Asia and Oceania

Republic of Marshall Islands
Last reviewed: 27 October 2009

Country information

Republic of Marshall Islands today
Economy
History
International relations

Geography
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Geography

The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) comprises 29 low-lying coral atolls and five islands scattered over 750,000 sq miles of the Central Pacific, about one half of the way from Hawaii to Australia. Bikini and Enewetak are former US nuclear test sites; Kwajalein, the famous World War II battleground, surrounds the world's largest lagoon and is used as a US missile test range. The island city of Ebeye is the second largest settlement in the Marshall Islands, after the capital Majuro, and one of the most densely populated locations in the Pacific. The people are mainly Micronesian. The weather is tropical, hot and humid with the wet season running from May to November each year. The islands border the typhoon belt.