Marshall Islands
Name
| Official name | Republic of the Marshall Islands — Aolepān Aorōkin M̧ajeļ |
|---|---|
| Former names | The Marshall Islands district of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (1947–79); the Japanese South Seas Mandate (1920–44); the German Marshall Islands protectorate (1885–1914); Los Pintados, the painted ones, to the Spanish of 1528 |
| Demonym | Marshallese; ri-M̧ajeļ |
| Meaning of the name | Named on the charts for Captain John Marshall of the Royal Navy, who passed through with Thomas Gilbert on 25 June 1788 carrying convicts' ships home from Botany Bay by way of China; M̧ajeļ the Marshallese form; the Ratak and Ralik chains, the sunrise and the sunset |
| Motto | "Jepilpilin ke ejukaan" — accomplishment through joint effort; on the seal |
Quick facts
| Capital | Majuro — the atoll of the southern Ratak chain, the capital since the American years; 23,156 at the census of 2021, more than half the country, in the town from Rita to Laura along 50 km of road |
|---|---|
| Largest towns | Majuro, the districts of Delap, Uliga and Djarrit — D-U-D — and Laura at the far end; Ebeye on Kwajalein, about 10,000 on 0.36 km², the most crowded island of the Pacific; Jaluit, the old capital; Wotje; Arno; Ailinglaplap; Kwajalein islet of the American base, 1,300 Americans |
| Official languages | Marshallese — Kajin M̧ajeļ, a Micronesian language of the Oceanic family in two dialects, Ratak and Ralik, written since the missionaries of 1857 and respelled in 2010; English — the second official language, of the government and the law; both taught in the schools, Marshallese first since the 1990s |
| Currency | United States dollar — USD, $; the only money; the SOV crypto-currency law of 2018 repealed August 2025 |
| Time zone | Marshall Islands Time, UTC+12; no summer time; west of the dateline |
| Calling code | +692 |
| Internet domain | .mh |
| ISO 3166 codes | MH · MHL · 584 |
| Vehicle registration code | MH |
| Driving side | Right |
| Electricity | 120 V, 60 Hz; plug types A and B |
| Independence | Self-government under its own Constitution 1 May 1979, recognized by the United States; sovereignty in free association 21 October 1986 under the Compact; the UN trusteeship ended 22 December 1990; the United Nations 17 September 1991 |
| National days | 1 May, Constitution Day, the national day; 21 October, Compact Day; 1 March, Nuclear Victims and Survivors Remembrance Day, for Bravo of 1954; 17 November, Presidents' Day, Amata Kabua's birthday; 27 September, Manit Day, the culture day; 10 December, Gospel Day, for the missionaries of 1857; 5 July, Fishermen's Day; 1 September, Labor Day; Good Friday and Christmas |
| Constitution | 1 May 1979 — the Constitution of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, adopted by referendum on 1 March 1979 after the constitutional convention of 1977–78: a president elected by the Nitijela, a cabinet of ten, the Council of Iroij of twelve paramount chiefs, the Bill of Rights, the traditional land rights of the matrilineal clans; amended by referendum in 1990 and 1995; British parliamentary and American constitutional forms together |
| Population | 42,418 at the census of 2021, down 20% from 53,158 in 2011; about 37,500 (2024 est.) — the emigration to the United States under the Compact |
| Area | 181 km² (70 sq mi) of land — 29 atolls and 5 islands, 1,225 islands and islets; the lagoons 11,673 km², 98.5% of the territory; the exclusive economic zone about 2.1 million km² |
Flag & national symbols
| National flag | A blue field with two diagonal stripes of orange and white rising from the lower hoist and widening toward the upper fly, and a white star of 24 points in the canton — the blue the Pacific, the orange the Ralik chain and courage, the white the Ratak chain and peace, the stripes widening for the growth of the nation and the equator that the country lies just above, the 24 points the municipalities, the four long rays the cross and the four centers of Majuro, Jaluit, Wotje and Ebeye; designed by Emlain Kabua, the first lady, and adopted 1 May 1979, the day of self-government.Flag of the Marshall Islands |
|---|---|
| Seal of the republic | An angel with outstretched wings over the sea, between a rising sun with the islands, an outrigger canoe under sail, a stick chart, a coconut palm and a fishing net, within the words "Government of the Marshall Islands" and the motto "Jepilpilin ke ejukaan"; adopted 1979 |
