Wayzata World Factbook 1996/The World Factbook - 1996 Edition - Wayzata Technology (3079) (1996).iso/mac/TEXT/backgrd/marshall.BKG

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BACKGROUND NOTES:  THE MARSHALL ISLANDS
PUBLISHED BY THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE

FEBRUARY 1994
Official Name:  Republic of the Marshall Islands

PROFILE

People
Nationality:  Noun and adjective--Marshallese.
Population (1993 est.):  50,000.
Annual growth rate:  4%.
Ethnic groups:  95% Marshallese, 5% U.S., Filipino, Chinese, New
Zealander, and Korean.
Religions:  Christian, mostly Protestant.
Languages:  English; two major Marshallese dialects from Malayo-
Polynesian family; Japanese.
Education:  Literacy (1991)--60%.  Health:  Infant mortality rate--
63/1,000.  Life expectancy--men 61 yrs., women 64 yrs.  Work
force--about 15,000:  Services, including government--58%.
Construction and manufacturing--21%.  Agriculture and fishing--
21%.

Geography
Area:  181 sq. km. (approximately 70 sq. mi.) of islands scattered
over 500,000 sq. mi. of the Western Pacific; slightly larger than
Washington, DC.
Cities:  Capital--Majuro (pop. 22,000).  Other cities--Ebeye, Jaluit.
Terrain:  34 low-lying coral atolls and volcanic islands.
Climate:  Tropical with a wet season from May to November.

Government
Type:  Parliamentary democracy in free association with the U.S.; the
Compact of Free Association entered into force October 21, 1986.
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:  "Government" Party and the Ralik-Ratak
Democratic Party (RRDP).
Suffrage:  Universal at age 18.
Administrative subdivisions:  24 local governments.
Flag:  Deep blue background with two rays, one orange and one white,
and a 24-point star.

Economy
GDP:  $69 million (This 1988 figure is the most recent available
from the Marshallese Government).
Per capita income (est.):  $1,600 (factoring in U.S. assistance
through Compact of Free Association payments; $200-$600 without
U.S. payments).
Natural resources:  Marine resources, including mariculture, and
possible deep seabed minerals.
Agriculture:  Copra (dried coconut meat), taro, breadfruit.
Industry:  Copra processing.
Trade (1989 est.):  Exports--$2.2 million:  trochus shells, copra cake
and oil, tropical aquarium fish, chilled fish.  Imports--$44.3 million:
food, fuel, consumer goods.  Major trading partners:  U.S., Japan,
Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand.
Official currency:  U.S. dollar.



PEOPLE
The Marshalls are comprised of 34 atolls and major islands, which
form two parallel groups--the "Ratak" (sunrise) chain and the "Ralik"
(sunset) chain.

Nearly three-fourths of the nation's population lives in the capital,
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 clan system tied to land ownership.  Virtually all
Marshallese are Christian, most of them Protestant.  Roman
Catholics account for a small segment of the population.  Other
Christian denominations include Seventh-day Adventist, Mormon,
Salvation Army, and Jehovah's Witness.  A small Bahai community
also exists.

Both Marshallese and English are the official languages.  English is
spoken by most of the 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 4th grade.  There is one post-secondary institution
in the Marshall Islands--the College of the Marshall Islands.


HISTORY
Little is clearly understood about the prehistory of the Marshall
Islands.  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
is about all that researchers agree upon.  The Spanish explorer
Alvarode Saavendra landed there in 1529.  The islands were claimed
by Spain in 1874.  They were named for English explorer John
Marshall, who visited them in 1799.  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,
known 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, and 1991.

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 Amata Kabua
Minister of Foreign Affairs--Tom Kijiner
Ambassador to the U.S.--Wilfred I. Kendall
Ambassador to the UN--Carl L. Heine

The Republic of the Marshall Islands maintains an embassy at 2433
Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008  (tel. 202-234-
5414).  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.  [phone]).  Consulates are located at 1441
Kapiolani Blvd., Suite 1910, Honolulu, HI  96814  (tel. 808-942-
4422) and 1500 Quail St., Suite 210, Newport Beach, CA  92660 (tel.
714-474-0331).


POLITICAL CONDITIONS
Citizens of the Marshall Islands live with a relatively new
democratic political system combined with a hierarchical
traditional culture.  As in some other Pacific island nations,
potential conflict has been avoided by virtue of the fact that one of
the highest chiefs, Amata Kabua, has been elected President.  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.

There have been some incidents of human rights concern, however,
such as the government urging a high court judge to resign or putting
pressure on the local newspaper because of press criticism.

In the 1991 national election, the Ralik-Ratak Democratic Party
(RRDP) was formed to run against President Kabua and his
supporters.  The governing party was later called the Government
Party.  The RRDP elected only two candidates to the Nitijela, but the
party remains an alternative for people dissatisfied with the
national government.


