Marshall Islands Map

The Marshall Islands is a group of 1,156 islands located in Micronesia in Pacific Ocean. The nearest islands to the Marshall Islands include the Federated States of Micronesia, Wake Island, Kiribati, and Nauru. The Marshall Islands cover an area of 181 square kilometers (70 square miles) on its more than one thousand islands and islets.

There are 29 atolls and 5 islands in the Marshall Islands, which are divided into two groups, the Ratak Chain and the Ralik Chain, or sunrise and sunset chains. Of the atolls and islands of the Marshall Islands, 24 are inhabited. The isolated islands of the Marshall Islands are Jabat, Kili, Lib, Mejit, and Jemo, of which all are inhabited except Jemo.

The Marshall Islands have been inhabited since the second millennium BC. Spanish explorers arrived around the islands in 1526, later going ashore and meeting the native peoples in 1529. The islands were named for later British explorer, Captain John Charles Marshall, who arrived in 1788. The islands were claimed for the Spanish East Indies, and later sold to Germany in 1885. After World War II, the Marshall Islands were used as a site to test nuclear weapons by the United States. The Marshall Islands was granted self-governance in 1979, becoming independent in 1986, but is still used by the United States for military purposes.

The population of the Marshall Islands is about 68,000, which is made up primarily of Marshallese people, who are Micronesians. About two-thirds of the population lives in the capital, Majuro, and another island, Ebeye. The official language in the Marshall Islands is Marshallese, though English is widely spoken. The predominant religion on the islands is Christianity, with a little over half of the population.

ACOD~20130301

Last Updated On : March 14, 2013