| National anthem | "Forever Marshall Islands" — "Indeeo M̧ajeļ" — words and music by Amata Kabua, the first president; adopted 1991 in place of "Ij Io̧kwe Ļo̧k Aelōn̄ Eo Aō" of 1979 |
| National motto | "Jepilpilin ke ejukaan" |
| National colors | Blue, orange and white |
| National tree | The coconut palm, the tree of the copra, the oil, the toddy and the thatch, and the pandanus of the woven mats and the bōb fruit; widely cited |
| National symbols of the sea | The stick chart — the mattang, meddo and rebbelib of lashed palm ribs and shells that map the ocean swells for the navigators, a Marshallese invention; the outrigger canoe, the walap and the tipnol of the Waan Aelõñ in Majel canoe school; widely cited |
| National flower | The plumeria of the wut, the flower crowns of the feasts; widely cited and unofficial |
| National dish | Bwiro, the breadfruit preserved in pits and baked in leaves for the feasts; the coconut crab; the tuna sashimi and the fish of the reef; the rice and the pandanus; the kemem, the first-birthday feast of every child; widely cited |
| National sport | Canoe racing of the outriggers; weightlifting, the five golds of the Pacific Games of 2023; basketball and volleyball; the swimmers of the Olympic team since 2008; the football team that played its first match on 14 August 2025 at Springdale, Arkansas, the last country in the world to field one; widely cited |
| Symbol status | The flag and the seal by the acts of 1979; the anthem by the act of 1991; the tree, the sea symbols, the flower, the dishes and the sports widely cited |
Geography
| Location | Oceania, in Micronesia — the western Pacific north of the equator and west of the dateline, halfway between Hawaii and Australia; Kiribati to the southeast, Nauru to the south, the Federated States of Micronesia to the west, Wake Island to the north |
|---|---|
| Land borders | None — maritime boundaries with Kiribati, Nauru, the Federated States of Micronesia and the United States; the claim to Wake Island, Ānen Kio in Marshallese, from the legend of the ancestors, held by the United States since 1899 and not conceded |
| Coastline | 370 km (230 mi) — the reef rims of the atolls, the lagoons within, the passes; the shark sanctuary of 2011 over the whole exclusive zone of 2 million km², the largest in the world when declared; the marine sanctuary of Bikar and Bokak, 48,000 km², declared 28 January 2025 |
| Highest point | About 14 m (46 ft) on Airik islet of Maloelap Atoll; 10 m on Likiep by other counts |
| Lowest point | The Pacific Ocean, 0 m |
| Mean elevation | 2 m (7 ft) |
| The atolls | 29 atolls and 5 islands in two chains 130 km apart — the Ratak of Majuro, Arno, Mili, Maloelap, Wotje, Likiep and Ailuk; the Ralik of Kwajalein, Jaluit, Ailinglaplap, Namu, Ebon, Rongelap, Bikini and Enewetak; Kwajalein, the largest atoll, its 97 islets on a reef of 283 km around the largest lagoon in the world, about 2,170 km² by the widest count; Majuro, Jaluit and Arno the others of size; ten atolls and islands uninhabited, Bikini and Rongelap for their fallout, Bikar, Bokak and Ujelang for their drought |
| Rivers and lakes | None — no river, stream or lake in the country; the rain caught from the roofs and the lens of fresh water under the larger islets, the desalination and the reverse-osmosis plants of Majuro and Ebeye; the droughts of the north the standing emergency |
| Terrain | Low coral limestone and sand islands on the reef rims of the atolls, few more than a few hundred meters wide, the palms and the pandanus on the sand, the taro pits dug to the water; the volcanoes beneath drowned in the deep of the Pacific; the reefs of a thousand species of fish |
| Climate | Tropical, hot and humid — 27 to 32°C all year; the wet season of May to November and the drier December to April; the rain from about 1,300 mm in the dry northern atolls to twice that in the south, the trade winds of the east; the typhoons born in these waters that strengthen westward |
| Natural hazards | The sea's rise — 3.4 mm a year since 1993, twice the world's rate, the king tides that flood Majuro and Ebeye, the storm of 20 January 2024 across Kwajalein and Arno; drought — the state of emergency of 2016, the El Niño warnings of 2026 for the north; the typhoons of the 1990s; the coral bleaching; the radiation of Bikini, Enewetak, Rongelap and Utirik |
