Marshall Islands Geography - 2006

Location:
Oceania, two archipelagic island chains of 29 atolls, each made up of many small islets, and five single islands in the North Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia

Geographic coordinates:
9 00 N, 168 00 E

Map references:
Oceania

Area:
total: 11,854.3 sq km
land: 181.3 sq km
water: 11,673 sq km (note - lagoon waters)
note: includes the atolls of Bikini, Enewetak, Kwajalein, Majuro, Rongelap, and Utirik

Area - comparative:
about the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries:
0 km

Coastline:
370.4 km

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate:
tropical; hot and humid; wet season May to November; islands border typhoon belt

Terrain:
low coral limestone and sand islands

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on Likiep 10 m

Natural resources:
coconut products, marine products, deep seabed minerals

Land use:
arable land: 11.11%
permanent crops: 44.44%
other: 44.45% (2005)

Irrigated land:
0 sq km

Natural hazards:
infrequent typhoons

Environment - current issues:
inadequate supplies of potable water; pollution of Majuro lagoon from household waste and discharges from fishing vessels

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements