214 lines
17 KiB
Plaintext
214 lines
17 KiB
Plaintext
|
MARSHALL ISLANDS
|
|||
|
|
GEOGRAPHY
|
|||
|
|
Total area: 181.3 km2; land area: 181.3 km2; includes the atolls
|
|||
|
|
of Bikini, Eniwetak, and Kwajalein
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Comparative area: slightly larger than Washington, DC
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Land boundaries: none
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Coastline: 370.4 km
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Maritime claims:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Contiguous zone: 24 nm;
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Territorial sea: 12 nm
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Disputes: claims US territory of Wake Island
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Climate: wet season May to November; hot and humid; islands border
|
|||
|
|
typhoon belt
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Terrain: low coral limestone and sand islands
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Natural resources: phosphate deposits, marine products, deep seabed
|
|||
|
|
minerals
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Land use: arable land 0%; permanent crops 60%; meadows and pastures
|
|||
|
|
0%; forest and woodland 0%; other 40%
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Environment: occasionally subject to typhoons; two archipelagic
|
|||
|
|
island chains of 30 atolls and 1,152 islands
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Note: located 3,825 km southwest of Honolulu in the North Pacific
|
|||
|
|
Ocean, about two-thirds of the way between Hawaii and Papua New Guinea;
|
|||
|
|
Bikini and Eniwetak are former US nuclear test sites; Kwajalein, the
|
|||
|
|
famous World War II battleground, is now used as a US missile test range
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
PEOPLE
|
|||
|
|
Population: 48,091 (July 1991), growth rate 3.9% (1991)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Birth rate: 47 births/1,000 population (1991)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Death rate: 8 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Infant mortality rate: 53 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Life expectancy at birth: 61 years male, 64 years female (1991)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Total fertility rate: 7.1 children born/woman (1991)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Nationality: noun--Marshallese; adjective--Marshallese
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Ethnic divisions: almost entirely Micronesian
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Religion: predominantly Christian, mostly Protestant
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Language: English universally spoken and is the official language;
|
|||
|
|
two major Marshallese dialects from Malayo-Polynesian family; Japanese
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Literacy: 93% (male 100%, female 88%) age 15 and over can
|
|||
|
|
read and write (1980)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Labor force: 4,800 (1986)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Organized labor: none
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
GOVERNMENT
|
|||
|
|
Long-form name: Republic of the Marshall Islands
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Type: constitutional government in free association with the US;
|
|||
|
|
the Compact of Free Association entered into force 21 October 1986
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Capital: Majuro
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Administrative divisions: none
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Independence: 21 October 1986 (from the US-administered UN
|
|||
|
|
trusteeship; formerly the Marshall Islands District of the Trust
|
|||
|
|
Territory of the Pacific Islands)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Constitution: 1 May 1979
|
|||
|
|
Legal system: based on adapted Trust Territory laws, acts of the
|
|||
|
|
legislature, municipal, common, and customary laws
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
National holiday: Proclamation of the Republic of the Marshall
|
|||
|
|
Islands, 1 May (1979)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Executive branch: president, Cabinet
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Legislative branch: unicameral Nitijela
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Leaders:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Chief of State and Head of Government--President Amata KABUA
|
|||
|
|
(since 1979)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Political parties and leaders: no formal parties; President KABUA
|
|||
|
|
is chief political (and traditional) leader
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Suffrage: universal at age 18
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Elections:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
President--last held NA November 1987 (next to be held November
|
|||
|
|
1991); results--President Amata KABUA was reelected;
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Parliament--last held NA November 1987 (next to be held November
|
|||
|
|
1991); results--percent of vote NA;
|
|||
|
|
seats--(33 total)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Communists: none
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Member of: ESCAP (associate), ICAO, SPC, SPF, UN
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Wilfred I. KENDALL;
|
|||
|
|
Chancery at 2433 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20008;
|
|||
|
|
telephone (202) 234-5414;
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
US--Ambassador William BODDE, Jr.; Embassy at NA address
|
|||
|
|
(mailing address is P. O. Box 680, Majuro, Republic of the Marshall
|
|||
|
|
Islands 96960-4380); telephone 692-4011
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Flag: blue with two stripes radiating from the lower hoist-side
|
|||
|
|
corner--orange (top) and white; there is a white star with four large
|
|||
|
|
rays and 20 small rays on the hoist side above the two stripes
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ECONOMY
|
|||
|
|
Overview: Agriculture and tourism are the mainstays of the economy.
|
|||
|
|
Agricultural production is concentrated on small farms, and the most
|
|||
|
|
important commercial crops are coconuts, tomatoes, melons, and
|
|||
|
|
breadfruit. A few cattle ranches supply the domestic meat market.
|
|||
|
|
Small-scale industry is limited to handicrafts, fish processing, and
|
|||
|
|
copra. The tourist industry is the primary source of foreign exchange and
|
|||
|
|
employs about 10% of the labor force. The islands have few natural
|
|||
|
|
resources, and imports far exceed exports. In 1987 the US Government
|
|||
|
|
provided grants of $40 million out of the Marshallese budget of
|
|||
|
|
$55 million.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
GDP: $63 million, per capita $1,500; real growth rate NA%
|
|||
|
|
(1989 est.)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.6% (1981)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Unemployment rate: NA%
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Budget: revenues $55 million; expenditures NA, including capital
|
|||
|
|
expenditures of NA (1987 est.)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Exports: $2.5 million (f.o.b., 1985);
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
commodities--copra, copra oil, agricultural products, handicrafts;
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
partners--NA
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Imports: $29.2 million (c.i.f., 1985);
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
commodities--foodstuffs, beverages, building materials;
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
partners--NA
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
External debt: $NA
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Industrial production: growth rate NA%
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Electricity: 42,000 kW capacity; 80 million kWh produced, 1,840 kWh
|
|||
|
|
per capita (1990)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Industries: copra, fish, tourism; craft items from shell, wood, and
|
|||
|
|
pearl; offshore banking (embryonic)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Agriculture: coconuts, cacao, taro, breadfruit, fruits, copra;
|
|||
|
|
pigs, chickens
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Economic aid: under the terms of the Compact of Free Association,
|
|||
|
|
the US is to provide approximately $40 million in aid annually
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Currency: US currency is used
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Exchange rates: US currency is used
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Fiscal year: 1 October-30 September
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
COMMUNICATIONS
|
|||
|
|
Highways: macadam and concrete roads on major islands (Majuro,
|
|||
|
|
Kwajalein), otherwise stone-, coral-, or laterite-surfaced roads and
|
|||
|
|
tracks
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Ports: Majuro
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Merchant marine: 23 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,654,871
|
|||
|
|
GRT/3,236,549 DWT; includes 2 cargo, 3 container, 7 petroleum, oils, and
|
|||
|
|
lubricants (POL) tanker, 11 bulk carrier; note--a flag of convenience
|
|||
|
|
registry
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Airports: 5 total, 5 usable; 4 with permanent-surface runways;
|
|||
|
|
5 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Telecommunications: telephone network--570 lines (Majuro) and 186
|
|||
|
|
(Ebeye); telex services; islands interconnected by shortwave radio (used
|
|||
|
|
mostly for government purposes); stations--1 AM, 2 FM, 1 TV, 1 shortwave;
|
|||
|
|
2 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT earth stations; US Government satellite
|
|||
|
|
communications system on Kwajalein
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
DEFENSE FORCES
|
|||
|
|
Note: defense is the responsibility of the US
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|