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After almost four decades under US administration as the easternmost part of the UN Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, the Marshall Islands attained independence in 1986 under a Compact of Free 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.
Population: 70,983 (2014).
Nationality: noun: Marshallese (singular and plural), adjective: Marshallese.
Ethnic groups: Marshallese 92.1%, mixed Marshallese 5.9%, other 2%.
Languages: Marshallese (official) 98.2%, other languages 1.8%. English (official), widely spoken as a second language.
Religions: Protestant 54.8%, Assembly of God 25.8%, Roman Catholic 8.4%, Bukot nan Jesus 2.8%, Mormon 2.1%, other Christian 3.6%, other 1%, none 1.5%.
GDP: $ 193 000 000.00 (2013).
No regular military forces; Marshall Islands Police. Defense is the responsibility of the US.
Claims US territory of Wake Island.
Capital: Majuro
Location: Oceania, two archipelagic island chains of 29 atolls, each made up of many small islets, and five single islands in the North Pacific Ocean, about half way between Hawaii and Australia. The islands of Bikini and Enewetak are former US nuclear test sites; Kwajalein atoll, famous as a World War II battleground, surrounds the world's largest lagoon and is used as a US missile test range; the island city of Ebeye is the second largest settlement in the Marshall Islands, after the capital of Majuro, and one of the most densely populated locations in the Pacific.
Geographic coordinates:
9 00 N, 168 00 E
Area:
total: 181 sq km
land: 181 sq km
water: 0 sq km
note: the archipelago includes 11,673 sq km of lagoon waters and encompasses the atolls of Bikini, Enewetak, Kwajalein, Majuro, Rongelap, and Utirik
Land boundaries: 0 km.
Coastline: 370.4 km.
