Marshall Islands (2005) | Norfolk Island (2002) | |
Administrative divisions | 33 municipalities; Ailinginae, Ailinglaplap, Ailuk, Arno, Aur, Bikar, Bikini, Bokak, Ebon, Enewetak, Erikub, Jabat, Jaluit, Jemo, Kili, Kwajalein, Lae, Lib, Likiep, Majuro, Maloelap, Mejit, Mili, Namorik, Namu, Rongelap, Rongrik, Toke, Ujae, Ujelang, Utirik, Wotho, Wotje | none (territory of Australia) |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 38.2% (male 11,488/female 11,071)
15-64 years: 59.1% (male 17,887/female 17,023) 65 years and over: 2.7% (male 771/female 831) (2005 est.) |
0-14 years: 20.2%
15-64 years: 63.9% 65 years and over: 15.9% (1996) |
Agriculture - products | coconuts, tomatoes, melons, taro, breadfruit, fruits; pigs, chickens | Norfolk Island pine seed, Kentia palm seed, cereals, vegetables, fruit; cattle, poultry |
Airports | 15 (2004 est.) | 1 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 4
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 11
914 to 1,523 m: 10 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
- |
Area | total: 181.3 sq km
land: 181.3 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes the atolls of Bikini, Enewetak, Kwajalein, Majuro, Rongelap, and Utirik |
total: 34.6 sq km
land: 34.6 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | about the size of Washington, DC | about 0.2 times the size of Washington, DC |
Background | 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. | Two British attempts at establishing the island as a penal colony (1788-1814 and 1825-55) were ultimately abandoned. In 1856, the island was resettled by Pitcairn Islanders, descendants of the Bounty mutineers and their Tahitian companions. |
Birth rate | 33.52 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) | NA births/1,000 population |
Budget | revenues: $42 million
expenditures: $40 million, including capital expenditures of NA (1999) |
revenues: $4.6 million
expenditures: $4.8 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY92/93) |
Capital | Majuro | Kingston |
Climate | tropical; hot and humid; wet season from May to November; islands border typhoon belt | subtropical, mild, little seasonal temperature variation |
Coastline | 370.4 km | 32 km |
Constitution | 1 May 1979 | Norfolk Island Act of 1979 |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of the Marshall Islands
conventional short form: Marshall Islands former: Marshall Islands District (Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands) |
conventional long form: Territory of Norfolk Island
conventional short form: Norfolk Island |
Currency | - | Australian dollar (AUD) |
Death rate | 4.88 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) | NA deaths/1,000 population |
Debt - external | $86.5 million (FY99/00 est.) | $NA |
Dependency status | - | territory of Australia; Canberra administers Commonwealth responsibilities on Norfolk Island through the Department of Environment, Sport, and Territories |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Greta N. MORRIS
embassy: Oceanside, Mejen Weto, Long Island, Majuro mailing address: P. O. Box 1379, Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands 96960-1379 telephone: [692] 247-4011 FAX: [692] 247-4012 |
none (territory of Australia) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Banny DE BRUM
chancery: 2433 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 234-5414 FAX: [1] (202) 232-3236 consulate(s) general: Honolulu |
none (territory of Australia) |
Disputes - international | claims US territory of Wake Island | none |
Economic aid - recipient | more than $1 billion from the US, 1986-2002 | $NA |
Economy - overview | 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 foreign investment due to the Asian financial difficulties, and less income from the renewal of fishing vessel licenses have held GDP growth to an average of 1% over the past decade. | Tourism, the primary economic activity, has steadily increased over the years and has brought a level of prosperity unusual among inhabitants of the Pacific islands. The agricultural sector has become self-sufficient in the production of beef, poultry, and eggs. |
Electricity - consumption | - | NA kWh |
Electricity - production | - | NA kWh |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: NA%
hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA% |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on Likiep 10 m |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Bates 319 m |
Environment - current issues | inadequate supplies of potable water; pollution of Majuro lagoon from household waste and discharges from fishing vessels | NA |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
- |
Ethnic groups | Micronesian | descendants of the Bounty mutineers, Australian, New Zealander, Polynesians |
Exchange rates | the US dollar is the legal tender | Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.9354 (January 2002), 1.9320 (2001), 1.7173 (2000), 1.5497 (1999), 1.5888 (1998), 1.3439 (1997) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Kessai Hesa NOTE (since 5 January 2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Kessai Hesa NOTE (since 5 January 2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet selected by the president from among the members of Parliament elections: president elected by Parliament from among its own members for a four-year term; election last held 17 November 2003 (next to be held November 2007) election results: Kessai Hesa NOTE elected president; percent of Parliament vote - 100% |
