels where resident manta rays come in every day of the year.
• Yap Day Usually two days around 1 March, with churu dances: seated, standing, marching and with bamboo sticks.