Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands , officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( ) , is an island country located in the northern Pacific Ocean . Geographically , the country is part of the larger island group of Micronesia , with the population of 68 , 480 people spread out over 24 low - lying coral atoll s , comprising 1 , 156 individual islands and islet s . The islands share maritime boundaries with the Federated States of Micronesia to the west , Wake Island to the north , Kiribati to the south - east , and Nauru to the south . The most populous atoll is Majuro , which also acts as the capital . Micronesian colonists gradually settled the Marshall Islands during the 2nd millennium BC , with inter - island navigation made possible using traditional stick chart s . Islands in the archipelago were first explored by Europeans in the 1520s , with Spanish explorer Alonso de Salazar sighting an atoll in August 1526 . Other expeditions by Spanish and English ships followed , with the islands ' current name stemming from British explorer John Marshall . Recognised as part of the Spanish East Indies in 1874 , the islands were sold to Germany in 1884 , and became part of German New Guinea in 1885 . The Empire of Japan occupied the Marshall Islands in World War I , which were later joined with other former German territories in 1919 by the League of Nations to form the South Pacific Mandate . In World War II , the islands were conquered by the United States in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign . Along with other Pacific Islands , the Marshall Islands were then consolidated into the United - States - governed Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands . Self - government was achieved in 1979 , and full sovereignty in 1986 , under a Compact of Free Association with the United States . Politically , the Marshall Islands is a presidential republic in free association with the United States , with the US providing defense , funding grants , and access to social services . Having few natural resources , the islands ' wealth is based on a service economy , as well as some fishing and agriculture , with a large percentage of the islands ' gross domestic product coming from United States aid . The country uses the United States dollar as its currency . The majority of citizens of the Marshall Islands are of Marshallese descent , with small numbers of immigrants from the Philippines and other Pacific islands . The two official language s are Marshallese , a member of the Malayo - Polynesian languages , and English . Almost the entire population of the islands practises some religion , with three - quarters of the country either following the United Church of Christ – Congregational in the Marshall Islands ( UCCCMI ) or the Assemblies of God . History . The Marshall Islands were settled by Micronesians in the 2nd millennium BC . Little is known of this early history . People traveled by canoe between islands using traditional stick chart s . Spanish exploration . Spanish explorer Alonso de Salazar was the first European to see the islands in 1526 , commanding the ship " Santa Maria de la Victoria " , the only surviving vessel of the Loaísa Expedition . On August 21 , he sighted an island at 14°N that they named " San Bartolome " ( probably Taongi ) . On September 21 , 1529 , Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón commanded the Spanish ship " Florida " , on his second attempt to recross the Pacific from the Maluku Islands . He stood off a group of islands from which several natives came off and hurled stones at his ship . These islands , named by him " Los Pintados , " may have been Ujelang . On October 1 , he found another group of islands where he went ashore for eight days , exchanged gifts with natives and took on water . These islands , " Los Jardines , " could be Eniwetok or Bikini Atoll . The Spanish ship " San Pedro " and two other vessels in an expedition commanded by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi on January 9 , 1530 , discovered an island at 10°N where they went ashore and traded with natives and named it " Los Barbudos " ( possibly Mejit ) . On January 10 , they sighted another island that they named " Placeres " ( perhaps Ailuk ) , ten leagues away , they sighted another island that they called " Pajares " ( perhaps Jemo ) . On January 12 , they sighted another island at 10°N which they called " Corrales " ( possibly Wotho ) . On January 15 , another low island was sighted at 10°N ( perhaps Ujelang ) where they made a good description of the people on " Barbudos . " After that , ships like " San Jeronimo " , " Los Reyes " , " Todos los Santos " also visited the islands in different years . Other european exploration . Captain John Charles Marshall together with Thomas Gilbert came to the islands in 1788 . The islands were named after John Marshall by Russian and French explorers Adam Johann von Krusenstern and Louis Isidore Duperrey who drew maps circa 1820 and later on English maps . The islands were claimed under the Spanish sovereignty as part of the Spanish East Indies . In 1874 , Spanish sovereignty was recognized by the international community . Spain sold the island to Germany in 1884 through papal mediation . German protectorate . Although Spain had a residual claim on the Marshalls in 1874 , when she began asserting her sovereignty over the Carolines , she made no effort to prevent Germany from gaining a foothold there . Britain in turn raised no objection to a German protectorate over the Marhsalls in exchange for German recognition