The city is built on an atoll of the same name, consisting of 64 islands. Port, international airport. The main population is concentrated on the D-U-D islands (Dalap-Uliga-Darrit - listed from south to north, at the eastern end of the atoll). Uliga is the main business district, banking and tourist center. Uliga is home to the College of the Marshall Islands, a high school and an elementary school. Government offices are located on Dalap Island. Dalapa also has several large shops. Darrit contains mainly residential buildings, a primary school and a secondary school. In the western part of the atoll, 30 km from D-U-D is the village of Laura, a growing residential area with a popular beach. Marshall Islands High School is located on the northern tip of Majuro, on Rita Island.
During World War II, on January 30, 1944, US troops occupied Majuro, which was held by Japan.
Natural conditions
Majuro is located on the atoll of the same name in the Marshall Islands archipelago, in the western Pacific Ocean. The island on which the city is located is composed of coral limestones and lies on the top of an ocean volcano at an altitude of more than 10 m above sea level. The weather conditions in the capital were influenced by the hot and humid equatorial climate. The highest air temperatures (over +30° C) are recorded in June-August. The average annual temperature is +28° C. Up to 4000 mm of precipitation falls during the year. The rainy season begins in May and lasts until November. During this period, stormy winds and typhoons are often observed. The dry season lasts from December to April, during which only a small amount of precipitation falls and the air temperature is kept at +22° C.
Natural vegetation is represented by coconut palm and bamboo. The island fauna is not very diverse: the territory of Majuro is inhabited mainly by bats and various species of birds, as well as rats, which were accidentally brought here on ships arriving from European countries. In the coastal strip there are snakes, lizards, crocodiles; in the Pacific waters near the coast of the island there are many species of fish.
Population, language, religion
The population of Majuro is about 30 thousand people. The capital is inhabited mainly by Marshallese (a people belonging to the Micronesian group), as well as descendants of immigrants from Japan. More than 50% of all residents of the republic are concentrated in Majuro.
The official languages are English and Marshallese; a small part of the population speaks Japanese. Christians, mainly Protestants, predominate among the city's believing residents.
American air base and missile range today;
3) Majuro is the capital atoll.
Majuro
Majuro is a flat, narrow (200 meters wide) and long (44 km) atoll in the shape of the letter U. In the left leg they have palm trees and a village; in the lower crossbar - the airport; and in the right leg - a small (25,400 people) urban formation with the cool name D-U-D (there is no settlement of Majuro, no matter what political maps of the world and wikitravel say, but a dusty one-story downtown - the fused villages of Delap, Uliga and Djarrit).
On the left is the ocean, on the right is the lagoon: 
View from the roof of Mako Building
There is only one road here, along the entire letter U. Wherever there is asphalt in the picture, this is the main and only road. Near the government building it turns into an avenue for several hundred meters: 
Then the road ends and residential and uninhabited islands begin, accessible only by boat or wade. 
The complex diagram below the angel is a pre-European nautical chart. Unlike, such cards were made not from strings, but from wood chips.
The navigation technology of the Micronesians was very sophisticated: they identified constantly existing directions of wave propagation in their region of the Pacific Ocean; each island creates a unique diffraction pattern, which was recorded as a keepsake with such diagrams in the form of frames made of wood chips. Micronesian navigators navigated by recognizing the vibration of the hull from wave impacts as a unique pattern for the area. As usual in primitive technologies, training began in childhood: the cradle of the future navigator was pulled out to the shore of the ocean and placed in the water. 
Wave diffraction: 
Let's explore the city center.
Part of the building is made of sea 20′ and 40′ containers: 
Local architecture is strongly influenced by container shipping - even when they are built from foam blocks, it still looks like a warehouse for shipping containers: 
Nileb Kendall Memorial Church
Ministry of Education (the vast majority of email addresses of both government agencies and companies in the country are located in the ntamar.net domain of the local “Ministry of Communications”): 
[email protected]
Pacific Ocean Promenade: 
Laguna Majuro, 1944 (pictured is the US 5th Fleet). It is immediately clear that “everything happened” and the footage of the space fleet hanging in the void from Star Wars not original: 
Laguna Majuro, today: 
Swimming in the lagoon: 
It is not clear why the road sign is made of concrete. It’s not clear, because the last colonialists of Marshall were Americans, and they didn’t do that: 
The city is waking up, people are going to work by minibus. 
