The Marshall Islands is a republic consisting of 29 atolls and 5 coral islands located above the equator and west of the International Date Line in the Central Pacific Ocean. The Marshall Islands' nearest neighbors are the Federated States of Micronesia to the east, Nauru to the Southeast and Kiribati to the Southwest. Hawaii is the closest major trading partner and is located about 2,136 miles northeast of the Marshall Islands. There are some 26 populated islands distributed along two roughly parallel island chains about 144 miles apart; the eastern Ratak (Sunrise) group, and the western Ralik (Sunset) group. The total land area is approximately 66 square miles scattered over a sea area of about 780,000 square miles.

The 1988 census put the population at 43,380 with a very high annual growth rate of 3.8 percent per annum. Almost half of the present population lives on Majuro Atoll, the location of the administrative center of the Republic -- also known as the D-U-D (after Darrit-Uliga-Dalap, the "urbanized" communities at the eastern end of Majuro Atoll). Another 20 percent reside on Ebeye Island in Kwajalein Atoll, which depends economically on the U.S. Army's missile test site on Kwajalein Island. The other 40 percent of the population are scattered sparsely among the predominately rural and subsistence dependent "outer islands."

Marshall Islands was at one time governed separately by the Germans and the Japanese as well as administered as a part of a United Nations Trust Territory by the United States set-up at the end of World War II. It was not until 1979 that the government of the Marshall Islands was officially established under its own constitution. In 1982, it was officially proclaimed the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), and in 1986 the Marshall Islands finalized its agreement with the United States over the Compact of Free Association. The trusteeship, which had existed since 1947, was formally terminated by the United Nations Security Council in 1990. The RMI became a full member of the United Nations in September 1991.

The RMI operates under a type of "hybrid" parliamentary-presidential system with head of state also the head of government and a bicameral Parliament; the upper house, or Council of Iroij, and the elected lower house, or Nitijela. Executive power is vested in a Cabinet and a President, who is elected by the Nitijela. The president then appoints his cabinet ministers as heads of departments with approval by the Nitijela. Legislative power resides in the Nitijela which consists of thirty-three senators elected from twenty-four districts by universal suffrage of all citizens 18 years and older. The electoral districts correspond roughly to each atoll in the Republic. Twelve paramount chiefs who represent the traditional authority system comprise the membership of the Council of Iroij, which functions to review legislation affecting customary law, or any traditional practice including land tenure, and is advisory to the Cabinet. A Public Service Commission assists the Cabinet in all personnel matters related to government employment.

The judicial branch consists of a Supreme Court, High Court, Traditional Rights Court, and District and Community Courts. An independent Judicial Service Commission is responsible for selecting judges for confirmation by the Nitijela. The courts draw heavily on US precedent in decisions, principally because most local attorneys are US trained. Judges are appointed only for two-year terms which must be renewed by the Nitijela.

Along with the twenty-four local atoll governments in the RMI, there are also four district centers; Majuro (also the capital), Ebeye, Jaluit and Wotje. A typical local atoll government consists of an elected council, a mayor, appointed local officials and the local police force, with some variations depending on the local constitution. While the local atoll governments are dependent on grants from the national government, they are also empowered to raise revenues locally.

President Amata Kabua, a traditional paramount chief in his own right, has remained in office through several elections since independence. Prior to the 1991 general election, there were no organized political parties in the Marshall Islands. However, during the 1991 election, a group called the Ralik-Ratak Democratic Party campaigned for their candidates as a direct challenge to not only President Kabua, but also as a challenge to many long time incumbents aligned with President Kabua. The Ralik-Ratak Democratic Party won only a few seats in the Nitijela, but it did succeed in galvanizing a small political opposition in the Nitijela.

The RMI's development has been limited by its small and scattered land area, lack of on-shore resources, distances to overseas markets, and risks to natural disasters. Land, minerals, energy resources, fresh water, flora and fauna, are all limited in amount and variety. The major agricultural resource is 22,000 acres of coconut plantations of which only 16,000 acres are currently productive, yet coconut products accounts for 90 percent of exports.

The modern sector, based almost exclusively in Majuro and Kwajalein, is sustained largely by the Marshall Islands Government (through its expenditure of US compact funds) and the US missile range on Kwajalein through their expenditures. Wages, salaries and other compensation paid to employees from these two sources are the major determinants of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and contributed over 50 percent in 1990. The service sector of the economy accounts for 69 percent of all employment, while agriculture and fishing make up just over 21 percent and manufacturing 9 percent (mostly copra processing and handicrafts).

Recent development efforts in the Marshall Islands have focused specifically on fostering economic growth by primarily concentrating on three areas; fisheries and marine resources, tourism, and light industry. There is currently a small, local fishing fleet which services, almost exclusively, the sashimi market for fresh tuna. A new DC-8 was add to the government owned national airline (Airline of the Marshall Islands) so that its larger cargo hold could be used to fly tuna to the fish auction in Hawaii. It was also expected that the larger seating capacity would contribute to increasing tourist traffic.

Tourism is in its infancy in the Marshall Islands and much is being invested to increase hotel accommodations (primarily on Majuro)and promote the construction of outer island "guest houses." The Marshall Islands' beaches and clear lagoons, with sports fishing, diving, WWII relics and friendly people, are its main attractions; particularly in the outer islands, since the urbanized areas of Majuro and Ebeye suffer from extreme environmental degradation.

For both marine resource development and tourism, the environment and environmental preservation are seen as central to "sustainable development." Environmental issues have become increasing more political and of growing popular concern. On the more ominous side, issues of global warming and potential sea level rise have cast a shadow over present development efforts and raised much concern over the future viability of the Marshall Islands.

Light industry developments have focused mostly on promoting support services for a national fishing fleet; ship repair and fuel depot, cannery facilities, etc. Some recent efforts have also been put into a proposed desalinization plant for fresh drinking water and an upgrading of the copra processing facilities in conjunction with increasing power generation capacity on Majuro.