Marshall Islands

Airports

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

Highways

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

Merchant marine

40 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,255,348 GRT/4,351,997 DWT, bulk carrier 23, cargo 2, combination ore/oil 1, container 1, oil tanker 13 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

1 United States dollar (US$) = 100 cents

Economic aid

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

Electricity

capacity: 42,000 kW production: 80 million kWh consumption per capita: 1,840 kWh (1990)

Exchange rates

US currency is used

Exports

$3.9 million (f.o.b., 1992 est) commodities: coconut oil, fish, live animals, trichus shells partners: US, Japan, Australia

External debt

$NA

Fiscal year

1 October - 30 September

Imports

$62.9 million (c.i.f., 1992 est) commodities: foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, beverages and tobacco, fuels partners: US, Japan, Australia

Industrial production

growth rate NA%

Industries

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

7% (1992 est)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $63 million (1989 est.)

National product per capita

$1,500 (1992 est)

National product real growth rate

6% (1992)

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

16% (1991 est)

Area

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

Climate

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

Coastline

370.4 km

Environment

current issues: inadequate supplies of safe drinking water natural hazards: occasionally subject to typhoons international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution

International disputes

claims US territory of Wake Island

Irrigated land

NA sq km

Land boundaries

0 km

Land use

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

Location

Oceania, Micronesia, 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

two archipelagic island chains of 30 atolls and 1,152 islands; 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

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

Executive branch

chief of state and head of government: President Amata KABUA (since 1979); election last held 6 January 1992 (next to be held NA; results - President Amata KABUA was reelected) cabinet: Cabinet; president selects from the parliament

FAX

(202) 232-3236 consulate(s) general: Honolulu and Los Angeles

FAX

(692) 625-4012

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

Legal system

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

Legislative branch

unicameral

Member of

AsDB, ESCAP, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFC, IMF, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), 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)

Parliament (Nitijela)

elections last held 18 November 1991 (next to be held November 1995); results - percent of vote NA; seats - (33 total)

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: (692) 625-4011

Birth rate

46.31 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate

7.68 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Ethnic divisions

Micronesian

Infant mortality rate

49.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 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: 63.13 years male: 61.6 years female: 64.74 years (1994 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 (1994 est.)

Population

54,031 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate

3.86% (1994 est.)

Religions

Christian (mostly Protestant)

Total fertility rate

6.94 children born/woman (1994 est.)