Efficient businesses are headed by white people, for whom the main thing is challenge- fight against island time, where the islanders live. Usually talking about island time remember that a Micronesian can easily be hours late or not come to work for days (for example, due to the funeral of even a distant relative, which lasts many days), but in fact, they are easily mistaken in the opposite direction - calling 15- about five minutes.
The Micronesians you encounter on various front lines give the impression of being so stupid that it is not clear what even such operetta local independence is based on. However, a lot explains the caste division of society that has survived (to a certain extent) to this day into rijerbal(workers), alap(clan leaders) and iroij(high chiefs). 
Kerosene sales: 
Bikini Projects Department: 
KLG! 
Bank of Marshall Islands: 
Retail in Marshall is at the stall stage: 
Christmas decoration - a garland of light bulbs in the shape of icicles: 
Disgusting Chinese New Year decoration: 
Cargo transportation: 
Police officers in US puppet countries, unlike the US itself, do not have to shave: 
Hand selling coconuts baked in banana leaves and slices of local fruit, the origin of which I could not determine (but I think it was pandan).
Micronesian women buy a cut and sew dresses of a simple cut for the whole family - girls, women and grandmothers. When everyone gathers in church, women from the same family are easy to identify: 
About the dangers of smoking among minors: 
About pregnancy: 
Micronesians are visually similar to blacks, but have nothing to do with them: they descended from people from Southeast Asia. The way of life of the Micronesians, their diet and way of life is very similar to the Polynesian - not just because of close communication. This is convergence.
If dangerous alien bugs made from silicon-based proteins are placed in modern Moscow, after a few generations they will be indistinguishable from Yuri Saprykin. This is how the convergence mechanism works.
The visuals are so African that at first it seems like these kids are going to come up and start shaking money out of the visitor. But, fortunately, this is not Africa or an Arab country.
About AIDS: 
The Pacific state of the Republic of the Marshall Islands since October 21, 1986 is a self-governing state entity in free association with the United States. What does it mean?
Government of the Marshall Islands
"Associated State" denotes a form of confederation of unequal states united on a bilateral basis. The smaller state in such a confederation, while formally maintaining sovereignty and independence, gives most of its powers to the larger state. Usually these are finance, foreign policy, communications, transport, and the armed forces. Residents of the country have the right to live and work in the United States. Americans are guaranteed compliance with the American nuclear testing program. In 1954, the United States tested its first hydrogen bomb at Bikini Atoll. The explosion was 1000 times more powerful than the explosion in Hiroshima, and radioactive fallout from it fell on neighboring islands. Nuclear testing caused great damage to the islands' ecosystems.
In fact, an associated state is a type protectorate- this type of state relationship when one country recognizes the supreme sovereignty of another, maintaining autonomy in internal affairs and its own dynasty of rulers. An associated state therefore has a position that can be described as intermediate between a colony and an independent state.
Head of State and Government– President, elected by parliament for a 4-year term. Members of the cabinet are appointed by the president from among members of parliament.
Legislative power is vested in a unicameral legislature, or Nitijela(33 deputies). The country also has a Council of Chiefs, or irony- an advisory body consisting of 12 tribal leaders. His powers include compliance with local legislation and common law.
Administratively The country is divided into 33 municipalities.
Currency unit Marshall Islands – US dollar.
State symbols of the Marshall Islands
Flag- blue cloth with two touching trapezoidal stripes that stretch from the lower left corner diagonally to the upper right corner. The top stripe of the flag is orange, the bottom stripe is white. At the top left of the flag is a white 24-pointed star; the star has four ends longer than the other twenty.
The colors have the following meaning: blue symbolizes the Pacific Ocean; orange– courage and courage; white- world.
The white stripe symbolizes the Ratak chain (“sunrise”), the orange stripe symbolizes the Ralik chain (“sunset”). The star represents the Christian cross, and its 24 ends represent the number of electoral districts.
Coat of arms– seal of the Marshall Islands. In the central part of the seal is a stylized image of an angel with spread wings, symbolizing peace.