| Natural resources | The tuna of the exclusive zone, the country's wealth; the coconut and the copra; the phosphate of the old deposits; the deep-sea minerals of the seabed; the sun for the solar |
| Land use | Agricultural land about 70%, the coconut groves most of it; forest about 50% by the count of the palms; the arable pits of the taro |
| Protected areas | The shark sanctuary of 3 October 2011 over all the waters; the Bikar and Bokak marine sanctuary of 2025, the first; the Jaluit Atoll conservation area of 1999, a biosphere reserve; the Reimaanlok plan of the communities' reserves; the turtles and seabirds of the uninhabited northern atolls |
| UNESCO World Heritage | 1 — Bikini Atoll Nuclear Test Site (2010), the sunken fleet of Operation Crossroads and the Bravo crater, "a paradox of peace and war"; the stick charts and the canoes unlisted |
| Administrative divisions | 24 municipalities, the inhabited atolls and islands, each with a mayor and a council under the Local Government Act, from Ailinglaplap to Wotje; the Kili-Bikini-Ejit government of the Bikini exiles; the 24 electoral districts of the Nitijela the same |
People
| Population | 42,418 (census of 2021); about 37,500 (2024 est.) |
|---|---|
| Population density | About 230 per km² of land (600 per sq mi) — Majuro about 2,400, Ebeye about 28,000 |
| Population growth | Negative — about −1% a year by the emigration to the United States, the births high and the departures higher; the census of 2021 a fifth below that of 2011 |
| Median age | About 24 years |
| Life expectancy | About 65 years by the World Bank's count — the diabetes and the diet of the imports |
| Fertility rate | About 2.7 births per woman |
| Urban population | About 78% — Majuro and Ebeye |
| Adult literacy | About 98% |
| Ethnic groups | Marshallese 95.6%, the Micronesian people of the atolls with the Japanese, German and American lines of the traders and the administrators in some families; others 4.4% — the Filipinos, Chinese and Americans of Majuro, the Americans of Kwajalein (census of 2021) |
| Languages | Marshallese by nearly all as a first language, English by most as a second; the Ratak and Ralik dialects; the Marshallese of Springdale, Arkansas, the largest community outside the islands |
| Religion | Christian 96.2% — the United Church of Christ-Congregational of the Boston missionaries of 1857 47.9%, the Assemblies of God 14.1%, Roman Catholic 9.3%, the Latter-day Saints 5.7%, the Full Gospel 5%, Bukot nan Jesus 3%, the Jehovah's Witnesses and the rest; other faiths 2.7%, the Bahá'ís and the one Ahmadi mosque of Majuro; none 1.1% (census of 2021) |
| Human Development Index | 0.733 (2023 data, 2025 report) — high; 108th of 193 |
| Health | Diabetes among about three in ten adults, among the highest rates in the world, and obesity in most — the rice, flour and tinned food that replaced the fish and breadfruit; the tuberculosis and leprosy of Ebeye's crowding; the thyroid cancers and the leukemias of the fallout of Rongelap and Utirik; the hospitals of Majuro and Ebeye and the referrals to Honolulu |
| Sport | Weightlifting — the five golds of Mathlynn Sasser and the team at the Pacific Games of 2023; the swimmers and sprinters of the Olympics since Beijing 2008, two at Tokyo; the outrigger canoes; basketball and volleyball of the schools; the football federation of 2020 and the first international of 14 August 2025, lost 4–0 to the U.S. Virgin Islands; baseball and softball with the Micronesian Games silver of 2012 |
| Diaspora | About 30,000 Marshallese in the United States by the census of 2020, nearly as many as at home — Springdale, Arkansas, some 15,000 around the Tyson poultry plants; Hawaii, Washington, Oregon; the Compact's visa-free entry, the Medicaid restored to them in December 2020; the remittances home |
Government
| Form of government | Unitary parliamentary republic with an executive president under the Constitution of 1979 — the president elected by and from the Nitijela of 33 for four years, head of state and government, with a cabinet of up to ten ministers from the members; the Council of Iroij of twelve paramount chiefs as the advisory upper body on land and custom; the High Court and the Supreme Court; a state in free association with the United States |
|---|---|