ECONOMY
The government is the largest employer, employing 34% of the
workforce.  GDP is derived mainly from payments made by the United
States under the terms of the Compact of Free Trade Association.
Direct U.S. aid accounted for $40 million of the Marshalls' 1992
budget of $65 million.

The economy combines a small subsistence sector and a modern,
urban sector.  The subsistence sector, on the outer islands, is fueled
by the production of copra and handicrafts.  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, which gives a boost to the economy in its own right.  The
airfield there also serves as a national hub for Air Marshall Islands.

The modern sector consists of wholesale and retail trade,
restaurants, banking and insurance, construction and repair services,
professional services, and copra processing.  Copra cake and oil are
by far the nation's largest exports.  At $1.8 million, copra accounted
for 79% of 1989 exports.  Copra production, the most important
single commercial activity for the past 100 years, now depends on
government subsidies, however.  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, opening a cannery, and
aquaculture, as well as tourism development and agriculture are top
government development priorities.  The Marshall Islands is working
to establish a fishing fleet and sells fishing rights to other nations
as a source of income.  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 (see U.S.-Marshallese Relations).  Since
independence, the Republic of the Marshall Islands has established
relations with a number of 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 China.


U.S.-MARSHALLESE RELATIONS
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 reviewed the compact, adding several amendments
which were accepted by the Government of the Marshall Islands.

The compact was signed into U.S. law on January 14, 1986 (PL 99-
239), and entered into force on October 21, 1986.  The Republic of
the Marshall Islands is a sovereign nation in "free association" with
the United States.  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 duration of the compact
is 15 years (ending in 2001), with renegotiations to begin in the
13th year (1999).

A major subsidiary agreement of the compact allows the United
States continued use of the Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) missile
test range for up to 30 years.  Kwajalein, an atoll consisting of
approximately 90 islets around the largest lagoon in the world, is
used by the Department of Defense on a lease agreement with the
Government of the Marshall Islands.  The U.S. Department of Defense
controls the use of some islands within Kwajalein atoll.

Another major subsidiary agreement of the compact provides for
settlement of all claims arising from the U.S. nuclear tests
conducted at Bikini and Enewetak Atolls from 1946 to 1958.

The United States and the Marshall Islands have full diplomatic
relations.  The Marshall Islands have expressed an interest in
attracting U.S. investment and hosted an Overseas Private
Investment Corporation mission in March 1992.

Fifteen Peace Corps teachers serve in the Marshall Islands.  Under
the terms of the compact, more than 40 U.S. Federal Government
agencies such as the Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Postal
Service, the Small Business Administration, and Federal Emergency
Management Agency operate programs or render assistance to the
Marshall Islands.

Principal U.S. Embassy Officials
Ambassador--David C. Fields
Political/Economic/Consular Officer--Thomas M. Murphy
Administrative Officer--John W. Dinkleman
Peace Corps Director--Jamie Fouss

The U.S. embassy in the Marshall Islands is located on Lagoon Road,
Majuro  (tel. [phone]).  Mailing Address:  PO Box 680, Majuro,
MH  96960.


TRAVEL NOTES

Customs:  Proof of U.S. citizenship, preferably a passport, but not
visas, are required of American citizens travelling to the Marshall
Islands.  Visitors can obtain permits to stay up to three months by
presenting an onward or return ticket and evidence of sufficient
funds to cover the period of stay.  Immunizations against cholera and
yellow fever may be required of travelers coming from infected
areas.  AIDS testing may be required of visitors staying longer than
3 months.

Climate and clothing:  Climate is tropical, with high humidity, an
average temperature of 84 degrees, and little seasonal change.
Rainfall varies from 6-14 inches monthly.  Dress is casual.  Shorts
are not acceptable as street wear for either sex.

Health:  Typhoid, hepatitis B, and venereal diseases are endemic in
the Marshall Islands.  Typhoid and polio shots are recommended.
Health care is adequate for minor medical problems.  Tap water is
not potable; bottled water is available.  Travelers should consult
latest information.

Telecommunications:  Domestic and international telephone service
is available.  Telephone service outside Majuro and Kwajalein is
unavailable.  Outer islands are linked by an HF radio net.  Majuro is
across the international date line, 16 standard time zones ahead of
eastern standard time.

Transportation:  Flights arrive in Majuro from Honolulu, Guam, and
Fiji several times a week.  Domestic flights service 25 airstrips on
22 inhabited atolls.  Transportation between islands is also
available by sea.  Taxis are plentiful in Majuro, and public
transportation is excellent; Rental cars are available, but there are
only 152 km. (95 mi.) of paved roads in the Marshalls (mostly on
Majuro and Ebeye).


Published by the U.S. Department of State -- Bureau of Public
Affairs -- Office of Public Communication -- Washington, DC 20520
--
February 1994 -- Managing Editor:  Peter Knecht.

Department of State Publication 10096 -- Background Note Series
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