e Association. Compensation claims continue as a result of US
nuclear testing on some of the atolls between 1947 and 1962. The
Marshall Islands hosts the US Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) Reagan
Missile Test Site, a key installation in the US missile defense
network.

Geography Marshall Islands

Location:
Oceania, group of atolls and reefs in the North Pacific Ocean,
about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia

Geographic coordinates:
9 00 N, 168 00 E

Map references:
Oceania

Area:
total: 181.3 sq km
note: includes the atolls of Bikini, Enewetak, Kwajalein, Majuro,
Rongelap, and Utirik
water: 0 sq km
land: 181.3 sq km

Area - comparative:
about the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries:
0 km

Coastline:
370.4 km

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm

Climate:
tropical; hot and humid; wet season from May to November; islands
border typhoon belt

Terrain:
low coral limestone and sand islands

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on Likiep 10 m

Natural resources:
coconut products, marine products, deep seabed minerals

Land use:
arable land: 16.67%
permanent crops: 38.89%
other: 44.44% (2001)

Irrigated land:
0 sq km

Natural hazards:
infrequent typhoons

Environment - current issues:
inadequate supplies of potable water; pollution of Majuro lagoon
from household waste and discharges from fishing vessels

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone
Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:
two archipelagic island chains of 30 atolls and 1,152 islands;
Bikini and Enewetak are former US nuclear test sites; Kwajalein, the
famous World War II battleground, is now used as a US missile test
range

People Marshall Islands

Population:
57,738 (July 2004 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 38.6% (male 11,347; female 10,934)
15-64 years: 58.7% (male 17,380; female 16,520)
65 years and over: 2.7% (male 748; female 809) (2004 est.)

Median age:
total: 19.6 years
male: 19.6 years
female: 19.6 years (2004 est.)

Population growth rate:
2.29% (2004 est.)

Birth rate:
33.88 birth