| President | Hilda Heine, since 3 January 2024 — the ninth president, and the eighth of 2016–20; born 6 April 1951 at Majuro, the education professor with the first doctorate held by a Marshallese, of the University of Southern California, the education minister of 2012–16, the senator for Aur; elected 27 January 2016 as the first woman to lead a Pacific island nation and unseated by David Kabua in January 2020; elected again by the Nitijela on 2 January 2024 by 17 votes to 16 over Kabua; her address of August 2026 to the reopened Nitijela on security, the drugs, El Niño, the cost of living and "nuclear justice" |
| The cabinet | Bremity Lakjohn, the Ujae nurse, as Minister in Assistance to the President and environment minister; Kalani Kaneko at foreign affairs and trade; David Paul at finance; Joe Bejang at education; the ten ministers of the Nitijela's majority of the loose parties — Aelōn̄ Kein Ad, the United Democratic Party, Kien Eo Am and the United People's Party — that shift with the vote |
| The 2023 election | Held 20 November 2023 for the 33 seats — the independents and the four parties, the count finished 27 December, the new Nitijela's vote of 2 January 2024 that made Heine president over Kabua by one vote; Brenson Wase of Majuro elected Speaker; the Nitijela building of Majuro burned down on 26 August 2025, the sittings moved |
| Parliament | The Nitijela — 33 members elected for four years from 24 districts, 19 of one seat and five of two to five, Majuro with five and Kwajalein with three, by first past the post and block vote; the Council of Iroij of twelve; Brenson Wase the Speaker since January 2024; Kitlang Kabua of Kwajalein the youngest ever elected at 28 in 2019 |
| The next election | The general election by November 2027; the Nitijela's election of the president in January 2028 |
| The Compact | The Compact of Free Association with the United States — the first of 21 October 1986, amended in 2003 to run to 2023, and the third signed 16 October 2023 and enacted by Congress on 9 March 2024 for twenty years to 2043 with US$2.3 billion: the United States responsible for the defense and security of the islands with the right to deny other powers, the Marshallese free to live, work and study in the United States without visas, the U.S. Postal Service, the weather service and the disaster agency serving the islands, the Compact Trust Fund of about a billion dollars built for the day the grants end; the "climate of impunity" of the sea, the nuclear legacy the negotiators' first demand; the seven members' letter of November 2022 that the talks were "rushed" |
| Kwajalein | The Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site of the U.S. Army on eleven islets of Kwajalein Atoll since the 1950s — the target of the intercontinental missiles fired from California, the radars of the space fence, about 1,300 Americans on Kwajalein islet and the Marshallese workers on Ebeye across the water; the lease of the Military Use and Operating Rights Agreement to 2066 with an option to 2086, the rent of about US$20 million a year to the landowners; the SpaceX Falcon 1 launches from Omelek islet of 2006–09, the first privately built liquid rocket to reach orbit on 28 September 2008 |
| The nuclear legacy | 67 nuclear tests by the United States at Bikini and Enewetak from 30 June 1946 to 18 August 1958, 108 megatons in all, the equivalent of a Hiroshima bomb every day for twelve years — the 167 Bikinians moved "for the good of mankind" in March 1946 and never home, the first hydrogen bomb Ivy Mike of 1 November 1952 that erased Elugelab islet, Castle Bravo of 1 March 1954 at 15 megatons, the most powerful American test, its fallout on the people of Rongelap and Utirik and the Japanese fishermen of the Lucky Dragon; the Runit Dome of 1979 on Enewetak, 85,000 m³ of radioactive soil under a concrete cap the sea is reaching; the settlement of US$150 million of 1986, the Nuclear Claims Tribunal's awards of US$2.3 billion of which about US$4 million was paid, the Changed Circumstances petition of 2000 refused by Congress; the ICJ cases against the nine nuclear powers filed 24 April 2014 and dismissed in 2016; the U.S. position that the 1986 settlement was "full and final," the islands' that "nuclear justice" is unfinished; the sanctions of 10 February 2026 on the former Kili-Bikini-Ejit mayor Anderson Jibas for embezzling the Bikini trust and serving Chinese interests |
| Legal system | Common law of the United States and the Trust Territory with the customary law of the iroij and the alap over the land, which no one may sell — the matrilineal clans, the bwij, the holders; the High Court and the Supreme Court, the Traditional Rights Court; the death penalty none |
