MARSHALL ISLANDS
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 181.3 km2; land area: 181.3 km2; includes the atolls
of Bikini, Eniwetak, and Kwajalein
Comparative area: slightly larger than Washington, DC
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 370.4 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 24 nm;
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: claims US territory of Wake Island
Climate: wet season May to November; hot and humid; islands border
typhoon belt
Terrain: low coral limestone and sand islands
Natural resources: phosphate deposits, marine products, deep seabed
minerals
Land use: arable land 0%; permanent crops 60%; meadows and pastures
0%; forest and woodland 0%; other 40%
Environment: occasionally subject to typhoons; two archipelagic
island chains of 30 atolls and 1,152 islands
Note: located 3,825 km southwest of Honolulu in the North Pacific
Ocean, about two-thirds of the way between Hawaii and Papua New Guinea;
Bikini and Eniwetak are former US nuclear test sites; Kwajalein, the
famous World War II battleground, is now used as a US missile test range
PEOPLE
Population: 48,091 (July 1991), growth rate 3.9% (1991)
Birth rate: 47 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 8 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 53 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 61 years male, 64 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 7.1 children born/woman (1991)
Language: English universally spoken and is the official language;
two major Marshallese dialects from Malayo-Polynesian family; Japanese
Literacy: 93% (male 100%, female 88%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1980)
Labor force: 4,800 (1986)
Organized labor: none
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Republic of the Marshall Islands
Type: constitutional government in free association with the US;
the Compact of Free Association entered into force 21 October 1986
Capital: Majuro
Administrative divisions: none
Independence: 21 October 1986 (from the US-administered UN
trusteeship; formerly the Marshall Islands District of the Trust
Territory of the Pacific Islands)
Constitution: 1 May 1979
Legal system: based on adapted Trust Territory laws, acts of the
legislature, municipal, common, and customary laws
National holiday: Proclamation of the Republic of the Marshall
Islands, 1 May (1979)
Executive branch: president, Cabinet
Legislative branch: unicameral Nitijela
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government--President Amata KABUA
(since 1979)
Political parties and leaders: no formal parties; President KABUA
is chief political (and traditional) leader
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections:
President--last held NA November 1987 (next to be held November
1991); results--President Amata KABUA was reelected;
Parliament--last held NA November 1987 (next to be held November
1991); results--percent of vote NA;
seats--(33 total)
Communists: none
Member of: ESCAP (associate), ICAO, SPC, SPF, UN
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Wilfred I. KENDALL;
Chancery at 2433 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20008;
telephone (202) 234-5414;
US--Ambassador William BODDE, Jr.; Embassy at NA address
(mailing address is P. O. Box 680, Majuro, Republic of the Marshall
Islands 96960-4380); telephone 692-4011
Flag: blue with two stripes radiating from the lower hoist-side
corner--orange (top) and white; there is a white star with four large
rays and 20 small rays on the hoist side above the two stripes
ECONOMY
Overview: Agriculture and tourism are the mainstays of the economy.
Agricultural production is concentrated on small farms, and the most
important commercial crops are coconuts, tomatoes, melons, and
breadfruit. A few cattle ranches supply the domestic meat market.
Small-scale industry is limited to handicrafts, fish processing, and
copra. The tourist industry is the primary source of foreign exchange and
employs about 10% of the labor force. The islands have few natural
resources, and imports far exceed exports. In 1987 the US Government
provided grants of $40 million out of the Marshallese budget of
$55 million.
GDP: $63 million, per capita $1,500; real growth rate NA%
(1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.6% (1981)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $55 million; expenditures NA, including capital
expenditures of NA (1987 est.)
Economic aid: under the terms of the Compact of Free Association,
the US is to provide approximately $40 million in aid annually
Currency: US currency is used
Exchange rates: US currency is used
Fiscal year: 1 October-30 September
COMMUNICATIONS
Highways: macadam and concrete roads on major islands (Majuro,
Kwajalein), otherwise stone-, coral-, or laterite-surfaced roads and
tracks
Ports: Majuro
Merchant marine: 23 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,654,871
GRT/3,236,549 DWT; includes 2 cargo, 3 container, 7 petroleum, oils, and
lubricants (POL) tanker, 11 bulk carrier; note--a flag of convenience
registry
Airports: 5 total, 5 usable; 4 with permanent-surface runways;
5 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: telephone network--570 lines (Majuro) and 186
(Ebeye); telex services; islands interconnected by shortwave radio (used
mostly for government purposes); stations--1 AM, 2 FM, 1 TV, 1 shortwave;
2 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT earth stations; US Government satellite
communications system on Kwajalein
DEFENSE FORCES
Note: defense is the responsibility of the US
