Countries, Compared

Marshall Islands

The Marshall Islands is an island country in the Pacific Ocean, made up of 29 coral atolls and five islands arranged in two parallel chains.

Countries, Compared: country research and comparison

The Marshall Islands is an island country in the Pacific Ocean, made up of 29 coral atolls and five islands arranged in two parallel chains. It is a United Nations member state and a statistical territory within the UN classification system. The article below explains how the country is classified by international bodies, how to verify its changing statistics, and where to find authoritative information for further research. It does not provide travel or visa advice; for that, consult your own government’s travel advisory.

Country identification codes

The Marshall Islands is classified by the United Nations Statistics Division under the M49 standard with code 584. Its ISO codes are MH (alpha-2) and MHL (alpha-3). In the UN M49 regional framework, the country falls under Oceania (region 009) and Micronesia (subregion 057). The World Bank lists the capital as Majuro in its country API.

These codes are classification facts, not political assertions. The UN M49 standard is a statistical geography and does not imply any position on sovereignty or territorial disputes. For the authoritative list, see the UN M49 overview.

How to verify changing figures

Country profiles that freeze numbers become wrong the moment they are published. The Marshall Islands is small, dispersed and heavily dependent on external funding, so figures from different years or agencies can diverge. For any changing statistic, name the source and the reference year, and do not mix datasets.

Demographics

The World Bank reported the 2023 population as 41,591. The UN Population Division estimated 41,996 for the same year. The two sources use different definitions and update schedules; cite the exact figure with its source and year. Treat any single number as an estimate; national censuses may differ.

  • Reference points: The UN Population Division publishes annual estimates and projections. The World Bank also publishes population series for Marshall Islands (code MH). For census-based figures, the Marshall Islands Economic Policy, Planning and Statistics Office (EPPSO) is the national statistical office. Census years differ from projection years; always state which you are using.
  • Median age: 22.9 years (CIA World Factbook, 2024 estimate).
  • Urban share: 77.8% of the total (World Bank, 2023).
  • Life expectancy: 65.3 years (World Bank, 2022).
  • Literacy rate: 98.2% (UNESCO, 2021).
  • Internet penetration: 38.7% (World Bank, 2022).

Language

The Constitution of the Marshall Islands (1979) names Marshallese and English as the country’s two languages. For language-use statistics, consult the national census or the UNESCO Institute for Statistics; no single live counter exists. The CIA World Factbook (2024) lists both as the operative languages.

Currency

The currency is the United States dollar (USD). This is a fixed institutional arrangement under the Compact of Free Association; it is not a floating exchange-rate peg. The dollar has been in use since 1944 under the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands and continued after independence. Confirm banknote and coin usage from the U.S. Treasury or the Central Pacific Bank.

Government

The Marshall Islands is a parliamentary republic in free association with the United States (Compact of Free Association). The President is head of government and head of state, and the legislature is unicameral (Nitijela). For the current head of state and cabinet, use government sources, not third-party summaries.

Economy

GDP figures, aid flows and employment data are produced by the World Bank and the IMF with different methodologies and vintages. Always cite the dataset year and indicator definition.

  • GDP (current US$): 284.37 million (2023, World Bank)
  • GDP per capita (current US$): 4,923.0 (2023, World Bank)
  • GDP growth: 0.7% (2023, World Bank)
  • Gini index: 35.5 (2019, World Bank). No more recent estimate is available.
  • World Bank income group: Upper-middle income (FY2025 classification)
  • World Bank region: East Asia and Pacific

Geography and environment

  • Surface area: 181 square kilometres (World Bank, 2020)
  • CO₂ emissions per capita: 2.4 metric tons (World Bank, 2020)

Human development

  • HDI rank: 131 of 193 countries (UNDP, Human Development Report 2022)

Travel requirements

Visa policy is set by the Government of the Marshall Islands, but entry rules change; check your own foreign ministry’s travel advisory and the IATA Travel Centre. The United States maintains a separate Compact of Free Association migration arrangement; this is not a visa waiver for non-US citizens.