of Britain ' s rights in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands . On October 13 , 1885 , the SMS " Nautilus " under Captain Rötger landed at Jaluit and signed a treaty with Kabua , whom the Germans had earlier recognised as " King of the Ralik Islands " , on October 15 . The treaty in German and Marshallese was subsequently adhered to by other chiefs ( on seven other islands ) and a final copy witnessed by Rötger on November 1 was sent to the Foreign Office . A sign declaring " Imperial German Protectorate " was erected at Jaluit . It has been speculated that the crisis over the Carolines with Spain , which almost provoked a war , was in fact " a feint to cover the acquisition of the Marshall Islands " , which went almost unnoticed at the time , despite their being the largest source of copra in Micronesia . A German trading company , the Jaluit Gesellschaft , administered the islands from 1887 until 1905 . After the German – Spanish Treaty of 1899 , in which Germany acquired the Carolines , Palau and Marianas , it placed all of its Micronesian islands , including the Marshalls , under the governor of German New Guinea . Japanese mandate . Under German control , and even before then , Japanese traders and fishermen from time to time visited the Marshall Islands , although contact with the islanders was irregular . After the Meiji Restoration ( 1868 ) , the Japanese government adopted a policy of turning Japan into a great economic and military power in East Asia . In 1914 , Japan joined the Entente during World War I , and captured various German colonies including several in Micronesia . On September 29 , 1914 , Japanese troops occupied the Enewetak Atoll , and on September 30 , 1914 , the Jaluit Atoll , the administrative center of the Marshall Islands . 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 to take over all former German colonies in the Pacific Ocean located north of the equator . The Administrative Center of the Marshall Islands atoll remained Jaluit . The German Empire had primarily economic interests in Micronesia . The Japanese interests were in land . Despite the Marshalls small area and few resources , the absorption of the territory by Japan would to some extent alleviate Japan ' s problem of an increasing population with a diminishing amount of available land to house it . During its years of colonial rule , Japan moved more than 1 , 000 Japanese to the Marshall Islands although they never outnumbered the indigenous peoples as they did in the Mariana Islands and Palau . The Japanese enlarged administration and appointed local leaders , which weakened the authority of local traditional leaders . Japan also tried to change the social organization in the islands from Matrilineality to the Japanese Patriarchal system , but with no success . Moreover , during the 1930s , one third of all land up to the high water level was declared the property of the Japanese government . On the archipelago , before it banned foreign traders , the activities of Catholic and Protestant missionaries were allowed . Indigenous people were educated in Japanese schools , and studied Japanese language and Japanese culture . This policy was the government strategy not only in the Marshall Islands , but on all the other mandated territories in Micronesia . On March 27 , 1933 , Japan left the League of Nations , but continued to manage the islands , and in the late 1930s began building air bases on several atolls . The Marshall Islands were in an important geographical position , being the easternmost point in Japan ' s defensive ring at the beginning of World War II . World War II . In the months before the attack on Pearl Harbor , Kwajalein Atoll was the administrative center of the Japanese 6th Fleet Forces Service , whose task was the defense of the Marshall Islands . In World War II , the United States , during the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign , invaded and occupied the islands in 1944 , destroying or isolating the Japanese garrisons . The US government added the archipelago to the U . S . Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands , along with several other island groups in the South Sea . The battle in the Marshall Islands caused irreparable damage , especially on Japanese bases . During the American bombing , the islands ' population suffered from lack of food and various injuries . U . S . attacks started in mid - 1943 , and caused half the Japanese garrison of 5 , 100 people in the atoll Mili to die from hunger by August 1945 . In just one month in 1944 , Americans captured Kwajalein Atoll , Majuro and Enewetak , and in the next two months the rest of the Marshall Islands except Wotje , Mili , Maloelap and Jaluit . Nuclear tests after World War II . From 1946 to 1958 , as the site of the Pacific Proving Grounds , the U . S . tested 67 nuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands , including the largest nuclear test the U . S . ever conducted , Castle Bravo . In 1956 , the Atomic Energy Commission regarded the Marshall Islands as " by far the most contaminated place in the world " . Nuclear claims between the U . S . and the Marshall Islands are ongoing , and health effects from these nuclear tests linger . Project 4 . 