Chuuk State Census Report - pacificweb.org

2000 FSM Census of Chuuk StateChapter 1. IntroductionTable 1.5. Proportional Distribution by Municipality, Chuuk State: Selected Census Years (continued)Municipaltiy 1920 1925 1930 1935 1958 1967 1973 1980 1989 1994 2000Namonuito … 2.2 2.0 2.0 1.8 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.1 1.9 2.5Makur … … … … 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3Onoun … 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.2 1.2 1.1 0.8 1.1Onou … 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3Unanu … 0.6 0.4 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3Piherarh … 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.5Halls … 2.8 3.1 3.0 3.1 3.3 2.7 3.2 2.7 3.8 4.0Nomwin … 0.7 0.7 0.7 1.1 1.1 0.9 0.9 0.8 1.4 1.3Fananu … 0.8 0.9 0.8 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.7Ruo … 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.9Murillo … 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.6 0.9 0.6 1.0 1.1Source: Nan'yo (1927, 1931, 1937); Office of the Census Coordinator (1975); Office of High Commissioner (1959); School of Public Health (n.d); US Bureau of theCensus; (1972, 1983a); Chuuk Office of Planning and Statistics ( 1992a, 1988, 1989); 1994 FSM Census, Table P13; 2000 FSM Census, Table P2-1.Note: "…" denote no data available because the municipality was once part of a different municipality.The 1930 Census was the first to obtain distributions by age. These distributions allow for interpretation of changingpopulation dynamics over time, including calculation of a dependency ratio of number of probable dependents topotential workers. Adding the number of persons less than 15 years old to those 60 years and over, and dividing by thenumber of persons 15 to 59 years old calculate the dependency ratio for 1930, from data in Table 1.6. That is, it is mostprobable that persons under 15 years old are not contributing to the work force because they are in school or playing orworking around the house, and those 60 years and over are mostly "retired", and, while not all those 15 to 59 areworking to support these "dependents", many of them are, and for simplification, all appear in the denominator.However, the dependency ratio from 1930 -- 68 means that for every 68 dependents (the 6,150 persons less than 15 and60 years and over), about 100 potential workers (the 9050 persons 15 to 59) were present. A ratio of 100 would meanthat their numbers of dependents and potential workers were identical; a ratio over 100 would mean that there weremore dependents than workers, a situation, which would put increased burden on the workers.Table 1.6. Population of Chuuk by Age and Region: 1930.Age GroupRegion Number Total 0-14 years 15-24 years 25-59 years 60 years or moreTotal 15,200 100.0 38.5 16.7 42.9 2.0Northern Namoneas 2,613 100.0 37.2 16.6 44.9 1.4Southern Namoneas 3,911 100.0 39.0 18.6 40.7 1.7Faichuk 3,638 100.0 37.5 15.7 45.2 1.8Mortlocks 3,400 100.0 42.1 16.0 38.5 3.5Oksoritod 1,638 100.0 34.6 15.7 48.9 0.7Source: Nan'yo-cho 1931.In 1930, life expectancy in Chuuk remained low. Only two percent of the population was 60 years or older. It isimportant to remember, however, that while life at that time was rougher than now, so we might expect higher earlymortality (because of typhoons, tidal waves, canoe voyaging, appendicitis and other health risks, etc.), it is also true thatmany people did not know their birth dates and may have picked younger (or older) ages than their actual ages. About3.5 percent of the Mortlocks population was 60 years and over, indicating possible age inflation, while less than 1percent of those in Oksoritod were 60 years and over.The Mortlocks also had the largest percentage of persons less than 15 years old, indicating a slightly higher birthratethan in the other areas. On the other hand, while Oksoritod had the smallest percentage of elderly, they also had thesmallest percentage less than 15 years old.It could be argued that some of the difference in age reporting was due to migration between their home area and wherethey were enumerated. The data in Table 1.7, however, seem to show that this was not the case. It is true that 1.5percent of those living in Oksoritod were "registered" in another district -- most likely in Yap because of traditionalinter-island voyaging and associated marriages and adoptions. However, the fairly large percentage of persons living inOksoritod but being registered elsewhere in Chuuk seems anomalous unless the Japanese were moving persons around(or, perhaps, movements from the Lagoon to the Hall Islands.) The situation for the Mortlocks seems more consistentwith what would have been expected at the time, more than 19 out of 20 Mortlockese being registered and living in thesame locality -- although in the case of the Mortlockese on Pohnpei, the statistics would probably look quite different.Chuuk Branch Statistics Office, Division of Statistics, FSM Department of Economic Affairs 9