Geography of Marshall Islands
| 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 |