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); the UK and Australia are represented by Administrator Anthony J. MESSNER (since 4 August 1997)
head of government: Assembly President and Chief Minister Geoffrey Robert GARDNER (since 5 December 2001) cabinet: Executive Council is made up of four of the nine members of the Legislative Assembly; the council devises government policy and acts as an advisor to the administrator elections: the monarch is hereditary; administrator appointed by the governor general of Australia; chief minister elected by the Legislative Assembly for a term of not more than three years; election last held 29 November 2001 (next to be held by December 2004) election results: Geoffrey Robert GARDNER elected chief minister; percent of Legislative Assembly vote - NA% |
Exports | $9 million f.o.b. (2000) | $1.5 million f.o.b. (FY91/92) |
Exports - commodities | copra cake, coconut oil, handicrafts, fish | postage stamps, seeds of the Norfolk Island pine and Kentia palm, small quantities of avocados |
Exports - partners | US, Japan, Australia, China (2000) | Australia, other Pacific island countries, NZ, Asia, Europe |
Fiscal year | 1 October - 30 September | 1 July - 30 June |
Flag description | 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 | three vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and green with a large green Norfolk Island pine tree centered in the slightly wider white band |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $NA |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 14%
industry: 16% services: 70% (2000 est.) |
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,600 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $NA |
GDP - real growth rate | 1% (2001 est.) | NA% |
Geographic coordinates | 9 00 N, 168 00 E | 29 02 S, 167 57 E |
Geography - note | two archipelagic island chains of 30 atolls and 1,152 islands; Bikini and Enewetak are former US nuclear test sites; Kwajalein, the famous World War II battleground, is now used as a US missile test range | most of the 32-km coastline consists of almost inaccessible cliffs, but the land slopes down to the sea in one small southern area on Sydney Bay, where the capital of Kingston is situated |
Highways | total: 64.5 km
paved: 64.5 km unpaved: NA km note: paved roads on major islands (Majuro, Kwajalein), otherwise stone-, coral-, or laterite-surfaced roads and tracks (2002) |
total: 80 km
paved: 53 km unpaved: 27 km (2001) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | $54 million f.o.b. (2000) | $17.9 million c.i.f. (FY91/92) |
Imports - commodities | foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fuels, beverages and tobacco | NA |
Imports - partners | US, Japan, Australia, NZ, Singapore, Fiji, China, Philippines (2000) | Australia, other Pacific island countries, NZ, Asia, Europe |
Independence | 21 October 1986 (from the US-administered UN trusteeship) | none (territory of Australia) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA | NA% |
Industries | copra, tuna processing, tourism, craft items from shell, wood, and pearls | tourism |
Infant mortality rate | total: 29.45 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 33.05 deaths/1,000 live births female: 25.67 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
NA deaths/1,000 live births |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2% (2001 est.) | NA% |
International organization participation | ACP, AsDB, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, IDA, IFC, IMF, IMO, Interpol, ITU, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, WHO | none |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 2 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 0 sq km | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court; High Court | Supreme Court; Court of Petty Sessions |
Labor force | 28,700 (1996 est.) | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 21.4%, industry 20.9%, services 57.7% | tourism NA%, subsistence agriculture NA% |
Land boundaries | 0 km | 0 km |
Land use | arable land: 16.67%
permanent crops: 38.89% other: 44.44% (2001) |
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Marshallese 98.2%, other languages 1.8% (1999 census)
note: English widely spoken as a second language; both Marshallese and English are official languages |
English (official), Norfolk a mixture of 18th century English and ancient Tahitian |
Legal system | based on adapted Trust Territory laws, acts of the legislature, municipal, common, and customary laws | based on the laws of Australia, local ordinances and acts; English common law applies in matters not covered by either Australian or Norfolk Island law |
Legislative branch | unicameral Parliament or Nitijela (33 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 17 November 2003 (next to be held not later than November 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA note: the Council of Chiefs is a 12-member body that advises on matters affecting customary law and practice |
