Marshall Islands
GANG INFORMATION
PROFILE
OFFICIAL NAME:
Republic of the Marshall Islands
Geography
Area: 181 sq. km. (about 70 sq. mi.) of land area scattered over
750,000 sq. mi. of the Western Pacific.
Cities: Capital--Majuro (pop. 25,000 in 2005). Other towns--Ebeye
(12,000 in 2005), Jaluit.
Terrain: 29 low-lying coral atolls and five islands.
Climate: Tropical with a wet season from May to November.
People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Marshallese.
Population (2002 est.): 56,639. (Figures not adjusted for migration
to the U.S., where Marshallese colonies of unknown size exist.)
Annual growth rate (2004): 2.27%.
Ethnic groups: 90% Marshallese, 10% estimated U.S., Filipino,
Chinese, New Zealander, Australian, other Micronesian (FSM), Kiribati,
Korean, and Fijian.
Religions: Christian, mostly Protestant.
Languages: Two major Marshallese dialects from Malayo-Polynesian
family; English;
Education: Literacy (2002)--98% (officially based on question,
"Do you read the bible?").
Health: Infant mortality rate--(2004) 2.3%, under age 5 mortality
rate 4.8%. Life expectancy--men 65.7 yrs.; women 69.4 yrs.
Work force (14,677: 66% employed, 34% unemployed): Services, including
government--64%; construction and services--18%; agriculture and
fishing--18%.
Government
Type: Parliamentary democracy in free association with the U.S.
A Compact of Free Association entered into force in 1986 and an
Amended Compact entered into force May 1, 2004.
Independence: October 21, 1986 from the U.S.-administered UN trusteeship.
Constitution: May 1, 1979.
Branches: Executive--president (chief of state), cabinet. Legislative--unicameral
parliament (Nitijela) and consultative Council of Iroij (traditional
leaders). Judicial--Supreme Court, high court, district and community
courts, traditional rights court.
Political parties: United Democratic and Ailin Kein Ad (Our Islands).
Suffrage: Universal at age 18.
Administrative subdivisions: 24 local governments.
Economy
GDP (current market prices, 2004): $135.3 million est.
Natural resources: Marine resources, including mariculture and
possible deep seabed minerals.
Agriculture: Products--Copra (dried coconut meat); taro and breadfruit
are subsistence crops.
Industry: Types--Copra processing, fish processing, tourism, pearl
farming, handicrafts.
Trade: Major trading partners--U.S., Japan, Australia, China,
Hong Kong, New Zealand, Taiwan.
Official currency: U.S. dollar.
GEOGRAPHY AND PEOPLE
The Marshall Islands is comprised of 29 atolls and five major
islands, which form two parallel groups--the "Ratak"
(sunrise) chain and the "Ralik"(sunset) chain. Two-thirds
of the nation's population lives in Majuro and Ebeye. The outer
islands are sparsely populated due to lack of employment opportunities
and economic development.
The Marshallese are of Micronesian origin, which
is traced to a combination of peoples who emigrated from Southeast
Asia in the remote past. The matrilineal Marshallese culture revolves
around a complex system of clans and lineages tied to land ownership.
Virtually all Marshallese are Christian, most of
them Protestant. Other Christian denominations include Roman Catholic,
Seventh-day Adventist, Mormon, Salvation Army, and Jehovah's Witness.
A small Bahai community also exists.
Marshallese is the official language. English is
spoken by most of the adult urban population. However, both the
Nitijela (parliament) and national radio use Marshallese.
The public school system provides education through
grade 12, although admission to secondary school is selective.
The elementary program employs a bilingual/bicultural curriculum.
English is introduced in the fourth grade. Many Marshallese and
American observers have lamented the poor state of the public
education system as a major stumbling block to economic development.
The Marshall Islands’ largest secondary institution--the
2-year College of the Marshall Islands--has experienced U.S. accreditation
problems since 2003. The University of the South Pacific offers
courses at a small campus on Majuro.
HISTORY
Little is clearly understood about the prehistory of the Marshall
Islands. Researchers agree on little more than that successive
waves of migratory peoples from Southeast Asia spread across the
Western Pacific about 3,000 years ago and that some of them landed
on and remained on these islands. The Spanish explorer de Saavedra
landed there in 1529. They were named for English explorer John
Marshall, who visited them in 1799. The Marshall Islands were
claimed by Spain in 1874.
Germany established a protectorate in 1885 and set
up trading stations on the islands of Jaluit and Ebon to carry
out the flourishing copra (dried coconut meat) trade. Marshallese
Iroij (high chiefs) continued to rule under indirect colonial
German administration.
At the beginning of World War I, Japan assumed control
of the Marshall Islands. Their headquarters remained at the German
center of administration, Jaluit. U.S. Marines and Army troops
took control from the Japanese in early 1944, following intense
fighting on Kwajalein and Enewetak atolls. In 1947, the United
States, as the occupying power, entered into an agreement with
the UN Security Council to administer Micronesia, including the
Marshall Islands, as the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
On May 1, 1979, in recognition of the evolving political
status of the Marshall Islands, the United States recognized the
constitution of the Marshall Islands and the establishment of
the Government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The constitution
incorporates both American and British constitutional concepts.
