Marshall Islands

Lore & Background

Austronesian settlers reached the Marshall Islands as early as the 2nd millennium BC and introduced Southeast Asian crops, including coconuts, giant swamp taro, and breadfruit, as well as domesticated chickens, which made the islands permanently habitable. The first Europeans to visit the islands were the crew of a Spanish maritime expedition led by Alonso de Salazar who arrived in Taongi in 1526, which they called Isla de San Bartolomé (Saint Bartholomew Island). They were the survivors of a larger expedition which had sailed from Spain in 1525 led by Garcia Jofre de Loaisa. In 1528, another Spanish ship arrived in the Marshall Islands and visited Ujelang and Enewetak, this time led by Alvaro de Saavedra who was sailing back to the Americas from the Spice Islands. Later, Spanish galleons usually sailed a Pacific route farther north and avoided the Marshalls. European maps and charts named the group for British captain John Marshall, who explored the region in 1788. American Protestant missionaries and Western business interests began arriving in the 1850s. German copra traders dominated the economy in the 1870s and 1880s, and the German Empire annexed the Marshalls as a protectorate in 1885. The Empire of Japan occupied the islands in the autumn of 1914 at the beginning of World War I. After the war, the Marshalls and other former German Pacific colonies north of the equator became the Japanese South Seas Mandate. The United States occupied the islands during World War II and administered them as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands after the war. Between 1946 and 1958, the United States conducted 67 nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll and Enewetak Atoll. The U.S. government formed the Congress of Micronesia in 1965, a plan for increased self-governance of Pacific islands. In May 1979, the United States gave the Marshall Islands independence by recognizing its constitution and president, Amata Kabua. Full sovereignty or self-government was achieved in a Compact of Free Association with the United States. The Marshall Islands has been a member of the Pacific Community (PC) since 1983 and a United Nations member state since 1991.

In Their Own Story

The salt spray clings to the weathered skin of Elder Kaelo as he stands on the edge of Bikini Atoll's lagoon. The water here is deceptively clear, hiding the scars of a half-century past beneath its turquoise surface. He holds a fragment of coral in his hand, smooth and pale, a silent witness to the Castle Bravo test that once turned this paradise into a radioactive wasteland. Nearby, the rusted hull of the USS Saratoga rests on the ocean floor, a ghost ship now serving as an artificial reef for vibrant fish. Kaelo watches a school of tuna dart through the wreckage, life reclaiming what was nearly destroyed. He thinks of his ancestors who sailed these waters using only the stars and the subtle dance of the swells, navigating by instinct where maps failed. Now, he stands guard over a legacy that is both poison and promise—a reminder that while the ocean may forgive the shipwrecks, it remembers the fallout.

Reader's Guide

Politically, the Marshall Islands is a presidential parliamentary republic in free association with the United States, with the U.S. providing defense, subsidies, and access to U.S.-based agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission and the United States Postal Service. With few natural resources, the islands' wealth is based on a service economy, as well as fishing and agriculture; aid from the United States represents a large percentage of the islands' gross domestic product, and although most financial aid from the Compact of Free Association was set to expire in 2023, it was extended for another 20 years that same year. The country uses the United States dollar as its currency. The majority of the citizens of the Republic of Marshall Islands are of Marshallese descent, though there are small numbers of immigrants from the United States, China, Philippines, and other Pacific islands. The two official languages are Marshallese, which is one of the Oceanic languages, and English. Almost the entire population of the islands practices some religion: three-quarters of the country follows either the United Church of Christ – Congregational in the Marshall Islands (UCCCMI) or the Assemblies of God.

Did You Know?

• The Marshall Islands has the largest proportion of lagoon waters to land of any sovereign state, with 98.47% of its territory being lagoon waters.
• The Marshall Islands are one of only four atoll-based nations, along with Kiribati, The Maldives, and Tuvalu.
• Between 1946 and 1958, the United States conducted 67 nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll and Enewetak Atoll.