The 24-pointed star at the head of the angel symbolizes the 21 municipalities of the Republic. The four longer rays are the capital Majuro, the atolls of Jaluit, Wotje and Kwajalein. On both sides of the star there are two rays, which are present on the national flag of the country. Each ray is painted in two colors: orange symbolizes courage, white – peace. These rays also represent the two island chains of the Republic of the Marshall Islands: Ratak and Ralik.
In the upper right part above the angel's wing is a fishing net. On the right side, under the angel’s wing, is a stylized image of a canoe with an outrigger. On the left side, under the wing of an angel, is a stylized image of coconut palms that grow on a low-lying atoll. On the left side above the angel's wing is an image of a traditional tool made from a clam shell and used by local residents to beat pandanus leaves, which are used to make traditional mats, sails and clothing.
Below the angel is a perspective view of a traditional Marshallese navigation chart, with the words "Seal" underneath it. In the upper part along the circumference there is the inscription “Republic of the Marshall Islands” (“Republic of the Marshall Islands”), in the lower part “Jepilpilin ke ejukaan” (“Achievement through common effort”).
The seal's frame is a chain, symbolizing the unity of the islands. One part of the chain represents the Ralik chain, the other - the Ratak chain.
Geography of the state
The state is a cluster of atolls and islands in the Pacific Ocean, slightly north of the equator.
What's happened atoll, we talked about the state of Kiribati in an article: Kiribati is an ideal place for everyone who wants to forget about civilization.
The country of the Marshall Islands is located on 29 atolls and 5 remote islands. The most important islands are atolls Kwajalein And Majuro. Kwajalein is also an atoll with the largest lagoon in the world. Lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from the sea by a narrow strip of washed-up sand or coral reefs.
The most famous atolls are Bikini, where a US nuclear test site was located in the 1940s and 1950s, and Kwajlein, which today houses a US air base and missile range, and the capital Majuro Atoll. Majuro– a flat, narrow (200 m wide) and long (44 km) atoll in the shape of the letter U.
Part of the city's buildings are made from shipping containers.
Rainfall in the Marshall Islands increases as you move south and reaches its maximum on Ebon Atoll, the southernmost island of the country, located in the equatorial belt. Although rare, the archipelago experiences tropical storms and hurricanes, or typhoons.
Population
The total population of the islands is about 60.4 thousand people. Almost half live in the capital, Majuro.
There are two cities in the state: Majuro on Majuro Atoll and Ebeye on Kwajalein Atoll. The population of the country is trying to move to these cities, while at the same time, residents are leaving the remote islands, some of them are already almost deserted.
Marshallese are the absolute majority of the population. Foreigners make up only 2.3%, mostly Americans and Filipinos, as well as personnel from international missions and US naval bases.
Official languages are English and Marshallese.
Christianity missionaries spread throughout the archipelago in the 19th century.
History of the Marshall Islands
The Islands were named in honor of the British captain John Marshall, who explored the archipelago with Captain Thomas Gilbert in 1788 while transporting prisoners to New South Wales. But almost nothing is known about the early history of this country.
Spanish navigator A. de Salazar Bocac Island was the first to be sighted in 1526, but the archipelago remained unnamed until 1788, when the islands were rediscovered by British captain John Marshall. Later, ships from many countries sailed past the Marshall Islands, but none of the countries made territorial claims. It was only in the 1860s that immigrants from Germany began to appear here and began trading copra and other goods. In 1885, the archipelago was annexed by the German Empire.
At the beginning of World War I, Japan occupied the German part of Micronesia, including the Marshall Islands. Since then, the islands have remained under Japanese control. Since 1920, the Marshall Islands have been governed by Japan under a League of Nations mandate.
During World War II, the archipelago was occupied by the Americans. From 1946 to 1958 they tested nuclear weapons here.
Underwater nuclear explosion on Bikini Atoll. Tests of the 21-kiloton Baker ammunition on July 24, 1946.
In 1979, the archipelago received limited autonomy. In 1986, the Treaty of Free Association was signed with the United States, according to which the United States recognized the independence of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic gave the US military the right to be on the territory of the country, maintain all military bases and be responsible for the defense of the country.
In 1990, the UN recognized the independence of the Marshall Islands.
