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Marshall Islands - Geography (Facts)

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, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements Geography - note: Bikini and Enewetak are former US nuclear test sites; Kwajalein, the famous World War II battleground, is used as a US missile test range; 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