unicameral Legislative Assembly (9 seats; members elected by electors who have nine equal votes each but only four votes can be given to any one candidate; members serve three-year terms)
elections: last held 29 November 2001 (next to be held by December 2004) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 9 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 70.01 years
male: 68.05 years female: 72.06 years (2005 est.) |
total population: NA years
male: NA years female: NA years |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 93.7% male: 93.6% female: 93.7% (1999) |
NA |
Location | Oceania, group of atolls and reefs in the North Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia | Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Australia |
Map references | Oceania | Oceania |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | total: 540 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 16,954,092 GRT/28,176,762 DWT
by type: barge carrier 2, bulk carrier 83, cargo 47, chemical tanker 77, combination ore/oil 12, container 88, liquefied gas 16, passenger 8, petroleum tanker 192, refrigerated cargo 4, roll on/roll off 6, vehicle carrier 5 foreign-owned: 462 (Australia 1, Bahamas 1, Bermuda 1, Canada 4, Chile 2, Croatia 2, Cyprus 7, Denmark 2, Georgia 1, Germany 124, Greece 106, Hong Kong 7, India 1, Italy 1, Japan 5, Latvia 6, Monaco 9, Netherlands 4, New Zealand 1, Norway 21, Philippines 1, Russia 1, Saudi Arabia 1, Singapore 2, Slovenia 2, Spain 1, Switzerland 5, Taiwan 1, Turkey 11, Ukraine 1, UAE 3, United Kingdom 15, United States 112) (2005) |
none (2002 est.) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the US | defense is the responsibility of Australia |
Military branches | no regular military forces; Marshall Islands Police | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | NA | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA | - |
National holiday | Constitution Day, 1 May (1979) | Pitcairners Arrival Day, 8 June (1856) |
Nationality | noun: Marshallese (singular and plural)
adjective: Marshallese |
noun: Norfolk Islander(s)
adjective: Norfolk Islander(s) |
Natural hazards | infrequent typhoons | typhoons (especially May to July) |
Natural resources | coconut products, marine products, deep seabed minerals | fish |
Net migration rate | -5.91 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) | NA migrant(s)/1,000 population |
Political parties and leaders | traditionally there have been no formally organized political parties; what has existed more closely resembles factions or interest groups because they do not have party headquarters, formal platforms, or party structures; the following two "groupings" have competed in legislative balloting in recent years - Kabua Party [Imata KABUA] and United Democratic Party or UDP [Litokwa TOMEING] | none |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | none |
Population | 59,071 (July 2005 est.) | 1,866 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA | NA% |
Population growth rate | 2.27% (2005 est.) | -0.69% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Majuro | none; loading jetties at Kingston and Cascade |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 1, shortwave 0
note: additionally, the US Armed Forces Radio and Television Services (Central Pacific Network) operate one FM and one AM station on Kwajalein (2002) |
AM 0, FM 3, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | - | 2,500 (1996) |
Railways | - | 0 km |
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) | Anglican 37.4%, Uniting Church in Australia 14.5%, Roman Catholic 11.5%, Seventh-Day Adventist 3.1%, none 12.2%, unknown 17.4%, other 3.9% (1996) |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.93 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
at birth: NA male(s)/female
under 15 years: NA male(s)/female 15-64 years: NA male(s)/female 65 years and over: NA male(s)/female total population: NA male(s)/female |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: digital switching equipment; modern services include telex, cellular, internet, international calling, caller ID, and leased data circuits
domestic: Majuro Atoll and Ebeye and Kwajalein islands have regular, seven-digit, direct-dial telephones; other islands interconnected by shortwave radiotelephone (used mostly for government purposes) international: country code - 692; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean); US Government satellite communications system on Kwajalein (2001) |
general assessment: adequate
domestic: NA international: radiotelephone service with Sydney (Australia) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 4,500 (2003) | 1,087 (1983) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 600 (2002) | 0 (1983) |
Television broadcast stations | 2 (both are US military stations) (2002) | 1 (local programming station plus two repeaters that bring in Australian programs by satellite) (1998) |
Terrain | low coral limestone and sand islands | volcanic formation with mostly rolling plains |
Total fertility rate | 3.93 children born/woman (2005 est.) | NA children born/woman |
Unemployment rate | 30.9% (1999 est.) | NA% |
Waterways | - | none |