Flora and fauna of the Marshall Islands
Forests were preserved only on uninhabited islands; on inhabited islands, most of the local flora was destroyed, and coconut palm plantations were planted in its place. breadfruit, the fruits of which are an important source of nutrition. The pulp of ripened breadfruit fruits (fruits) is baked, boiled, dried, candied, eaten raw, and even made into pancake dough. Unripe fruits are used as vegetables, and ripe, sweeter ones are used as fruits. The fried fruit tastes like potatoes. Fresh pulp quickly deteriorates, but breadfruit crackers are stored for a very long time, up to several years.
Approximately 60% of the archipelago is occupied by coconut palm plantations, it is the main source of timber and food for the Marshallese. Copra, which is produced from the endosperm of coconuts, is a mainstay of exports. Read more about this product on our website in the article: Pacific State of Vanuatu. Among other plants of the archipelago it should be noted pandanus(the fruits of some species are eaten, leaf veins are used as material for weaving. Some species are ornamental plants), tarot(usually used boiled and fried; various pastries are also made from taro) and bananas.
Pisonias and Tournefortias mainly grow in the island forests. Meet mangroves(evergreen deciduous forests).
Of the fauna, seabirds are the most widespread. 106 species of seabirds nest here. Green turtles and tortoises lay eggs on the islands bissa, although recently this species has become less common in local waters.
There are also 4 species of skink lizards and an Indian monitor lizard living here. And all species of mammals to the Marshall Islands are introduced (intentionally or accidentally introduced).
There are no nature reserves in the country.
A country's economy
The country is very dependent on funds allocated by the Asian Development Bank, the United States and other countries of the world. There is severe unemployment in the country. One of the key sectors of the country's economy is agriculture. Copra exported, and meat production satisfies only the domestic market. In 2004, in addition to coconut oil, the Marshall Islands began producing soap and other products. One of the priority areas of the economy is fishing. Of particular value are crabs and tuna.
The country does not have railway transport, but it has its own airline. Of the 15 airports, only four have a hard surface runway (data for 2010).
Telex, telephony and Internet are available on the islands.
Tourism poorly developed due to the length of the flight to this region and undeveloped infrastructure. The main types of recreation for foreigners: diving, sport fishing, cultural tourism, yachting.
Culture
Marshallese are excellent navigators, they can travel by following the stars, clouds, currents, birds and even the color of the ocean. Breadfruit canoes are expertly made. The woman embroiders the sails from pandanus leaves.
They weave mats, traditional clothes and bags from the leaves of pandanus, coconut palm and hibiscus (Malvaceae family). Woven mats are used for seating and are made from whole pandanus leaves that are stitched together; others are used as a carpet or placed under a sleeping mat, or as a room decoration.
People from Bikini Atoll weave beautiful women's bags and wallets, and Likiep is known for its fans.
Sport
The most popular sport among men on the islands is basketball, as well as tennis. The Marshall Islands were represented at the Summer Olympics for the first time at the 2008 Games in Beijing. The republic was represented by 5 athletes who participated in competitions in athletics, swimming and taekwondo.
Education
The country's educational system consists of four main levels: preschool(from 3 to 5 years), mandatory initial(from 6 to 14 years old), average(from 14 to 18 years old), specialized secondary through the College of the Marshall Islands and the USP-CMI education program. The city of Majuro has a campus (university town) of the University of the South Pacific, opened in 1993.
Marshall Islands - 29 flat coral atolls on the equator in the Pacific Ocean, of which the general public is most familiar with Bikini, where the US nuclear test site was located in the late 1940s and 50s (swimsuits were named after it); Kwajlein - today there is an American air base and missile range, and the capital Majuro Atoll.
Majuro Atoll
Majuro is a flat, narrow (200 meters wide) and long (44 kilometers!) U-shaped atoll.
In the left leg they have palm trees and a village; in the lower crossbar - the airport; and in the right leg there is a small (25,400 people) urban formation with the cool name D-U-D (there is no settlement Majuro, no matter what the political maps of the world and wikitravel say.
And there is a dusty one-story downtown - the fused villages of Delap, Uliga and Djarit).
There is only one road here, along the entire letter U. Wherever there is asphalt in the picture, this is the main and only road. Near the government building it turns into an avenue for several hundred meters.
Then the road ends and residential and uninhabited islands begin, accessible only by boat or wade.
