Marshall Islands

Aolepān Aorōkin M̧ajeļ Republic of the Marshall Islands
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "Jepilpilin ke ejukaan" ("Accomplishment through Joint Effort")
Anthem: Forever Marshall Islands
Capital (and largest city)		Majuro 7°7′N 171°4′E / 7.117, 171.067
Official languages		Marshallese, English
Demonym		Marshallese
Government		Democratic Presidential Republic in Free Association with the USA
-	President	Litokwa Tomeing
Independence
-	from the United States	October 21, 1986
Area
-	Total	181 km2 (213th) 69.8 sq mi
-	Water (%)	negligible
Population
-	July 2005 estimate	61,963 (205th)
-	2003 census	56,429
-	Density	326/km2 (28th) 846/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2001 estimate
-	Total	$115 million (220th)
-	Per capita	$2,900 (2005 est.) (195th)
HDI (n/a)		n/a (unranked) (n/a)
Currency		United States dollar (USD)
Time zone		(UTC+12)
Internet TLD		.mh
Calling code		692

The Marshall Islands /ˈmɑrʃəl ˈaɪləndz/ (help·info), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), is a Micronesian nation of islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. This nation of roughly 60,000 persons is located north of Nauru and Kiribati, east of the Federated States of Micronesia, and south of the U.S. territory of Wake Island, to which it lays claim.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Original Settlement 1.2 Arrivals of the Europeans 1.3 World War I 1.4 World War II 1.5 After World War II 1.6 Independence 1.7 Recent Events 2 Government 3 Geography 4 Climate 5 Economy 5.1 General Economic Conditions 5.2 Labor 5.3 Taxation 5.4 Foreign Assistance 5.5 Agriculture 5.6 Industry 5.7 Tourism 5.8 Fishing 5.9 Energy 6 Demographics 7 Education 8 Transport 9 Health 10 Culture 11 Gallery 12 See also 13 References 14 Further reading 15 External links

History

Main article: History of the Marshall Islands

Original Settlement

Although the Marshall Islands were settled by Micronesians in the 2nd millennium BC, little is known of their early history.

Arrivals of the Europeans

Spanish explorer Alonso de Salazar was the first European to see the islands in 1526, but they remained virtually unvisited by Europeans until the arrival of British Captain John Marshall in 1788. The islands were named after him.

A German trading company settled on the islands in 1885. They became part of the protectorate of German New Guinea some years later.

World War I

Under German Empirical control, and even before then the Marshall Islands were from time to time visited by Japanese traders and fishermen, but contact with the islanders was not on a regular basis. After the Meiji Restoration the Japanese government undertook a policy of turning Japan into a great economic and military power in East Asia.

In 1914, Japan joined the Entente powers during World War I, and found it possible to capture German colonies in China and Micronesia. On Sept 29, 1914, Japanese troops occupied the atoll of Enewetak, and on Sept 30, 1914 the atoll of Dzhaluit the administrative center of the Marshall Islands^[1]. After the war, on June 28, 1919, Germany renounced all of its Pacific possessions, including the Marshall Islands. On December 17, 1920, the Council of the League of Nations approved the mandate for Japan over all former German colonies in the Pacific Ocean, located north of the equator.^[1] The Administrative Center of the Marshall Islands atoll remained Jaluit.

Unlike the German Empire, which had economic interests primarily in Micronesia, the accession of the territory to Japan, a small area and with few resources, would to some extent solve Japan's problem of increasing population but the ever increasing scarcity of land to house the exploding population^[2]. During the years of colonial rule in the Marshall Islands Japan moved more than 1000 Japanese to the Marshall Islands. Unlike in the Mariana Islands and Palau, their share in the archipelago never exceeded the number of indigenous people.

The governance of the Marshall Islands in the Japanese period was highly effective: a greatly enlarged administration was introduced and local leaders were appointed by the Japanese, which weakened the authority of local traditional leaders.