| Local government | 24 municipal governments with elected mayors and councils; the Majuro Atoll Local Government of the capital; the Kwajalein Atoll Local Government of Ebeye; the Kili-Bikini-Ejit government of the exiles with its trust; the iroij beside them |
| Foreign policy | Taiwan recognized since 1998, President Lai's visit of 3 December 2024, the trade agreement of 2019; the climate diplomacy of Tony deBrum, the foreign minister who built the High Ambition Coalition of Paris in 2015 for the 1.5°C and the "1.5 to stay alive"; the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons signed in spirit and not ratified, "it does not go far enough," the president said; the Pacific Islands Forum, left in the Micronesian walkout of February 2021 and rejoined; the shipping flag; the U.S. embassy of 1989 at Majuro |
| Defense | The United States by the Compact — no army; the Sea Patrol of the police with the patrol boat Lomor given by Australia in 1991 and its successor, for the fisheries and the rescues; the Kwajalein base; the maritime surveillance and the drug-trafficking summit of 2026 |
| United Nations | Member since 17 September 1991; the Security Council candidacy never held; the votes with the United States; the climate speeches of the small islands |
| Other memberships | The Pacific Islands Forum (1987); the Pacific Community (1983); the Nauru Agreement of the tuna states; the International Maritime Organization of the flag; the International Labour Organization (2007); the Alliance of Small Island States; the Asian Development Bank; the IMF and the World Bank (1992) |
Economy
| GDP (nominal) | About US$290 million (2024, World Bank) — about US$300 million (2025 est.) |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita | About US$7,700 (2024) |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | About US$7,000 (2025) |
| GDP growth | About 3% a year in 2024–25 on the Compact's new grants and the fishing fees; inflation about 3%; the fuel, food and transport costs of 2026 "weighing on households," the president said, and the emergency assistance of the World Bank sought |
| Economy by sector | Services about 80%, the government the largest employer; industry about 10%; agriculture and fishing about 10% |
| Currency | United States dollar (USD) |
| The Compact money | U.S. grants of about US$115 million a year under the third Compact of 2024–43, US$2.3 billion in all, about half of the government's budget; the Compact Trust Fund of about US$1 billion for the day after; the base rent of Kwajalein; the U.S. programs of the postal service, the weather, the schools and the disaster aid |
| Tuna and the sea | Majuro the busiest tuna transshipment port in the world — some 700 transfers and 440,000 metric tons a year at the peak; the fishing-license fees of the purse seiners under the Nauru Agreement's Vessel Day Scheme, about US$30 million a year, the second income; the Pan Pacific Foods loining plant for Bumble Bee; the Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority |
| The ship registry | The Marshall Islands flag, opened in 1990 and run from Reston, Virginia, by International Registries — among the three largest registries in the world with Panama and Liberia by tonnage, some 5,000 ships and the tankers of the oil trade; the Maersk Tigris seized by Iran in 2015 and the U.S. reading that its defense duty stops at the ships; the fees to the treasury |
| Copra and the land | Copra, the dried coconut of the outer islands bought by the state's Tobolar at a subsidized price, the only cash of the atolls; the breadfruit, pandanus, taro and bananas of the pits; the pigs and chickens; the handicrafts of the pandanus weavers |
| The basic income | ENRA, the universal basic income announced in November 2025 — payments to every citizen by check, deposit or the Lomalo digital wallet, "shared waters," backed by USDM1, the digital sovereign bond collateralized by short U.S. Treasuries under New York law; the SOV crypto-currency of the law of 2018, the first such legal tender in the world, never launched and repealed August 2025 |
| Energy | Diesel generators of the Marshalls Energy Company for Majuro and Ebeye, the solar of the outer islands' homes since 2008 and the plants of the 2010s, the coconut oil tried as fuel; the net-zero pledge for 2050; the fuel imports the largest bill |