Like the United States, the Republic of the Marshall Islands has a state seal instead of a coat of arms. But here we managed to squeeze in a lot more symbols: in the center - an angel (because, like everywhere else in Oceania, there is a fanatically believing Christian population), the sun and a coconut tree (it’s clear why), a pandanus plant, a canoe. For some reason, Yokwe (exactly corresponds to the well-known Hawaiian aloha) did not fit into the print. The complex diagram below the angel is a pre-European Micronesian nautical chart. Unlike Polynesian ones, such maps were made not from ropes, but from wood chips.
The navigation technology of the Micronesians was very sophisticated: they identified constantly existing directions of wave propagation in their region of the Pacific Ocean; each island creates a unique diffraction pattern, which was recorded as a keepsake with such diagrams in the form of frames made of wood chips.
Micronesian navigators navigated by recognizing the vibration of the hull from wave impacts as a unique pattern for the area. As usual in primitive technologies, training began in childhood: the cradle of the future navigator was pulled out to the shore of the ocean and placed in the water.
Let's explore the city center. Part of the building is made of sea 20" and 40" containers.
Local architecture is heavily influenced by container shipping: even when built from foam blocks, it still looks like a warehouse for shipping containers.
And this is the Ministry of Education (the vast majority of email addresses of both government agencies and companies in the country are located in the ntamar.net domain of the local “Ministry of Communications”).
The Pacific Ocean embankment is nearby.
Majuro Lagoon was filled with US warships in 1944, and this is what it looks like today.
It is not clear why the road sign is made of concrete. It’s not clear, because the last colonizers of Marshall were Americans, and that’s not how they did it.
The city is waking up, people are going to work by minibus.
Efficient businesses are headed by whites, for whom the main challenge is the fight against island time - the “island time” in which the islanders live.
Usually, when talking about island time, they remember that a Micronesian can easily be hours late or not come to work for days (for example, due to the wake of even a distant relative, which lasts for many days), but in fact, they are easily mistaken and in the opposite direction - calling 15 minutes five.
The Micronesians you encounter on various front lines give the impression of being so stupid that it is not clear what even such operetta local independence is based on. However, a lot is explained by the caste division of society that has survived (to a certain extent) to this day into rijerbal (workers), alap (clan leaders) and iroij (high chiefs).
Retail in Marshalls is at the stall stage.
Christmas decoration - a garland of light bulbs in the shape of icicles.
I came across such a disgusting Chinese New Year decoration.
Police officers in US puppet countries, unlike the US itself, do not have to shave.
On the streets they sell coconuts baked in banana leaves and slices of local fruit, the origin of which I have not been able to determine. Micronesian women buy a cut and sew dresses of a simple cut for the whole family - girls, women and grandmothers. When everyone gathers in church, women from the same family are easily identified.
Micronesians are visually similar to blacks, but have nothing to do with them: they are descended from people from Southeast Asia. The way of life of the Micronesians, their diet and way of life is very similar to the Polynesian - not just because of close communication. This is convergence. If dangerous alien beetles made of silicon-based proteins are placed in modern Moscow, after several generations they will not be distinguishable from Yuri Saprykin - this is how the mechanism of convergence works. The visuals of the posters are so African that at first it seems that these children are about to come up and start shaking money out of the visitor. But, fortunately, this is not Africa or an Arab country. But this is a social message about AIDS.
Some creativity is used in place of a basketball backboard.
Dmitry Malov
23/07/2012
| Official name: | Republic of the Marshall Islands (Aolepan Aorokin Majel) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital: | Majuro | ||
| The area of the land: | 181.4 sq. km | ||
| Total Population: | 95 thousand people | ||
| Population composition: | Marshallese. This is a Micronesian people, which is divided into two ethnographic groups: Raylik and Rahtak (in geography in a slightly different pronunciation: Ralik and Ratak are the names of the country's two island chains). 3% are foreigners. |
||
| Official language: | English, Marshallese (related to Micronesian languages), Japanese. | ||
| Religion: | 54.8% are Protestants, 25.8% are followers of the Assembly of God, 8.4% are Catholics, 2.1% are Marmons. | ||
| Internet domain: | .mh | ||
| Mains voltage: | ~120 V, 60 Hz | ||
| Country dialing code: | +692 | ||
| Country barcode: | |||
| Timezone: | |||
Climate
Tropical trade wind, in the south - subequatorial, sea.The average air temperature all year round remains around +27 C, with short “colder” periods (+20-24 C) occurring in September - November. From June to August is the hottest time of the year, although in fact the difference between the coolest and warmest months rarely exceeds an average of 2-3 C. Also an interesting feature of the local weather is the night temperature, which, although lower than the daytime, is actually 2- 4 degrees higher than the average daily low. This is explained simply - nights almost always go without rain, which usually falls in the form of powerful downpours during the daytime.
