The Caroline Islands should not be confused with Caroline Island, part of Kiribati (Southern Line Islands), also in the central Pacific.

The Caroline Islands are a large archipelago of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Guinea. They are presently divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the far western end. Most of the islands are low, flat coral atolls, but some are high islands.

The first European visit to the islands was by the Spanish in 1543. The Spanish did not occupy any island formally until 1886, and then after the Spanish-American War, in 1899, they sold the islands to Germany. Japan occupied the islands in 1914 and received a mandate over them in 1920, but after World War II the islands became trust territories of the United States, eventually becoming independent.

Postage stamps

In their first year as a German possession, the Carolines used postage stamps of Germany overprinted "Karolinen", which are today uncommon, especially in cancelled condition. In 1901, Germany issued its "Yacht" series with a common design for all of Germany's colonies, featuring the Kaiser's yacht Hohenzollern. The issues for the Carolines were inscribed "KAROLINEN", all with pfennig and mark denominations. Unused copies of the low values are common today, there being many left over after the Japanese occupation, but as might be expected from the short period of rule and the very small numbers of letter writers living in the Carolines, genuinely used stamps are both uncommon and prized.

da:Carolinerne de:Karolinen nl:Carolinen