# Can the SDMB help me find a particular island
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-sdmb-help-me-find-a-particular-island/711659
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [February 3, 2015, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-sdmb-help-me-find-a-particular-island/711659 "2015-02-03T01:29:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2015, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-sdmb-help-me-find-a-particular-island/711659/21 "2015-02-05T11:19:52Z")
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> I can’t think of any reason why you would want to confine taro cultivation to an island far from people’s houses.
So that children and idiots don’t damage the crop and cause a famine…
I guess it takes a while to grow, so if the children damaged some each day they might damage more than the sum growth for the day…
There would be other ways to interfere with the crop … the taro may be growing with the help of irrigation. (for this purpose, irrigation is human intervention in the running flow of rain water… It could just be a low wall built around the edge of a wetland to increase the volume of water in it… )
If the irrigation system is damaged then what ?
Also, the population of the island may be increased by other activity that occurs there…
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### Author:  [@RPCV1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RPCV1982)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2017, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-sdmb-help-me-find-a-particular-island/711659/22 "2017-01-09T22:21:54Z")
Arkon –
Your cause is not hopeless. I too had that same 4th grade geography book back in 1968. Then, a brief 14 years later I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Micronesia and found myself on that very atoll. It was truly a déjà vu experience. The island you are looking for is called Mokil (Mwoakilloa in the local language.) It is located approximately 90 miles east of Ponape (Pohnpei in the local language) which is the capital of Pohnpei State in the Federated States of Micronesia. The Federated States of Micronesia is part of the Caroline Islands group and is situated at approximately 7 degrees north latitude.
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### Author:  [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2017, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-sdmb-help-me-find-a-particular-island/711659/23 "2017-01-09T22:25:40Z")
Well done.
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### Author:  [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2017, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-sdmb-help-me-find-a-particular-island/711659/24 "2017-01-09T22:39:52Z")
[beams] … we be the SDMB …
Thank you and **Welcome** … **RPCV1982** … we’re glad you’ve joined us …
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### Author:  [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2017, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-sdmb-help-me-find-a-particular-island/711659/25 "2017-01-09T23:03:12Z")
A tiny bit on it:
Wiki pages on
the island
> **[Mokil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mokil)**
>
> Mokil, or known to the locals as Mwoakilloa, is an atoll and one of 6 outer-island municipalities in the state of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia. Almost 200 people live on a land area of about 1 square km.
> The atoll was formerly known as Wellington Island.
> The atoll is home to a local legend of a Princess Eti, who could speak in many tongues, and communicated with the first French explorers to the island.
> Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parse...
its people’s language
> **[Mokilese language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mokilese_language)**
>
> Mokilese also known as Mwoakilloan, Mwokilese, or Mwoakilese is a Micronesian language originally spoken on Mwoakilloa, Federated States of Micronesia. Of the 1200 Mokilese speakers, only about 500 live on Mwoakilloa.
> Mokilese originated from the Mokil (or Mwoakilloa) Atoll, but speakers have also migrated approximately 100 miles west, to the Pohnpei Islands, and parts of the United States. Mwoakilloa and Pohnpei are both geographically part of the Caroline Islands just above Papua New Guinea. M...
and a map of the island and its two neighbors
[ ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mokil#/media/File:Mokil.jpg)
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### Author:  [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2017, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-sdmb-help-me-find-a-particular-island/711659/26 "2017-01-09T23:11:45Z")
We used that book in fourth grade long after it had been superseded (1973-74) for the Ecuador story. I remember thinking how dated it seemed compared to our regular social studies book.
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