.3 km2
Land area:
181.3 km2; includes the atolls of Bikini, Eniwetok, 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
Eniwetok are former US nuclear test sites; Kwajalein, the famous World War
II battleground, is now used as a US missile test range

:Marshall Islands People

Population:
50,004 (July 1992), growth rate 3.9% (1992)
Birth rate:
47 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
8 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
0 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
52 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
61 years male, 64 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
7.0 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Marshallese (singular and plural); adjective - Marshallese
Ethnic divisions:
almost entirely Micronesian
Religions:
predominantly Christian, mostly Protestant
Languages:
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

:Marshall Islands 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 Trus