| U.S. Department of State Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs November 2003 Background Note: Marshall Islands PROFILE OFFICIAL NAME: Republic of the Marshall Islands Geography Area: 181 sq. km. (about 70 sq. mi.) of land area scattered over 500,000 sq. mi. of the Western Pacific. Cities: CapitalMajuro (pop. 23,676). Other townsEbeye, Jaluit. Terrain: 29 low-lying coral atolls and five islands. Climate: Tropical with a wet season from May to November. People Nationality: Noun and adjectiveMarshallese. Population (2002 est..): 56,639. (Figures not adjusted for migration to the U.S., where Marshallese colonies of unknown size exist.) Annual growth rate (1999): 1.5%%. 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(1999) 3.7%, under age 5 mortality rate 4.8%. Life expectancymen 65.7 yrs.; women 69.4 yrs. Work force (14,677: 69,1% employed, 30.9% unemployed): Services, including government64%; construction and services18%; agriculture and fishing18%. 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: Executivepresident (chief of state), cabinet. Legislativeunicameral parliament (Nitijela) and consultative Council of Iroij (traditional leaders). JudicialSupreme 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. Flag: marshall flag Economy GDP (current market prices, 2000): $99 million est. Natural resources: Marine resources, including mariculture and possible deep seabed minerals. Agriculture: ProductsCopra (dried coconut meat); taro and breadfruit are subsistence crops. Industry: TypesCopra processing, tuna loining. Trade: Major trading partnersU.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. There are two post-secondary institutions in the Marshall Islands the 2-year College of the Marshall Islands and the pre-university branch of the University of the South Pacific. 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 was elected in the general elections of November 1999 and took office in January 2000. 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 StatePresident Kessai H. Note Minister of Foreign AffairsGerald Zackios Ambassador to the U.S.Banny de Brum Ambassador to the UNAlfred 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). 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 will elect a new Nitijela that will take office in January of 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 55% of the Marshalls' $98.5 million budget for fiscal year 2003. 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 employs 580 workers, mostly women, starting at $1.50 per hour. 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 over 600 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. 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's original economic provisions was 15 years (ending in 2001). The provisions were subsequently extended though September 2003 while an Amended Compact was negotiated. That Compact, modifying the economic and immigration provisions of the original, was signed in April of 2003. It has been ratified by the Government of the Marshall Islands, and will go into effect when implementing legislation and ratification is completed in the U.S. 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 have expressed an interest in attracting U.S. investment. Principal U.S. Embassy Officials AmbassadorGreta Morris Deputy Chief of MissionThomas Praster Administrative/Consular OfficerKatrina Ford 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 which 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 ConsularAffairs 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. Passport information can be obtained by calling the National Passport Information Center's automated system ($.35 per minute) or live operators 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (EST) Monday-Friday ($1.05 per minute). The number is 1-900-225-5674 (TDD: 1-900-225-7778). Major credit card users (for a flat rate of $4.95) may call 1-888-362-8668 (TDD: 1-888-498-3648). It also is available on the internet. 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 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://state.gov, the Department of State web site provides timely, global access to official U.S. foreign policy information, including Background Notes; daily press briefings; Country Commercial Guides; directories of key officers of Foreign Service posts and more. National Trade Data Bank (NTDB). Operated by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the NTDB contains a wealth of trade-related information. It is available on the Internet (www.stat-usa.gov) and on CD-ROM. Call the NTDB Help-Line at (202) 482-1986 for more information. *********************************************************** See http://www.state.gov/r/pa/bgn/ for all Background notes ************************************************************ To change your subscription, go to http://www.state.gov/www/listservs_cms.html | |
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