Caroline Islands

a large archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, in latitude 3deg.-12deg. N., and longitude 132deg.-163deg. E. There are in all about 500 islands in several groups. The archipelago was explored by the Portuguese in 1527, but was taken over by the Spaniards in 1686, and named for King Charles II (Latin Carolus). Spain, having little interest in her possessions, ceded Guam to the United States in 1898, and sold the rest of the islands to Germany in 1899 for $3,300,000. Many of the islets are mere coral reefs. The inhabitants, some 30,000 in number, are Polynesians not yet advanced, save for missionary efforts, beyond the stone age of savagery. The chief productions are breadfruit, bananas, and dates. See Clam