1 was a medical study conducted by the United States of those residents of the Bikini Atoll exposed to radioactive fallout . From 1956 to August 1998 , at least $ 759 million was paid to the Marshallese Islanders in compensation for their exposure to U . S . nuclear testing . With the 1952 test of the first U . S . hydrogen bomb , code named " Ivy Mike " , the island of Elugelab in the Enewetak atoll was destroyed . Independence . In 1979 , the Government of the Marshall Islands was officially established and the country became self - governing . In 1986 , the Compact of Free Association with the United States entered into force , granting the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( RMI ) its sovereignty . The Compact provided for aid and U . S . defense of the islands in exchange for continued U . S . military use of the missile testing range at Kwajalein Atoll . The independence procedure was formally completed under international law in 1990 , when the UN officially ended the Trusteeship status . Government . The government of the Marshall Islands operates under a mixed parliamentary - presidential system as set forth in its Constitution . Elections are held every four years in universal suffrage ( for all citizens above 18 ) , with each of the twenty - four constituencies ( see below ) electing one or more representatives ( senators ) to the lower house of RMI ’ s bicameral legislature , the Nitijela . ( Majuro , the capital atoll , elects five senators . ) The President , who is head of state as well as head of government , is elected by the 33 senators of the Nitijela . Four of the five Marshallese presidents who have been elected since the Constitution was adopted in 1979 have been traditional paramount chief s . Legislative power lies with the Nitijela . The upper house of Parliament , called the Council of Iroij , is an advisory body comprising twelve tribal chiefs . The executive branch consists of the President and the Presidential Cabinet , which consists of ten ministers appointed by the President with the approval of the Nitijela . The twenty - four electoral districts into which the country is divided correspond to the inhabited islands and atolls . There are currently three political parties in the Marshall Islands : Aelon Kein Ad ( AKA ) , United People ' s Party ( UPP ) , and United Democratic Party ( UDP ) . Rule is shared by the UDP and the UPP . The following senators are in the legislative body : Foreign affairs and defense . The Compact of Free Association with the United States gives the U . S . sole responsibility for international defense of the Marshall Islands . It allows islanders to live and work in the United States , and establishes economic and technical aid programs . In international politics , Marshall Islands has often voted with the United States with respect to United Nations General Assembly resolutions . Geography . The islands are 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 . The country consists of 29 atolls and 5 isolated islands . The atolls and islands form two groups : the Ratak Chain and the Ralik Chain ( meaning " sunrise " and " sunset " chains ) . 24 of them are inhabited ( see above section ) . The uninhabited atolls are : A majority of the islands ' land mass is at sea level . Shark sanctuary . In October 2011 , the government declared that an area covering nearly of ocean shall be reserved as a shark sanctuary . This is the world ' s largest shark sanctuary , extending the worldwide ocean area in which sharks are protected from to . In protected waters all shark fishing is banned and all by - catch must be released . However , the ability of the Marshall Islands to enforce this zone has been questioned . Territorial claim on Wake Island . The Marshall Islands also lays claim to Wake Island . While Wake has been administered by the United States since 1899 , the Marshallese government refers to it by the name " Enen - kio " . Climate . The climate is hot and humid , with a wet season from May to November . The islands occasionally suffer from typhoons . Many Pacific typhoons start in the Marshall Islands region and grow stronger as they move west toward the Mariana Islands and the Philippines . Climate - related emergencies . In 2008 , extreme waves and high tides caused widespread flooding in the capital city of Majuro and other urban centres , located at above sea level . On Christmas morning in 2008 , the government declared a state of emergency . In 2013 , heavy waves once again breached the city walls of Majuro . In 2013 , the northern atolls of the Marshall Islands experienced drought . The drought left 6 , 000 people surviving on less than one litre of water per day . This resulted in the failure to grow food crops and the spread of diseases such as diarrhea , pink eye and influenza . These emergencies resulted in the United States President declaring an emergency in the MI . This declaration activated support from US government agencies , under the Republic ’ s ‘ free association ’ status with the United States , which provides humanitarian and other vital support . Following the 2013 emergencies , the Minister of Foreign Affairs Tony de Brum called for countries to turn the crises into an opportunity for climate leadership . He demanded new commitment and international leadership to stave off further climate disasters from battering his country , and other similarly vulnerable countries . This September , the Marshall Islands will host the 44th Pacific Islands Forum summit . de Brum is proposing a Majuro Declaration for Climate Leadership to galvanize concrete action on climate change . The Marshall Islands are threatened by the potential effects of storm surge s as well as sea level rise . According to the president of Nauru , the Marshall Islands are the nation ranked as the most endangered due to flooding from climate change . Economy . The islands have few natural resources , and imports far exceed exports . Labor . In 2007 , the Marshall Islands joined the International Labor Organization , which means its labor laws will comply with international benchmarks . This may impact business conditions in the islands . Taxation . The income tax has two brackets , with rates of 8 % and 12 % . The corporate tax is 3 % of revenue . The Majuro Atoll sales tax is 4 % on goods and 3 % on services . There are no property taxes . There is an 8 % import tax . Foreign assistance . United States government assistance is the mainstay of the economy . Under terms of the Amended Compact of Free Association , the U . S . is committed to provide US $ 57 . 