| Public finances | The budget of about US$300 million, half of it American; public debt about 25% of GDP; the taxes of 8 and 12% on income and 3% on turnover; the Monetary Authority strengthened in 2026 |
| Income classification | Upper-middle income (World Bank); a small island developing state |
Transport & infrastructure
| Main airports | Amata Kabua International Airport at Majuro, on the reef between the ocean and the lagoon, of 1971; Bucholz Army Airfield on Kwajalein for the base and United's stop; about 30 airstrips of the outer atolls |
|---|---|
| Airlines | United Airlines' Island Hopper from Honolulu through Majuro and Kwajalein to Guam, the lifeline since the 1960s; Nauru Airlines; Air Marshall Islands, the state carrier of 1980 with its Dornier and Dash 8 to the atolls, grounded as often as flying; Asia Pacific Airlines for the cargo |
| Main port | Majuro — the Delap dock and the tuna transshipment lagoon, the container ships of Matson and Kyowa from Honolulu and Asia; Ebeye and Kwajalein; the field-trip ships of the government to the outer atolls with the copra and the supplies |
| Railways | None |
| Roads | About 2,000 km (1,250 mi), fewer than 100 km paved — the road of Majuro from Rita to Laura along the atoll's rim, 50 km; Ebeye's streets; the taxis of Majuro at a dollar a ride; the driving on the right |
| The sea | The outrigger canoes of the navigators, the walap of the long voyages and the tipnol of the lagoons, sailed by the stick charts; the Waan Aelõñ in Majel program that teaches the young to build them; the ferry of Ebeye to Kwajalein; the submarine cable of 2010 |
History in dates
| c. 1000 BC | The first settlers from the Solomons — Bikini by 1200 BC |
|---|---|
| 1526 | Alonso de Salazar sights Bokak, 21 August — the first European |
| 1788 | John Marshall and Thomas Gilbert at Mili, 25 June |
| 1817 | Kotzebue's visit |
| 1857 | The Boston missionaries at Ebon |
| 1878 | The German treaty at Jaluit, 29 November |
| 1885 | The German protectorate, 15 October |
| 1914 | Japan occupies the islands, 29 September – 3 October |
| 1920 | The Japanese mandate |
| 1944 | The Americans take Kwajalein and Majuro, 31 January |
| 1946 | The Bikinians removed, March; Crossroads, 1 July |
| 1947 | The Trust Territory, 18 July |
| 1952 | Ivy Mike, the first hydrogen bomb, 1 November |
| 1954 | Castle Bravo, 1 March — 15 megatons |
| 1958 | The last test, 18 August |
| 1965 | The Congress of Micronesia |
| 1979 | The Constitution, 1 May — Amata Kabua president; the Runit Dome sealed |
| 1986 | The Compact in force, 21 October |
| 1990 | The trusteeship ended, 22 December |
| 1991 | The United Nations, 17 September |
| 2000 | Kessai Note, the first commoner president, 10 January |
| 2004 | The amended Compact, 1 May |
| 2008 | The first Olympic team; Falcon 1 to orbit from Omelek, 28 September |
| 2011 | The shark sanctuary, 3 October |
| 2014 | The ICJ cases against the nuclear powers, 24 April |
| 2016 | Heine the first woman president, 27 January; the drought emergency |
| 2018 | The SOV crypto law, 26 February |
| 2020 | David Kabua president, 13 January |
| 2023 | The third Compact signed, 16 October; the election, 20 November |
| 2024 | Heine again, 3 January; the floods, 20 January; the Compact enacted, 9 March; Lai's visit, 3 December |
| 2025 | The marine sanctuary, 28 January; the first football match, 14 August; the SOV repealed, August; the Nitijela burns, 26 August; ENRA, November |
| 2026 | The Jibas sanctions, 10 February; the president's address, August |
Records & firsts
| The largest lagoon in the world | Kwajalein, about 2,170 km² |
|---|---|
| The most water of any state | Lagoons 98.5% of the territory |
| The most powerful American nuclear test | Castle Bravo, 15 megatons, 1954 |
| The first hydrogen bomb | Ivy Mike, Enewetak, 1 November 1952 |
| 67 nuclear tests | 1946–58 |
| The first privately built liquid rocket to orbit | Falcon 1, Omelek, 2008 |
| The first woman to lead a Pacific island state | Heine, 2016 |
| The largest shark sanctuary when declared | 2 million km², 2011 |
| The busiest tuna transshipment port | Majuro |
| The first crypto legal tender, never launched | The SOV, 2018–25 |
| The last country to play international football | 14 August 2025 |
| The most crowded island of the Pacific | Ebeye, 10,000 on 0.36 km² |
| The stick chart | A map of the waves |
| A president elected by one vote | Heine, 17 to 16, 2024 |
Frequently asked questions
What is the official name of the Marshall Islands?
