Country Fast Facts:Marshall Islands

Although they were settled by Micronesians in the 2nd millennium BC, little is known of the early history of the islands. Spanish explorer Alonso de Salazar was the first European to sight the Marshall Islands in 1526, but the islands remained virtually unvisited by Europeans for several more centuries, before the arrival of British Captain John Marshall in 1788; the islands owe their name to him.

A German trading company settled on the islands in 1885, and they became part of the protectorate of German New Guinea some years later. Japan conquered the islands in World War I, and administered them as a League of Nations mandate.

In World War II, the United States occupied the islands (1944), and they were added to the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (including several more island groups in the South Sea).

Between 1946 and 1958 the United States tested 66 nuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands, including the largest nuclear test the United States ever conducted, Castle Bravo. Nuclear claims between the United States and the Marshall Islands are ongoing, and health effects still linger from these tests.

After almost four decades under US administration as the easternmost part of the UN Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, the Marshall Islands attained independence in 1986 under a Compact of Free Association.

Compensation claims continue as a result of U.S. nuclear testing on some of the atolls between 1947 and 1962.

The Marshall Islands hosts the U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) Reagan Missile Test Site, a key installation in the U.S. missile defense network.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population:
61,815 (July 2007 est.)

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Age structure:
0-14 years: 38.3% (male 12,061/female 11,622)
15-64 years: 58.9% (male 18,634/female 17,775)
65 years and over: 2.8% (male 832/female 891) (2007 est.)

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Median age:
total: 20.7 years
male: 20.7 years
female: 20.7 years (2007 est.)

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Population growth rate:
2.207% (2007 est.)

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Birth rate:
32.37 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Death rate:
4.66 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Net migration rate:
-5.65 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.038 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.048 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.934 male(s)/female
total population: 1.041 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

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Infant mortality rate:
total: 27.3 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 30.62 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 23.82 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

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Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 70.61 years
male: 68.61 years
female: 72.71 years (2007 est.)

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Total fertility rate:
3.76 children born/woman (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
NA

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
NA

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HIV/AIDS - deaths:
NA

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Nationality:
noun: Marshallese (singular and plural)
adjective: Marshallese

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Ethnic groups:
Micronesian

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Religions:
Protestant 54.8%, Assembly of God 25.8%, Roman Catholic 8.4%, Bukot nan Jesus 2.8%, Mormon 2.1%, other Christian 3.6%, other 1%, none 1.5% (1999 census)

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Languages:
Marshallese (official) 98.2%, other languages 1.8% (1999 census)
note: English (official), widely spoken as a second language

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Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 93.7%
male: 93.6%
female: 93.7% (1999)

US Government assistance is the mainstay of this tiny island economy. Agricultural production, primarily subsistence, is concentrated on small farms; the most important commercial crops are coconuts and breadfruit. Small-scale industry is limited to handicrafts, tuna processing, and copra. The tourist industry, now a small source of foreign exchange employing less than 10% of the labor force, remains the best hope for future added income. The islands have few natural resources, and imports far exceed exports. Under the terms of the Amended Compact of Free Association, the US will provide millions of dollars per year to the Marshall Islands (RMI) through 2023, at which time a Trust Fund made up of US and RMI contributions will begin perpetual annual payouts. Government downsizing, drought, a drop in construction, the decline in tourism, and less income from the renewal of fishing vessel licenses have held GDP growth to an average of 1% over the past decade.

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GDP (purchasing power parity):
$115 million (2001 est.)

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GDP (official exchange rate):
$144 million (2005)

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GDP - real growth rate:
3.5% (2005 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP):
$2,900 (2005 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 31.7%
industry: 14.9%
services: 53.4% (2004 est.)

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Labor force:
14,680 (2000)

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Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 21.4%
industry: 20.9%
services: 57.7%

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Unemployment rate:
30.9% (2000 est.)

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Population below poverty line:
NA%

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Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

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Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3% (2005 est.)

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Budget:
revenues: $42 million
expenditures: $40 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (1999)

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Agriculture - products:
coconuts, tomatoes, melons, taro, breadfruit, fruits; pigs, chickens

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Industries:
copra, tuna processing, tourism, craft items from seashells, wood, and pearls

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Industrial production growth rate:
NA%

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Exports:
$9.1 million f.o.b. (2000)

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Exports - commodities:
copra cake, coconut oil, handicrafts, fish

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Exports - partners:
US, Japan, Australia, China (2006)

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Imports:
$54.7 million f.o.b. (2000)

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Imports - commodities:
foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fuels, beverages and tobacco

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Imports - partners:
US, Japan, Australia, NZ, Singapore, Fiji, China, Philippines (2006)

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Debt - external:
$86.5 million (FY99/00 est.)

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Economic aid - recipient:
$51.1 million more than $1 billion from the US, 1986-2002 (2004)

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Currency (code):
US dollar (USD)

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Exchange rates:
the US dollar is used

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Fiscal year:
1 October - 30 September