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The legislative branch of the government consists of the Nitijela (parliament) with an advisory council of high chiefs. The Nitijela has 33 members from 24 districts elected for concurrent 4-year terms. Members are called senators. The president is elected by the Nitijela from among its members. Presidents pick cabinet members from the Nitijela. Amata...
The government is the largest employer, employing 64% of the salaried work force. GDP is derived mainly from payments made by the United States under the terms of the Compact of Free Association. Direct U.S. aid accounted for 67.8% of the Marshall Islands' $146.4 million budget for FY 2006. The economy combines a small subsistence sector and a modern...
Marshallese society has always been stratified, and despite increasing Westernization and the introduction of a moneyed economy, social status still comes as much from one's kinship as it does from one's own achievements. Chiefs continue to wield a great deal of authority over land ownership and usage. Food cultivation on the islands has always been...
Little is clearly understood about the prehistory of the Marshall Islands. That successive waves of migratory peoples from Southeast Asia spread across the Western Pacific about 3,000 years ago and that some of them landed on and remained on these islands is about all that researchers agree upon. The Spanish explorer Alvarode Saavendra landed there...
Location: Oceania, group of atolls and reefs in the North Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Papua New Guinea Map references: Oceania Area: total area: 181.3 sq km land area: 181.3 sq km comparative area: slightly larger than Washington, DC note: includes the atolls of Bikini, Eniwetak, and Kwajalein Land boundaries: 0 km Coastline:...
The Marshalls are comprised of 29 atolls and five major islands, which form two parallel groups--the "Ratak" (sunrise) chain and the "Ralik"(sunset) chain. Two-thirds of the nation's population lives in Majuro and Ebeye. The outer islands are sparsely populated due to lack of employment opportunities and economic development. The Marshallese are of...
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