Located just north of the equator in the Pacific Ocean, the Republic of the Marshall Islands is made up of 1,200 islands, islets and atolls with a land area of 180 square kilometres.  The group is spread in two formations, with the eastern groups known as the Ratak (“Sunrise”) chain and the Western groups the Ralik (“Sunset”) chain.   The Marshall Islands have low vulnerability to tsunami, earthquakes and landslides, medium vulnerability to cyclones and droughts and high vulnerability to coastal flooding, and inadequate supplies of potable water
 

Facts

Official Name
Republic of the Marshall Islands

Land Area
180 sq km, 5 islands and 29 atolls, 870 reefs

Population
56,660 (July 2002 Asian Development Bank est)

Capital City
Majuro

Age Distribution
0-14 years                   42.9% (2002)
15-64 years                 54.8%
65 years and over        2.2%

Official Languages
Marshallese, English

Human Development Index (HDI)
0.563

Life expectancy at birth
65

Population growth rate
3.88

Fertility rate (births per woman)
6.61

Infant Mortality Rate (per 1,000 live births)
54.0 (2001)

Adult Literacy
74.4%

Percentage of people without access to safe water
23.5%

Percentage of people without access to health services
5%

Currency
US Dollar

EEZ
2,131,000 sq km

GDP($000)
US$100 million (2001 est)

National legislature
The House of Representatives, the Nitijela, has 33 members.

Last election
November 2007

Next election due
November 2011

Ministers in the Cabinet

• Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Minister of Education
• Minister of Health
• Minister to the President
• Minister of Public Works
• Minister of Justice
• Minister of Research and Development
• Minister of Outer Island Affairs
• Minister of Finance
• MInister of Transportation & Communication

The Marshall Islands spent almost a century under the active administration of foreign powers.  In 1885 Germany established a protectorate of the Marshall Islands until the beginning of World War I, when Japan occupied the island group.  Japan began formal administration of the islands under a League of Nations mandate in 1920.  After 1935, Japan declared the Marshall Islands to be an integral part of the Japanese Empire and established and reinforced military installations there.  In 1944, the United States occupied the islands after fierce fighting with the Japanese.   

After World War II, the United Nations created the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands in 1947.  The United States entered into a trusteeship with the UN Security Council and became the administering authority of the Marshall Islands (in addition to Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, and Northern Mariana Islands).  The trusteeship made the United States responsible financially and administratively for the region and obligated it to foster the development of political institutions.  In addition, the United States was to move the Trust Territory toward self-government and to promote economic, social and education advancement.  The agreement also allowed the United States to establish military bases and station forces in the Trust Territory. 

The present constitution came into force in 1979, while the United States was still the administering authority under the UN Trust Territory Agreement.  The Marshall Islands achieved independence in free association with the United States under a Compact of Free Association in 1986.  The compact committed US funding of $250m over 15  years plus a role over period. 

Negotiations for an amended compact were completed in February 2004, guaranteeing United States funding totalling around US $800m over the next 20 years.   The new Compact focuses on several sectors neglected in the past – health and education infrastructure development.  Reflecting the United States intention to phase-out its direct funding and encourage budgetary self-reliance, the new Compact established a trust fund, which annual contributions would be made into.  It also confirmed the long run use of Kwajalein airbase by the United States.  Agreement between the Government the Kwajalein landowners on a new Land Use Agreement, however, is needed to give effect to the new 50-year extension of the lease for the US base at Kwajalein. 

Marshallese society was and for the most part, still is, stratified into three general classes: Iroij (chiefs), Alap (clan heads) and Rijerbal (workers).  The Iroij have ultimate control of such things as land tenure, resource use and distribution as well as dispute settlement.  The Alap’s duties include maintenance of lands and supervision of daily activities. The Rijerbal are responsible for the daily work involved in subsistence, construction, agriculture and fishing. Land is divided into twelve categories, ranging from Imon bwij (land belonging to the whole lineage) to Kitdre (land given by a husband to his wife as a gift).  Inheritance is matrilineal. 

Over 2,000 years the Marshallese have developed, refined and perfected a number of special skills and technologies as they adapted to their unique environment. Of particular note is the wide range of fishing techniques unmatched by other cultures and brought about by the numerous and diverse fishing environments and an equally wide range of fish species. 

