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Marshall Islands:
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Other pages in this profile of the Marshall Islands:
People, Government, Economy, Communications & Transportation, Military & Transnational Issues.
People, Government, Economy, Communications & Transportation, Military & Transnational Issues.
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Background |
Definition 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 US nuclear testing on some of the atolls between 1947 and 1962. The Marshall Islands hosts the US Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) Reagan Missile Test Site, a key installation in the US missile defense network. |
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Location |
Definition Oceania, two archipelagic island chains of 29 atolls, each made up of many small islets, and five single islands in the North Pacific Ocean, about half way between Hawaii and Australia |
Geographic coordinates |
Definition 9 00 N, 168 00 E |
Map references |
Definition Oceania |
Area |
Definition - World rank and map total: 181.3 sq km land: 181.3 sq km water: 0 sq km note: the archipelago includes 11,673 sq km of lagoon waters and includes the atolls of Bikini, Enewetak, Kwajalein, Majuro, Rongelap, and Utirik |
Area - comparative |
Definition about the size of Washington, DC |
Land boundaries |
Definition 0 km |
Coastline |
Definition 370.4 km |
Maritime claims |
Definition territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Climate |
Definition tropical; hot and humid; wet season May to November; islands border typhoon belt |
Terrain |
Definition low coral limestone and sand islands |
Elevation extremes |
Definition lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Likiep 10 m |
Natural resources |
Definition coconut products, marine products, deep seabed minerals |
Land use |
Definition - World rank and map arable land: 11.11% permanent crops: 44.44% other: 44.45% (2005) |
Irrigated land |
Definition 0 sq km |
Natural hazards |
Definition infrequent typhoons |
Environment - current issues |
Definition inadequate supplies of potable water; pollution of Majuro lagoon from household waste and discharges from fishing vessels |
Environment - international agreements |
Definition party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Geography - note |
Definition the Marshall Islands Bikini and Enewetak are former US nuclear test sites; Kwajalein, the famous World War II battleground, is used as a US missile test range; island city of Ebeye is the second largest settlement in the Marshall Islands, after the capital of Majuro, and one of the most densely populated locations in the Pacific |
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Copyright 2008 World Sites Atlas (sitesatlas.com) |