- Officially republic of islands the Marshall Islands, the island country of Oceania (Micronesia), situated in the Occidental Pacific, in the North of the equator and east of the archipelago of the Caroline Islands. The archipelago of islands the Marshall Islands understands(includes) thirty two main islands, arranged in two parallel chains: islands Ratak ( 18 islands), in the East, and islands Ralik ( 14 islands), on the West. The set(group) extends over 1,3 millions of km2. Certain islands are of volcanic origin, but most are coral constructions (atolls and coral reefs). The island of Kwajalein (islands Ralik) is the biggest atoll of the world (120 km in length). The archipelago is populated by Micronesian. The administrative centre of the republic of islands the Marshall Islands is the island of Majuro. Agriculture (plantations of coconut palms, sugar cane, cotton, subsistence crops) and peach(fishing) are main economic resources. The copra is the only product of export. Monetary unit is the USD. Islands are lived with Micronesian since about three thousand years. The archipelago was discovered(found) by the Spaniards in the XVI-th century. The British navigator John Marshall investigated him(it) partially in 1788. Islands were really colonized only in 1885 when Germany establishes there a protectorate. The Japanese seized it in 1914, at the beginning of First World war. In 1920, islands the Marshall Islands were placed under Japanese mandate by League of Nations. The Americans made the conquest of it in January - February, 1944, during Second World war. The atolls of Kwajalein and Eniwetok (islands Ralik) were the theater of violent fights. In 1947, the archipelago was placed by the UNO under custody of the United States. These used repeatedly the atolls of Bikini and Eniwetok (islands Ralik) as nuclear test centres. Islands the Marshall Islands became independent in 1979. Since 1986, they are bound(connected) in the United States by an agreement of free association delegating to the American government the responsibility of the defence and the foreign policy. They were admitted(supposed), in 1991 , within the UNO. Total surface: 181 km2!; population (estimation 1993): 45 630 inhabitants.
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