Country Summary: Marshall Islands
Country Name: Marshall Islands
Capital: Majuro
Government Type: mixed presidential-parliamentary system in free association with the US
Background: Humans arrived in the Marshall Islands in the first millennium B.C. and gradually created permanent settlements on the various atolls. The early inhabitants were skilled navigators who frequently traveled between atolls using stick charts to map the islands. Society became organized under two paramount chiefs, one each for the Ratak (Sunrise) Chain and the Ralik (Sunset) Chain. The traditional hierarchy continued even after contact with Europeans in the early 1500s. Spain formally claimed the islands in 1592, but few other Europeans passed by the islands in the next two centuries. In 1788, British sea captain John Marshall undertook an exploratory voyage, and the islands were mapped in the early 1800s by Russian explorers. In the 1850s, US Protestant missionaries began arriving on the islands. Germany established a supply station on Jaluit Atoll and bought the islands from Spain in 1884, although paramount chiefs continued to rule.
Japan seized the Marshall Islands in 1914 and was granted a League of Nations Mandate to administer the islands in 1920. Japan built large military bases throughout the Marshall Islands, and during World War II, the US captured the bases on Kwajalein, Enewetak, and Majuro Atolls. The Marshall Islands came under US administration as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) in 1947. Between 1946 and 1958, the US resettled populations from Bikini and Enewetak Atolls and conducted 67 nuclear tests; people from Ailinginae, Rongelap, and Utrik Atolls were also evacuated because of nuclear fallout, and Bikini and Rongelap remain largely uninhabited. In 1979, the Marshall Islands drafted a constitution separate from the rest of the TTPI and declared independence under President Amata KABUA, a paramount chief. In 2000, Kessai Note became the first commoner elected president. In 2016, Hilda Heine was the first woman elected president.
In 1982, the Marshall Islands signed a Compact of Free Association (COFA) with the US, which granted the Marshall Islands financial assistance and access to many US domestic programs in exchange for exclusive US military access and defense responsibilities; the COFA entered into force in 1986 and its funding was renewed in 2003. The Marshall Islands hosts the US Army Kwajalein Atoll Reagan Missile Test Site, a key installation in the US missile defense network. Kwajalein also hosts one of four dedicated ground antennas that assist in the operation of the Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation system (the others are at Cape Canaveral, Florida (US), on Ascension (Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha), and at Diego Garcia (British Indian Ocean Territory)).
Continent: Oceania
Population: 80,966 (2023 est.)
Ethnic Groups: Marshallese 95.6%, Filipino 1.1%, other 3.3% (2021 est.)
Languages: Marshallese (official) 98.2%, other languages 1.8% (1999 est.)
note: English (official), widely spoken as a second language
Religions: Protestant 79.3% (United Church of Christ 47.9%, Assembly of God 14.1%, Full Gospel 5%, Bukot Nan Jesus 3%, Salvation Army 2.3%, Reformed Congressional Church 2.2%, Seventh Day Adventist 1.7%, New Beginning Church 1.4%, other Protestant 1.6%), Roman Catholic 9.3%, Church of Jesus Christ 5.7%, Jehovah's Witness 1.3%, other 3.3%, none 1.1% (2021 est.)
Economic Overview: upper middle-income Pacific island economy; US aid reliance; large public sector; coconut oil production as diesel fuel substitute; growing offshore banking locale; fishing rights seller; import-dependent
Currency: United States Dollar (USD)
Real GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): $249.595 million (2022 est.) note: data in 2017 dollars
Real GDP Growth Rate: -0.68% (2022 est.) note: annual GDP % growth based on constant local currency
Real GDP per Capita: $6,000 (2022 est.) note: data in 2017 dollars
Exports:
$130.016 million (2021 est.) note: balance of payments - exports of goods and services in current dollars
Comparison Ranking: 210
Export Commodities: ships, recreational boats, skipjack, tuna, refined petroleum, broadcasting equipment (2021)
Export Partners: Denmark 33%, South Korea 20%, Germany 15%, Poland 9%, Cyprus 4% (2021)
Imports:
$206.025 million (2021 est.) note: balance of payments - imports of goods and services in current dollars
Comparison Ranking: 213
Import Commodities: ships, refined petroleum, centrifuges, recreational boats, boat propellers (2019)
Import Partners: South Korea 33%, China 30%, Japan 11%, Greece 3%, Cyprus 3% (2021)
Natural Resources: coconut products, marine products, deep seabed minerals
Agricultural Products: coconuts
Industries: copra, tuna processing, tourism, craft items (from seashells, wood, and pearls)
Industrial Production Growth Rate:
10.24% (2022 est.) note: annual % change in industrial value added based on constant local currency
Comparison Ranking: 20
Labor Force: 10,670 (2013 est.)
Natural Hazards: infrequent typhoons
Geography:
Total: 181 sq km
Land: 181 sq km
Water: 0 sq km
(Country Summary, The World Factbook, CIA.gov)
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