Marshallese canoes, or wa, became sophisticated and specialised ranging from small rowing canoes to massive high-speed voyaging canoes.  Local refinements developed and refined  the asymmetric hull, the lee platform and the pivoting midship mast.  Navigation skills matched their shipbuilding skills allowing great sea voyages. They learnt to read the stars, clouds, waves, currents, winds, birds and even the colour of the ocean and journeyed as far as Hawaii to the East,  Wake Island to the North and southwards to Kiribati. Over the centuries these great explorers developed and refined navigational stick charts allowing them to understand complex wave and wind patterns in relation to specific islands and atolls. 

Marshallese weavings also became famous and are reported by some as to be the best in the Pacific.  Fans, baskets, mats and ornaments have won tremendous praise for their unique and highly intricate design.

The House of Representatives, the Nitijela, has 33 members for whom elections are held every four years.  The President is elected from among members of the Nitijela, and in turn chooses the members of Cabinet.  A Council of Traditional Chiefs, the Iroij, advises the President on matters of custom.   

There are no formally organised political parties in Marshall Islands with party headquarters, formal platforms, or party structures. Traditionally, what has existed more closely resembles factions or interest groups. 

The economy is heavily dependent on payments from the United States and foreign aid from a variety of sources.  More that 80% of government revenue come from United States grants.  Income form the sale of fishery rights totalled around US$3 million in FY 2001.  The Government of the Marshall Islands is looking at options for increasing the productivity sectors of the economy, reducing the very high level of government involvement in the economy and reducing government expenditure.  The Ministry of Resources and Development is endeavouring to improve the regulatory environment for foreign investment.  There are opportunities for the expansion of tourism, especially diving and sport fishing.  Other than United States funding, the main source of revenue is tuna fishing licences.  The Marshall Islands has a narrow productive sector, based on copra/coconuts, subsistence farming and fishing.

Diving
The Marshall Islands is renowned for its diving.  With water visibility up to 200 feet, 28 degrees centigrade year-round water temperature, flourishing coral reefs, countless pinnacles and walls, myriads of sharks, turtles, rays, giant clams, and reef fish and a reserve of incomparable World War II wrecks, divers experience a unique environment.

Sports Fishing
Fishing has always played an important part of life in the Marshall Islands and the local people have a huge repertoire of many different techniques used over time in exploiting their many fishing environments.  The seas of the Marshall Islands are rich in marlin, tuna, wahoo, mahimahi, barracuda, sailfish as well as a wide range of reef fish. 

World War II history sites
During World War II, the Marshall Islands served as the eastern defensive perimeter for the Japanese military forces in the Central Pacific.  After taking control of these Islands from Germany in 1914, the Japanese steadily increased their military presence and, in anticipation of war they began to fortify the atolls of Kwajalein, Wotje, Maloelap, Jaluit, Mili and Enewetak from the late 1930’s onwards. 

The first attack on Japanese forces in the Marshall Islands by U.S. forces occurred on 1 February 1942 and the next three years saw some of the bloodiest fighting in the whole of the Pacific.  This has left the Marshall Islands with an enormous collection of war relics and wrecks that is unmatched in the region.

Under the Compact of Free Association, the Marshall Islands conducts its own domestic and foreign policy affairs, although responsibility for defence and security lies with the United States.  A key foreign policy issue for the Marshall Islands is the question of further compensation for the islands affected by US nuclear testing.  The islands of Rongelap, Bikini, Enewetak, Utrik and Ailuk have lodged claims worth US$ 2b with the Nuclear Claims Tribunal for compensation from the United States for alleged health damage from US nuclear tests carried out from 1946 to 1958.  The United States has, to date, paid some US$270m in compensation.

Asian Development Bank (ADB), Economic & Social Commission for Asia & the Pacific (ESCAP), Group of 77 (G-77), IAEA, International Bank for Reconstruction & Development (IBRD), International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), International Development Association (IDA), International Finance Corporation (IFC), International Monetary Fund (IMF), IMO, Inmarsat, International Telecommunications Satellite Organisation (Intelsat) (nonsignatory user), Interpol, International Telecom Union (ITU), Organisation for the Prohibitation of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic Co-operation Agreement (Sparteca), Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), United Nations (UN), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), World Health Organisation (WHO).