[citation needed] This includes the city of Leluh that existed from about 1250 to 1850 AD, and in its heyday had a population of about 1,500 and covered some 27 hectares (67 acres).

Commanded by Louis-Isidore Duperrey, La Coquille, on its circumnavigation of the earth (1822–1825) with Jules Dumont d'Urville as second.

The first recorded sighting by Westerners was by the Spanish navigator Álvaro de Saavedra on 14 September 1529 when trying to return from Tidore to New Spain.

Its cultural features included matrilineal lineage and clans, with a feudal structure of "nobles" controlling land worked by "commoners" and settlements consisting of small groups of close relatives sharing a single cook house.

[3] Today, many sects of Christianity are represented on Kosrae, and religion still plays an integral role in culture.

The notorious captain and blackbirder Bully Hayes was shipwrecked on Kosrae on March 15, 1874, when his ship Leonora was caught in Utwe harbor during a storm.

[9] Tunnel bunkers that have multiple entrances were dug into the island's interior peaks and most can still be explored today.

[13][14] The coral reefs that surround the island are kept in pristine condition through an extensive mooring buoy system, installed and maintained by concerned expat[15] dive operators with the help of the government's Marine Resources office.

It is served by United Airlines (formerly Continental Micronesia) Island Hopper 737-800 flights (thrice a week in each direction) between Hawaii and Guam, stopping at other FSM (Pohnpei and Chuuk) and Marshallese destinations on the way.

Nauru Airlines also connect weekly with their fleet of 737-300 jets to Brisbane in Australia and Nadi in Fiji.

Each state in the country has the ability to retain a large number of powers within their territory as well as a certain level of sovereignty typical of federal administrative divisions.

[18] In early times, a system of exchange based on sea shells existed on Kosrae, although little is currently known about how it operated.

The tourism industry to date has mainly centered around scuba diving on the coral reef that rings the island.

The annual 10-kilometer (6+1⁄4-mile) Rockhopper running race commenced in 2013 and attracts several dozen competitors from the nearby islands of Kwajalein and Pohnpei.

The previous owners, Doug and Sally Beitz, were persuaded by family to conduct the raffle rather than sell the resort, ahead of returning to Australia.

[21] In July 2011, Kosrae DOE embraced the One Laptop per Child program, distributing 720 "XO" computers to children in its public elementary schools, becoming the first State of Micronesia to do so.

[citation needed] Food was a central part of island life, since each settlement consisted of small family groups gathered around a cook house containing at least one earth oven.