MARSHALL ISLANDS                                                                
GEOGRAPHY                                                                       
Total area: 181.3 km2; land area: 181.3 km2; includes the atolls                
of Bikini, Eniwetak, and Kwajalein                                              
                                                                                
Comparative area: slightly larger than Washington, DC                           
                                                                                
Land boundaries: none                                                           
                                                                                
Coastline: 370.4 km                                                             
                                                                                
Maritime claims:                                                                
                                                                                
Contiguous zone: 24 nm;                                                         
                                                                                
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;                                                
                                                                                
Territorial sea: 12 nm                                                          
                                                                                
Disputes: claims US territory of Wake Island                                    
                                                                                
Climate: wet season May to November; hot and humid; islands border              
typhoon belt                                                                    
                                                                                
Terrain: low coral limestone and sand islands                                   
                                                                                
Natural resources: phosphate deposits, marine products, deep seabed             
minerals                                                                        
                                                                                
Land use: arable land 0%; permanent crops 60%; meadows and pastures             
0%; forest and woodland 0%; other 40%                                           
                                                                                
Environment: occasionally subject to typhoons; two archipelagic                 
island chains of 30 atolls and 1,152 islands                                    
                                                                                
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        
                                                                                
PEOPLE                                                                          
Population: 48,091 (July 1991), growth rate 3.9% (1991)                         
                                                                                
Birth rate: 47 births/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Death rate: 8 deaths/1,000 population (1991)                                    
                                                                                
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)                          
                                                                                
Infant mortality rate: 53 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)                       
                                                                                
Life expectancy at birth: 61 years male, 64 years female (1991)                 
                                                                                
Total fertility rate: 7.1 children born/woman (1991)                            
                                                                                
Nationality: noun--Marshallese; adjective--Marshallese                          
                                                                                
Ethnic divisions: almost entirely Micronesian                                   
                                                                                
Religion: predominantly Christian, mostly Protestant                            
                                                                                
Language: English universally spoken and is the official language;              
two major Marshallese dialects from Malayo-Polynesian family; Japanese          
                                                                                
Literacy: 93% (male 100%, female 88%) age 15 and over can                       
read and write (1980)                                                           
                                                                                
Labor force: 4,800 (1986)                                                       
                                                                                
Organized labor: none                                                           
                                                                                
GOVERNMENT                                                                      
Long-form name: Republic of the Marshall Islands                                
                                                                                
Type: constitutional government in free association with the US;                
the Compact of Free Association entered into force 21 October 1986              
                                                                                
Capital: Majuro                                                                 
                                                                                
Administrative divisions: none                                                  
                                                                                
Independence: 21 October 1986 (from the US-administered UN                      
trusteeship; formerly the Marshall Islands District of the Trust                
Territory of the Pacific Islands)                                               
                                                                                
Constitution: 1 May 1979                                                        
Legal system: based on adapted Trust Territory laws, acts of the                
legislature, municipal, common, and customary laws                              
                                                                                
National holiday: Proclamation of the Republic of the Marshall                  
Islands, 1 May (1979)                                                           
                                                                                
Executive branch: president, Cabinet                                            
                                                                                
Legislative branch: unicameral Nitijela                                         
                                                                                
Judicial branch: Supreme Court                                                  
                                                                                
Leaders:                                                                        
                                                                                
Chief of State and Head of Government--President Amata KABUA                    
(since 1979)                                                                    
                                                                                
Political parties and leaders: no formal parties; President KABUA               
is chief political (and traditional) leader                                     
                                                                                
Suffrage: universal at age 18                                                   
                                                                                
Elections:                                                                      
                                                                                
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)                                                               
                                                                                
Communists: none                                                                
                                                                                
Member of: ESCAP (associate), ICAO, SPC, SPF, UN                                
                                                                                
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Wilfred I. KENDALL;                       
Chancery at 2433 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20008;                 
telephone (202) 234-5414;                                                       
                                                                                
US--Ambassador William BODDE, Jr.; Embassy at NA address                        
(mailing address is P. O. Box 680, Majuro, Republic of the Marshall             
Islands 96960-4380); telephone 692-4011                                         
                                                                                
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                  
                                                                                
ECONOMY                                                                         
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.                                                                    
                                                                                
GDP: $63 million, per capita $1,500; real growth rate NA%                       
(1989 est.)                                                                     
                                                                                
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.6% (1981)                                   
                                                                                
Unemployment rate: NA%                                                          
                                                                                
Budget: revenues $55 million; expenditures NA, including capital                
expenditures of NA (1987 est.)                                                  
                                                                                
Exports: $2.5 million (f.o.b., 1985);                                           
                                                                                
commodities--copra, copra oil, agricultural products, handicrafts;              
                                                                                
partners--NA                                                                    
                                                                                
Imports: $29.2 million (c.i.f., 1985);                                          
                                                                                
commodities--foodstuffs, beverages, building materials;                         
                                                                                
partners--NA                                                                    
                                                                                
External debt: $NA                                                              
                                                                                
Industrial production: growth rate NA%                                          
                                                                                
Electricity: 42,000 kW capacity; 80 million kWh produced, 1,840 kWh             
per capita (1990)                                                               
                                                                                
Industries: copra, fish, tourism; craft items from shell, wood, and             
pearl; offshore banking (embryonic)                                             
                                                                                
Agriculture: coconuts, cacao, taro, breadfruit, fruits, copra;                  
pigs, chickens                                                                  
                                                                                
Economic aid: under the terms of the Compact of Free Association,               
the US is to provide approximately $40 million in aid annually                  
                                                                                
Currency: US currency is used                                                   
                                                                                
Exchange rates: US currency is used                                             
                                                                                
Fiscal year: 1 October-30 September                                             
                                                                                
COMMUNICATIONS                                                                  
Highways: macadam and concrete roads on major islands (Majuro,                  
Kwajalein), otherwise stone-, coral-, or laterite-surfaced roads and            
tracks                                                                          
                                                                                
Ports: Majuro                                                                   
                                                                                
Merchant marine: 23 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,654,871                
GRT/3,236,549 DWT; includes 2 cargo, 3 container, 7 petroleum, oils, and        
lubricants (POL) tanker, 11 bulk carrier; note--a flag of convenience           
registry                                                                        
                                                                                
Airports: 5 total, 5 usable; 4 with permanent-surface runways;                  
5 with runways 1,220-2,439 m                                                    
                                                                                
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                                              
                                                                                
DEFENSE FORCES                                                                  
Note: defense is the responsibility of the US                                   
                                                                                