The water temperature remains within +20-23 C all year round.
Precipitation is about 2000-4000 mm per year. The relatively dry season is recorded from January to March, the wet season occurs from May to November. The vast majority of precipitation falls during daylight hours. Like other island groups in the Pacific Ocean, the weather here is usually quite cloudy - most of the day a thin veil of stratus clouds or a thick “wall” of cumulus clouds hangs over the islands.
Quite strong, but noticeably relieving the heat, trade winds blow over the Marshall Islands almost all year round. Powerful tropical storms and typhoons are quite rare in these parts, since they simply do not have time to gain their destructive power when they originate in the equatorial latitudes. However, in the period from March to April or from October to November, quite strong atmospheric fronts and cyclones are observed here, bringing with them short-term changes in weather and rough seas.
Geography
The Marshall Islands are located in the western Pacific Ocean, in Micronesia. The islands are grouped into two main chains - Ratak ("Sunrise" - 14 atolls and about 470 islands) in the east and Ralik ("Sunset" - 15 atolls and about 680 islands) in the west, spaced 250 km from each other and stretching for general direction from northwest to southeast. In total, the archipelago includes 1,152 islands, atolls and reefs scattered across the Pacific Ocean over an area of over 1.9 million square meters. km. Despite the huge size of the occupied territory, most atolls have a very limited land area (on average no more than 10 sq. km).
The islands lie approximately 4,100 km southeast of Japan, 4,100 km southwest of Hawaii (Papua New Guinea. The closest neighbors are other Micronesian states - Ponape and the Caroline Islands in the west, Nauru and Kiribati in the south and the atoll Wake (USA) in the north.
Flora and fauna
Vegetable world. The vegetation of the atolls is sparse. The coconut palm is the most important plant of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands itself. It serves as a source of food products, raw materials for the manufacture of textiles, and building material or fuel. In addition to the coconut palm, plants brought here by people grow on the islands - breadfruit, pandanus, taro, arrowroot, yams, tapioca, bananas and various melons.Animal world. Hundreds of species of coral can be found in the waters around the atolls, as well as 250 species of reef fish, five species of sea turtles, about 20 species of crustaceans, and a variety of marine mammals. But the terrestrial fauna is not rich - approximately 70 species of birds live here, including more than 30 marine species, about 7 species of reptiles (including the only species of reptile - the blind snake) and the only representative of mammals - the Polynesian rat, as well as the ubiquitous crabs.
Dangerous plants and animals
There are no natural foci of malaria on the islands, but there are irregular outbreaks of tropical fever, spread by mosquitoes and sand fleas. Therefore, it is recommended to carry insect repellents and use various mosquito nets. Lots of birds and insects. Coastal waters abound with fish. Jellyfish, poisonous fish and corals, sea urchins, and sea snakes are also of great danger. There are no sharks or other dangerous marine life in the waters of the lagoons, but they are found in abundance near the outer contours of the reef, so all dives in the open sea should be carried out only in the company of experienced local instructors.
Attractions
The first Micronesian sailors reached the atolls of the modern Marshall Islands approximately between 2000 and 500 BC. Frankly little is known about the origin or culture of these ancient sailors, but traces of their stay are found in the form of mysterious structures throughout the region, which causes sincere amazement at the skill of the ancient peoples of the sea, capable of crossing such colossal expanses of the ocean without navigational instruments or maps. The sparsely populated islands of the archipelago have not been united under any single leader for many centuries, although one tribal chief often ruled several atolls or even a large group of them, but the entire archipelago was not ruled by a single chief, unlike the more southern islands of the region. spread.During the era of great geographical discoveries, the Marshall Islands passed the attention of European explorers. In 1494, in accordance with the Treaty of Tordesillas, the entire territory of Micronesia ceded to Spain, but the Marshall Islands, which remained aloof from the main trade routes, fell under the rule of the crown “wholesale”, without any exploration. In 1525, Alonso de Salazar became the first European to approach the shores of the islands, but Spain did nothing to explore or colonize them. Only 200 years later, in 1788, the islands again saw the sails of a European ship - this time it was the English captain John Marshall, in whose honor the archipelago received its modern name. And at the beginning of the 19th century, the Russian explorer Otto von Kotzebue, during his expeditions, first compiled detailed maps of the water area and the archipelago, giving names to a number of atolls.
