Marshall Islands Geography - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Location

Oceania, consists of 29 atolls and five isolated islands in the North Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Hawaii and Australia; the atolls and islands are situated in two, almost-parallel island chains - the Ratak (Sunrise) group and the Ralik (Sunset) group; the total number of islands and islets is about 1,225; 22 of the atolls and four of the islands are uninhabited

Geographic coordinates

9 00 N, 168 00 E

Map references

Oceania

Area

total: 181 sq km

land: 181 sq km

water: 0 sq km

note: the archipelago includes 11,673 sq km of lagoon waters and encompasses the atolls of Bikini, Enewetak, Kwajalein, Majuro, Rongelap, and Utirik

Area - comparative

about the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries

total: 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

highest point: East-central Airik Island, Maloelap Atoll 14 m

lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m

mean elevation: 2 m

Natural resources

coconut products, marine products, deep seabed minerals

Land use

agricultural land: 50.7% (2018 est.)

arable land: 7.8% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 31.2% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 11.7% (2018 est.)

forest: 49.3% (2018 est.)

other: 0% (2018 est.)

Irrigated land

0 sq km (2022)

Population distribution

most people live in urban clusters found on many of the country's islands; more than two-thirds of the population lives on the atolls of Majuro and Ebeye

Natural hazards

infrequent typhoons

Geography - note

the islands of Bikini and Enewetak are former US nuclear test sites; Kwajalein atoll, famous as a 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 of Majuro, and one of the most densely populated locations in the Pacific

NOTE: The information regarding Marshall Islands on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Marshall Islands 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Marshall Islands 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.