GOVERNMENT
The legislative branch of the government consists of the Nitijela
(parliament) with an advisory council of high chiefs. The Nitijela
has 33 members from 24 districts elected for concurrent 4-year
terms. Members are called senators. The president is elected by
the Nitijela from among its members. Presidents pick cabinet members
from the Nitijela. Amata Kabua was elected as the first president
of the republic in 1979. Subsequently, he was re-elected to 4-year
terms in 1983, 1987, 1991, and 1996. After Amata Kabua's death
in office, his first cousin, Imata Kabua, won a special election
in 1997. The current president's party was re-elected in the general
elections of November 2003, and President Note was reaffirmed
in office in January 2004.
The Republic of the Marshall Islands has four court
systems: Supreme Court, high court, district and community courts,
and the traditional rights court. Trial is by jury or judge. Jurisdiction
of the traditional rights court is limited to cases involving
titles or land rights or other disputes arising from customary
law and traditional practice.
Principal Government Officials
Head of State--President Kessai H. Note
Minister of Foreign Affairs--Gerald Zackios
Ambassador to the U.S.--Banny de Brum
Ambassador to the UN--Alfred Capelle
The Republic of the Marshall Islands maintains an
embassy at 2433 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
(tel. 202-234-5414). It has a consulate at 1888 Lusitana St.,
Suite 301, Honolulu, HI 96813 (tel. 808-545-7767), and small embassies
in Tokyo, Suva, and Taipei.
The Marshall Islands' mission to the United Nations
is located at the News Building, 220 E. 42nd St., 31st Floor,
New York, NY 10017 (tel. 212-983-3040).
POLITICAL CONDITIONS
Citizens of the Marshall Islands live with a relatively new democratic
political system combined with a hierarchical traditional culture.
The first two presidents were chiefs. Kessai Note is a commoner.
There have been a number of local and national elections
since the Republic of the Marshall Islands was founded, and in
general, democracy has functioned well. The United Democratic
Party, running on a reform platform, won the 1999 parliamentary
election, taking control of the presidency and cabinet. Elections
on November 17, 2003 elected a new Nitijela that took office in
January 2004.
ECONOMY
The government is the largest employer, employing 64% of the salaried
work force. GDP is derived mainly from payments made by the United
States under the terms of the Compact of Free Association. Direct
U.S. aid accounted for 67.8% of the Marshall Islands' $146.4 million
budget for FY 2006.
The economy combines a small subsistence sector
and a modern urban sector. In short, fishing and breadfruit, banana,
taro, and pandanus cultivation constitute the subsistence sector.
On the outer islands, production of copra and handicrafts provides
some cash income. The modern service-oriented economy is located
in Majuro and Ebeye. It is sustained by government expenditures
and the U.S. Army installation at Kwajalein Atoll. The airfield
there also serves as a second national hub for international flights.
The modern sector consists of wholesale and retail
trade; restaurants; banking and insurance; construction, repair,
and professional services; and copra processing. Copra cake and
oil are by far the nation's largest exports. A tuna loining plant
that employed 600 workers--starting at $1.50 per hour--closed
in 2004, and the government is seeking a new owner. Copra production,
the most important single commercial activity for the past 100
years, now depends on government subsidies. The subsidies, more
a social policy than an economic strategy, help reduce migration
from outer atolls to densely populated Majuro and Ebeye.
Marine resources, including fishing, aquaculture,
tourism development, and agriculture, are top government development
priorities. The Marshall Islands sells fishing rights to other
nations as a source of income. Since 1990, the Marshall Islands
has offered ship registrations under the Marshall Islands flag.
It now registers about 1,000 vessels, the ninth largest fleet
in the world, and receives an income of approximately a million
dollars annually. As a small nation, the Marshall Islands must
import a wide variety of goods, including foodstuffs, consumer
goods, machinery, and petroleum products.
FOREIGN RELATIONS
While the Government of the Marshall Islands is free to conduct
its own foreign relations, it does so under the terms of the Compact
of Free Association. Since independence, the Republic of the Marshall
Islands has established relations with 67 nations, including most
other Pacific Island nations. Regional cooperation, through membership
in various regional and international organizations, is a key
element in its foreign policy.
The Marshall Islands became a member of the United
Nations in September 1991. The Marshall Islands maintains embassies
in the U.S., Fiji, Japan, and Taiwan.
U.S.-MARSHALLESE RELATIONS
The Republic of the Marshall Islands is a sovereign nation in
"free association" with the United States. After more
than a decade of negotiation, the Marshall Islands and the United
States signed the Compact of Free Association on June 25, 1983.
The people of the Marshall Islands approved the Compact in a UN-observed
plebiscite on September 7, 1983. The U.S. Congress subsequently
approved the Compact, adding several amendments which were accepted
by the Government of the Marshall Islands, and the Compact entered
into force on October 21, 1986. In 1999-2003, the two nations
negotiated an Amended Compact that entered into force on May 1,
2004. Under the Amended Compact, the U.S. will provide the Marshall
Islands at least $57 million every year until 2023, including
contributions to a jointly managed Trust Fund. Marshallese will
continue to have access to many U.S. programs and services. A
Joint Economic Management and Financial Accountability Committee
(JEMFAC) comprised of representatives of both governments will
ensure that Compact assistance funds are spent effectively.