7 million per year in assistance to the Marshall Islands ( RMI ) through 2013 , and then US $ 62 . 7 million through 2023 , at which time a trust fund , made up of U . S . and RMI contributions , will begin perpetual annual payouts . The United States Army maintains the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll . Marshallese land owners receive rent for the base , and a large number of Marshallese work there . The main airport was built by the Japanese during World War II . The only tarmac road through the capital was built partly by the Taiwanese and partly by the Americans . Agriculture . Agricultural production is concentrated on small farms . The most - important commercial crops are coconuts , tomatoes , melons , and breadfruit . Industry . Small - scale industry is limited to handicrafts , fish processing , and copra . Fishing . Fishing has been critical to the economy of this island nation since its settlement . In 1999 , a private company built a tuna loining plant with more than 400 employees , mostly women . But the plant closed in 2005 , after a failed attempt to convert it to produce tuna steaks , a process that requires half as many employees . Operating costs exceeded revenue , and the plant ' s owners tried to partner with the government to prevent closure . But government officials personally interested in an economic stake in the plant refused to help . After the plant closed , it was taken over by the government , which had been the guarantor of a $ 2 million loan to the business . Energy . On September 15 , 2007 , Witon Barry ( of the Tobolar Copra processing plant in the Marshall Islands capital of Majuro ) said power authorities , private companies , and entrepreneurs had been experimenting with coconut oil as alternative to diesel fuel for vehicles , power generators , and ships . Coconut trees abound in the Pacific ' s tropical islands . Copra , the meat of the coconut , yields coconut oil ( 1 liter for every 6 to 10 coconuts ) . In 2009 , a 57 kW solar power plant was installed , the largest in the pacific at the time , including New Zealand . It is estimated that 330 kW of solar and 450 kW of wind power would be required to make the College of the Marshall Islands energy self - sufficient . Marshalls Energy Company ( MEC ) , a government entity , provides the islands with electricity . In 2008 , 420 solar home systems of 200 Wp each were installed on Ailinglaplap Atoll , sufficient for limited electricity use . Demographics . There are 68 , 000 people living in the Marshall Islands . Most of these are Marshallese . The Marshallese are of Micronesian origin and migrated from Asia several thousand years ago . A minority of Marshallese have some recent Asian ancestry , mainly Japanese . Two - thirds of the nation ' s population lives on Majuro , the capital , and Ebeye , a densely populated island . The outer islands are sparsely populated due to lack of employment opportunities and economic development . Life on the outer atolls is generally traditional . The official language of the Marshall Islands is Marshallese , but it is common to speak the English language . Religion . Major religious groups in the Republic of the Marshall Islands include the United Church of Christ ( formerly Congregational ) , with 51 . 5 percent of the population ; the Assemblies of God , 24 . 2 percent ; and the Roman Catholic Church , 8 . 4 percent . The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - day Saints ( Mormons ) , 8 . 3 percent ; Also represented are Bukot Nan Jesus ( also known as Assembly of God Part Two ) , 2 . 2 percent ; Baptist , 1 . 0 percent ; Seventh - day Adventists , 0 . 9 percent ; Full Gospel , 0 . 7 percent ; and the Baha ' i Faith , 0 . 6 percent . Persons without any religious affiliation account for a very small percentage of the population . There is also a small community of Ahmadiyya Muslims based in Majuro , with the first mosque opening in the capital in September 2012 . Education . The Marshall Islands Ministry of Education operates the state schools in the Marshall Islands . There are two tertiary institutions operating in the Marshall Islands – the College of the Marshall Islands and The University of the South Pacific . Transportation . The Marshall Islands are served by the Marshall Islands International Airport in Majuro , the Bucholz Army Airfield in Kwajalein , and other small airports and airstrips . In 2005 , Aloha Airlines canceled its flight services to the Marshall Islands . Media . The Marshall Islands have several AM and FM radio stations . AM : V7AD 1098 • 1557 < br > FM : V7AD 97 . 9 • V7AA 104 . 1 ( formerly 96 . 3 ) < br > AFRTS : AM 1224 ( NPR ) • 99 . 9 ( Country ) • 101 . 1 ( Active Rock ) • 102 . 1 ( Hot AC ) Culture . Marshallese is used by the government . Although the ancient skills are now in decline , the Marshallese were once able navigators , using the stars and stick - and - shell charts . External links . Lat . Long . ( Majuro )