Marshall Islands

Airports

total: 16 usable: 16 with permanent-surface runways: 4 with runways over 3,659m: 0 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 0 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 8

Highways

paved roads on major islands (Majuro, Kwajalein), otherwise stone-, coral-, or laterite-surfaced roads and tracks

Merchant marine

29 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,786,070 GRT/3,498,895 DWT; includes 2 cargo, 1 container, 9 oil tanker, 15 bulk carrier, 2 combination ore/oil; note - a flag of convenience registry

Ports

Majuro

Telecommunications

telephone network - 570 lines (Majuro) and 186 (Ebeye); telex services; islands interconnected by shortwave radio (used mostly for government purposes); broadcast stations - 1 AM, 2 FM, 1 TV, 1 shortwave; 2 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT earth stations; US Government satellite communications system on Kwajalein

Affiliation

(overseas department of France)

Note

defense is the responsibility of the US

Agriculture

coconuts, cacao, taro, breadfruit, fruits, pigs, chickens

Budget

revenues $55 million; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA (1987 est.)

Currency

US currency is used

Economic aid

under the terms of the Compact of Free Association, the US is to provide approximately $40 million in aid annually

Electricity

42,000 kW capacity; 80 million kWh produced, 1,840 kWh per capita (1990)

Exchange rates

US currency is used

Exports

$2.5 million (f.o.b., 1985) commodities: copra, copra oil, agricultural products, handicrafts partners: NA

External debt

$NA

Fiscal year

1 October - 30 September

Imports

$29.2 million (c.i.f., 1985) commodities: foodstuffs, beverages, building materials partners: NA

Industrial production

growth rate NA%

Industries

copra, fish, tourism; craft items from shell, wood, and pearls; offshore banking (embryonic)

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

NA%

National product

GDP - exchange rate conversion - $63 million (1989 est.)

National product per capita

$1,500 (1989 est.)

National product real growth rate

NA%

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.

Unemployment rate

NA%

Area

total area: 181.3 km2 land area: 181.3 km2 comparative area: slightly larger than Washington, DC note: includes the atolls of Bikini, Eniwetok, and Kwajalein

Climate

wet season May to November; hot and humid; islands border typhoon belt

Coastline

370.4 km

Environment

occasionally subject to typhoons; two archipelagic island chains of 30 atolls and 1,152 islands

International disputes

claims US territory of Wake Island

Irrigated land

NA km2

Land boundaries

0 km

Land use

arable land: 0% permanent crops: 60% meadows and pastures: 0% forest and woodland: 0% other: 40%

Location

Oceania, in the North Pacific Ocean, about two-thirds of the way between Hawaii and Papua New Guinea

Map references

Oceania, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

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

Natural resources

phosphate deposits, marine products, deep seabed minerals

Note

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

Terrain

low coral limestone and sand islands

Administrative divisions

none

Capital

Majuro

Constitution

1 May 1979

Digraph

RM

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Wilfred I. KENDALL chancery: 2433 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: (202) 234-5414

Elections

President: last held 6 January 1992 (next to be held NA; results - President Amata KABUA was reelected Parliament: last held 18 November 1991 (next to be held November 1995); results - percent of vote NA; seats - (33 total)

Executive branch

president, Cabinet

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

Independence

21 October 1986 (from the US-administered UN trusteeship)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Leaders

Chief of State and Head of Government: President Amata KABUA (since 1979)

Legal system

based on adapted Trust Territory laws, acts of the legislature, municipal, common, and customary laws

Legislative branch

unicameral Nitijela (parliament)

Member of

AsDB, ESCAP, IBRD, ICAO, IFC, IMF, INTERPOL, SPARTECA, SPC, SPF, UN, UNCTAD, WHO

Names

conventional long form: Republic of the Marshall Islands conventional short form: Marshall Islands former: Marshall Islands District (Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands)

National holiday

Proclamation of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, 1 May (1979)

Political parties and leaders

no formal parties; President KABUA is chief political (and traditional) leader

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Type

constitutional government in free association with the US; the Compact of Free Association entered into force 21 October 1986

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador David C. FIELDS embassy: NA address, Majuro mailing address: P. O. Box 1379, Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands 96960-1379 telephone: (011) 692-4011 FAX: (011) 692-4012

Birth rate

46.65 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Death rate

7.91 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Ethnic divisions

Micronesian

Infant mortality rate

50.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)

Labor force

4,800 (1986) by occupation: NA

Languages

English (universally spoken and is the official language), two major Marshallese dialects from the Malayo-Polynesian family, Japanese

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 62.79 years male: 61.27 years female: 64.38 years (1993 est.)

Literacy

age 15 and over can read and write (1980) total population: 93% male: 100% female: 88%

Nationality

noun: Marshallese (singular and plural) adjective: Marshallese

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Population

51,982 (July 1993 est.)

Population growth rate

3.87% (1993 est.)

Religions

Christian (mostly Protestant)

Total fertility rate

6.99 children born/woman (1993 est.)