Marshall Islands Gallery

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.

In 2005, Aloha Airlines canceled its flight services to the Marshall Islands as part of its withdrawal from several markets in the region. Though other international airlines still serve Majuro, the Aloha decision was a setback in the country’s hopes of increased revenues from tourism.

Although the Marshall Islands were settled by Micronesians in the 2nd millennium BC, little is known of their early history.

The country consists of 29 atolls and 5 isolated islands. The most important atolls and islands form two groups: the Ratak Chain and the Ralik Chain (meaning “sunrise” and “sunset” chains). Two-thirds of the nation’s population lives on Majuro (the capital) and Ebeye. The outer islands are sparsely populated due to lack of employment opportunities and economic development. Life on the outer atolls is generally still fairly traditional, and the nutrition of the rural population, consuming food that is either grown or caught, is superior to that of most of the urban residents, who rely considerably on white rice. A majority of the islands’ land mass is at sea level.

Rains are common in the Marshalls from March through April and more so from October through November, but these rarely come down hard enough to be called cyclones. Diving is at its best from May through October, when the water is calmest, though water temperatures are bathlike all year round.

Majuro pronounced /məˈdʒuːroʊ/), population 25,400 people (as of 2004), is the capital and largest city of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Built on an atoll of 64 islands, the Majuro Atoll, Majuro has a port, shopping district, hotels, and an international airport. The major population centers are the D-U-D communities, the islands of Delap-Uliga-Darrit (listed from south to north, on the eastern edge of the atoll). Uliga is the main business district, and banking and tourism are increasingly important. Uliga is home to the College of the Marshall Islands, Assumption High School, and Uliga Elementary School where English is taught to all students. The government offices are based in Delap, and located at the eastern point of Majuro Atoll is the capital building for the Marshall Islands. Delap also has several large stores. Darrit is mostly residential and has a primary and a secondary school. At the western end of the atoll, about 30 miles from D-U-D by road, is the community of Laura, a growing residential area with a popular beach. Laura has the highest elevation point on the island, estimated at about 30 feet above sea level. Laura has the best soil for planting and is the home of several farms. Marshall Islands High School is near the north end of Majuro, in Rita.

The atoll itself has a land area of only 3.75 sq mi (9.7 km²), but encloses a lagoon of 113.92 sq mi (295 km²). Copra (coconut oil) is one of the main exports in the Marshall Islands, and receives copra shipments from most of the smaller populated atolls surrounding the area. Sport fishing is popular, and underwater divers are attracted to the area. Majuro and Kwajalein serve as the transportation hubs for the Marshall Islands, both for air service and shipping, though Majuro is more used because of Kwajalein’s restricted military status.

Majuro, like many atolls, consists of extremely narrow land masses which allows a person to walk from the lagoon side to the ocean side within minutes. At some points the island is narrow enough to throw a rock from one side to the other. Most of the roadway from Delap to Laura is a single two lane paved road with houses on either side.

During World War II, on January 30, 1944 United States troops invaded Japanese-held Majuro and occupied the island.

The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), is a Micronesian island nation in the western Pacific Ocean, located north of Nauru and Kiribati, east of the Federated States of Micronesia and south of the U.S. territory of Wake Island, to which it lays claim.