Marshall Islands

Airports

5 total, 5 usable; 4 with permanent-surface runways; 5 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Highways

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

Merchant marine

3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 475,968 GRT/949,888 DWT; includes 2 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 1 bulk carrier; 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); stations--1 AM, 2 FM, 1 TV, 1 shortwave; 2 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT earth stations; US Government satellite communications system on Kwajalein

Note

defense is the responsibility of the US

Agriculture

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

Aid

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

Budget

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

Currency

US currency is used

Electricity

12,000 kW capacity; 10 million kWh produced, 240 kWh per capita (1989)

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

GDP

$63 million, per capita $1,500; real growth rate NA% (1989 est.)

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 pearl; offshore banking (embryonic)

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

5.6% (1981)

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%

Climate

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

Coastline

370.4 km

Comparative area

slightly larger than Washington, DC

Contiguous zone

24 nm;

Disputes

claims US-administered Wake Island

Environment

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

Extended economic zone

200 nm;

Land boundaries

none

Land use

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

Natural resources

phosphate deposits, marine products, deep seabed minerals

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 Eniwetak 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

Territorial sea

12 nm

Total area

181.3 km2; land area: 181.3 km2; includes the atolls of Bikini, Eniwetak, and Kwajalein

Administrative divisions

none

Capital

Majuro

Communists

none

Constitution

1 May 1979

Diplomatic representation

Representative Wilfred I. KENDALL; Representative Office at Suite 1004, 1901 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC 20006; telephone (202) 223-4952; US--Representative Samuel B. THOMSEN; US Office at NA address (mailing address is P. O. Box 680, Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands 96960); telephone 692-9-3348

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; formerly the Marshall Islands District of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court 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 Parliament (Nitijela)

Long-form name

Republic of the Marshall Islands

Member of

SPF, ESCAP (associate)

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

universal at age 18 President--last held NA November 1987 (next to be held November 1991); results--President Amata Kabua was reelected; Parliament--last held NA November 1987 (next to be held November 1991); results--percent of vote NA; seats--(33 total)

Type

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

Birth rate

39 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate

5 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Ethnic divisions

almost entirely Micronesian

Infant mortality rate

43 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Labor force

4,800 (1986)

Language

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

Life expectancy at birth

70 years male, 75 years female (1990)

Literacy

90%

Nationality

noun--Marshallese; adjective--Marshallese

Net migration rate

- 1 migrant/1,000 population (1990)

Organized labor

none

Population

43,417 (July 1990), growth rate 3.2% (1990)

Religion

predominantly Christian, mostly Protestant

Total fertility rate

5.9 children born/woman (1990)