Under the Compact, the United States has full authority
and responsibility for security and defense of the Marshall Islands,
and the Government of the Marshall Islands is obligated to refrain
from taking actions that would be incompatible with these security
and defense responsibilities.
The Department of Defense, under a subsidiary government-to-government
agreement of the original Compact, has use of the lagoon and several
islands on Kwajalein Atoll. The atoll consists of approximately
90 islets around the largest lagoon in the world. The original
agreement allowed the United States continued use of the U.S.
Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) missile test range until 2016. An
amendment to that agreement, extending U.S. rights until 2066
with an option until 2086, was negotiated in conjunction with
the Amended Compact. Another major subsidiary agreement of the
original Compact provides for settlement of all claims arising
from the U.S. nuclear tests conducted at Bikini and Enewetak Atolls
from 1946 to 1958. Under the terms of free association, more than
40 U.S. Government agencies such as the Federal Aviation Administration,
U.S. Postal Service, the Small Business Administration, and the
Federal Emergency Management Agency operate programs or render
assistance to the Marshall Islands.
The United States and the Marshall Islands have
full diplomatic relations. The Marshall Islands has expressed
an interest in attracting U.S. investment.
Principal U.S. Embassy Officials
Ambassador--Greta N. Morris
Deputy Chief of Mission--Helen Reed-Rowe
IPO/Management/Consular--Tom DeMott
Office Manager--Karen Baker-Ramroop
The U.S. Embassy in the Marshall Islands is located
on Long Island, Majuro (tel. 692-247-4011, fax 692-247-4012).
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1379, Majuro, MH 96960-1379.
TRAVEL AND BUSINESS INFORMATION
The U.S. Department of State's Consular Information Program provides
Consular Information Sheets, Travel Warnings, and Public Announcements.
Consular Information Sheets exist for all countries and include
information on entry requirements, currency regulations, health
conditions, areas of instability, crime and security, political
disturbances, and the addresses of the U.S. posts in the country.
Travel Warnings are issued when the State Department recommends
that Americans avoid travel to a certain country. Public Announcements
are issued as a means to disseminate information quickly about
terrorist threats and other relatively short-term conditions overseas
that pose significant risks to the security of American travelers.
Free copies of this information are available by calling the Bureau
of Consular Affairs at 202-647-5225 or via the fax-on-demand system:
202-647-3000. Consular Information Sheets and Travel Warnings
also are available on the Consular Affairs Internet home page:
http://travel.state.gov. Consular Affairs Tips for Travelers publication
series, which contain information on obtaining passports and planning
a safe trip abroad, are on the Internet and hard copies can be
purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government
Printing Office, telephone: 202-512-1800; fax 202-512-2250.
Emergency information concerning Americans traveling
abroad may be obtained from the Office of Overseas Citizens Services
at (202) 647-5225. For after-hours emergencies, Sundays and holidays,
call 202-647-4000.
The National Passport Information Center (NPIC)
is the U.S. Department of State's single, centralized public contact
center for U.S. passport information. Telephone: 1-877-4USA-PPT
(1-877-487-2778). Customer service representatives and operators
for TDD/TTY are available Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.,
Eastern Time, excluding federal holidays.
Travelers can check the latest health information
with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta,
Georgia. A hotline at 877-FYI-TRIP (877-394-8747) and a web site
at http://www.cdc.gov/travel/index.htm give the most recent health
advisories, immunization recommendations or requirements, and
advice on food and drinking water safety for regions and countries.
A booklet entitled Health Information for International Travel
(HHS publication number CDC-95-8280) is available from the U.S.
Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402, tel. (202) 512-1800.
Information on travel conditions, visa requirements,
currency and customs regulations, legal holidays, and other items
of interest to travelers also may be obtained before your departure
from a country's embassy and/or consulates in the U.S. (for this
country, see "Principal Government Officials" listing
in this publication).
U.S. citizens who are long-term visitors or traveling
in dangerous areas are encouraged to register their travel via
the State Department’s travel registration web site at https://travelregistration.state.gov
or at the Consular section of the U.S. embassy upon arrival in
a country by filling out a short form and sending in a copy of
their passports. This may help family members contact you in case
of an emergency.
Further Electronic Information
Department of State Web Site. Available on the Internet at http://www.state.gov,
the Department of State web site provides timely, global access
to official U.S. foreign policy information, including Background
Notes and daily press briefings along with the directory of key
officers of Foreign Service posts and more.
Export.gov provides a portal to all export-related
assistance and market information offered by the federal government
and provides trade leads, free export counseling, help with the
export process, and more.
STAT-USA/Internet, a service of the U.S. Department
of Commerce, provides authoritative economic, business, and international
trade information from the Federal government. The site includes
current and historical trade-related releases, international market
research, trade opportunities, and country analysis and provides
access to the National Trade Data Bank.