The Republic of the Marshall Islands — Aolepān Aorōkin M̧ajeļ in Marshallese — self-governing under its own Constitution since 1 May 1979 and a sovereign state in free association with the United States since the Compact of Free Association took effect on 21 October 1986, the United Nations trusteeship over it ended in 1990 and its UN seat taken in 1991. The name is a British captain's: John Marshall, who sailed through the islands in 1788 on his way from Botany Bay to China and left it on the charts; the people's own name for their country is M̧ajeļ, and for themselves the ri-M̧ajeļ.
What is the capital of the Marshall Islands?
Majuro — the atoll of 64 islets around a lagoon of 295 km² in the southern Ratak chain, its eastern islets joined by a 50 km road into one long town from Rita to Laura, the seat of the government since the American administration moved it from Jaluit and Kwajalein; the census of 2021 counted 23,156 people there, more than half the country, on 9.7 km² of land. Ebeye on Kwajalein Atoll, the crowded island of the workers of the American missile base, is the second town; Jaluit, the old German and Japanese capital, Wotje and Arno follow.
How big is the Marshall Islands, and how many people live there?
About 181 km² (70 sq mi) of land — the size of Washington, D.C. — scattered over 29 coral atolls and five islands, 1,225 islands and islets in all, in two chains running northwest to southeast across 1.9 million km² of the western Pacific between Hawaii and Australia: the Ratak, the sunrise chain, and the Ralik, the sunset chain. The lagoons inside the atolls cover 98.5 percent of the territory, the highest share of water of any state. The census of 2021 counted 42,418 people, a fifth fewer than in 2011, the Marshallese having left for Arkansas, Hawaii and the rest of the United States as the Compact allows; the estimate for 2024 is about 37,500, four in five of them on Majuro and Ebeye.
What are the highest and lowest points of the Marshall Islands?
A dune of about 14 m (46 ft) on Airik islet of Maloelap Atoll by the Factbook's count, and the Pacific; the average height of the land above the sea is 2 m (7 ft), the islands the tops of the reefs that grew on drowned volcanoes. There are no rivers, hills or lakes — only the lagoons, the largest of them Kwajalein's, about 2,170 km² by the widest count, the largest lagoon in the world. The sea has risen more than 3 mm a year around the islands since 1993, twice the world's rate; a rise of a meter would flood a third of Kwajalein's buildings and half of Ebeye's, and two meters would take all of Majuro.
What currency does the Marshall Islands use?
The United States dollar (ISO code USD, $), the only money since the American administration of 1944; the law of 2018 that made a national crypto-currency, the SOV, a second legal tender never issued a coin and was repealed in August 2025, and the government pays its citizens' basic income of 2025 in dollars through a digital wallet backed by U.S. Treasury bills. Clocks keep Marshall Islands Time, UTC+12, all year, on the western side of the dateline; the country drives on the right, on American plugs and 120 volts.
Who governs the Marshall Islands?
President Hilda Heine, head of state and government since 3 January 2024, elected by the 33 members of the Nitijela by 17 votes to 16 over the incumbent David Kabua after the general election of November 2023 — the first woman to lead any Pacific island state when she first held the office in 2016–20, a professor of education with a doctorate, the voice of the "nuclear justice" the islands seek for the 67 American bomb tests of 1946–58 and of the climate case of the atolls. The United States, under the Compact of Free Association renewed for 20 years in 2024 with US$2.3 billion, is responsible for the country's defense and keeps its missile-test base on Kwajalein; the Marshallese may live and work in the United States without visas. The next election is due by November 2027.
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