Simple directory > Regional > Marshall Islands

Country : Marshall Islands Official name: Republic of the Marshall Islands Head of State: President Kessai H Note (UDP) (elected by the Nitijela on 10 Jan 2000; re-elected 5 Jan 2004) Head of government: President Kessai H Note Ruling party: United Democratic Party (UDP) Area: 183 square km consisting of 29 atolls and 1,225 islets Population: 56,429 (2004) Capital: Majuro (on Majuro atoll) Official language: Marshallese, English Currency: US dollar (US$) = 100 cents) GDP per capita: US$1,600 (2003) GDP real growth: 2.00% (2003) Labour force: 28,698 (2003) Unemployment: 30.90% (2003) Inflation: 2.50% (2003) Balance of trade: -US$45.00 million (2003) Foreign debt: US$86.50 million (2003) Visitor numbers: 2,500 (annually)* * estimated figure

Historical profile

1494 The Treaty of Tordesillas ceded ownership of all of Micronesia to Spain.

1788 The Marshall Islands were named after Captain John Marshall who visited the islands on his way to China from Botany Bay.

1886 Germany established a protectorate over the Marshall Islands.

1914 The islands were captured from Germany by Japan.

1935 The Japanese transformed the islands into a military base.

1944 Allied occupation of the islands.

1945 After the end of the Second World War, control of the Marshall Islands was granted to the US.

1946 The Marshall Islands were used as a nuclear testing ground by the US.

1947 Marshall Islands became one of six entities in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) established by the UN with the US as the Trustee.

1962 The US ended nuclear testing on the islands.

1965 The Congress of Micronesia was established, with representatives from all TTPI islands.

1978 The Marshall Islands Constitutional Convention adopted the nation's first constitution.

1979 The government of the Marshall Islands was officially established and the islands became self-governing.

1982 The official title of the islands became the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI).

1983 Marshall Island voters approved the Compact of Free Association (CFA) with the US.

1986 The US Congress approved the CFA. The RMI was granted sovereignty, aid and US defence, in return for continued US military missile testing.

1990 The UN Security Council formally ended the trusteeship.

1991 The RMI joined the UN.

1995 President Amata Kabua was re-elected.

1996 Amata Kabua died and was succeeded by his cousin, Imata Kabua.

1999 The United Democratic Party (UDP) won the general election.

2000 Kessai Note (UDP) was elected president by the parliament.

2001 Former inhabitants of Bikini and the Enewetak atolls were awarded over US$1 billion in compensation for hardship suffered when they were evacuated and resettled in the 1940s to allow US nuclear tests on the islands.

2003 In April, the RMI concluded negotiations with the US on the provisions of the CFA. Parliamentary elections were held on 17 November.

2004 On 5 January, parliament re-elected Kessai Note as president.

2005 In February, Bobby Muller was elected chief secretary, the highest public service position in the RMI.

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