In 1885, Germany declared the Marshall Islands a protectorate. In 1914, at the very beginning of the First World War, the islands were captured by Japan, which continued to administer them after the war under a League of Nations mandate. In early 1944, American troops occupied Kwajalein, followed by the entire Marshall Islands, turning Majuro into a major naval station. In 1947, the archipelago was included in the UN Trust Territory of Micronesia (then UN Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands - TTPA), administered by the United States. In 1946-1958, the United States conducted a series of tests of atomic and hydrogen bombs on the Bikini and Eniwetak atolls (a total of 23 nuclear charges were detonated here at different times), and on Kwajalein they equipped a missile testing site.
In May 1979, the Marshall Islands seceded from the PTTO, gained the right of self-government and received the name the Republic of the Marshall Islands. In 1983, the Marshall Islands Compact of Free Association with the United States was signed, ratified by the US Congress in January 1986 and entered into force in October of the same year.
These days, the Marshall Islands are a very exotic and often inaccessible, but very unusual choice for travelers who want to take a break from civilization and visit one of Micronesia's lost in the ocean coral atolls, since this area has a very friendly population and beautiful shores, famous for its rich underwater life , and is also filled with magnificent underwater landscapes and is rich in relics from the Second World War.
Majuro Atoll
Majuro is the political and economic center of the islands. More than half the country's population lives here and the main administrative and commercial institutions are concentrated here. The atoll consists of 57 small islands, the most significant of which are connected by the only 55-kilometer road on the islands, which turns Majuro into one long and narrow island. Robert Louis Stevenson, when visiting Majuro in 1889, called the atoll the “Pearl of the Pacific,” but with the development of the tourism industry, the atoll that can be seen today has acquired many additional advantages in the form of a completely modern recreational infrastructure, carefully combined with island traditions. The three islands of Majuro - Delap, Aliga and Derrit (Rita) - are united into a separate municipality, forming the capital of the archipelago and one of the most densely populated places in the Pacific Ocean. This is no longer a “tropical paradise under palm trees”, but a completely modern place with a small selection of attractions.
Located in the city center, the Alele Museum (open Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm) is small in size, but its quality exhibits highlight the early culture of the Marshall Islands, famous nautical maps made from intricate knots and woven pieces wood along which the ancient sailors of Micronesia made their way in the vast Pacific Ocean, models of canoes, weapons and tools without a single piece of metal, as well as various utensils ("alele" is a traditional wicker basket-bag of the peoples of Oceania, made of pandanus leaves). Nearby are the library and the National Archives, traditionally named after the same item, which in the Marshall Islands is considered a symbol of value and knowledge.
A visit to Laura Village on the far western side of the atoll provides an insight into the rural lifestyle of the islanders, which has not changed much since Stevenson's time. At the same time, Laura Village, next to the airport, has the best beach in the atoll with its popular Laura Beach Resort, as well as the Majuro Peace Park war memorial, built by the Japanese and dedicated to all those who died in the fierce battles of World War II in the Pacific. .
Also, tourists will definitely be shown a sorghum processing factory and the modernist building of the local Capitol, the Ocean Reefs and Aquariums (ORA) marine farm, famous for the giant shellfish bred here (organized excursions are held here 3 times a week, the cost of which is approximately $5 per person), traditional http ://www.wamprogram.org/ Marshall Islands Canoe House (Waan Aelon) in Majola, near the Marshall Islands Resort, the Tobolar copra processing factory and a monument to the victims of the 1918 typhoon at the very tip of Laura (since typhoons in these parts are very rare, the hurricane of 1918, which struck the southern atolls and killed 200 people, was long remembered by local residents, as well as the contribution of the Emperor of Japan to the restoration of Majuro).
Arno Atoll is the closest atoll to Majuro, they are separated by only 15 km. This atoll has 133 islands with a total area of 13 square kilometers. km, and its deep-sea lagoon occupies 339 sq. km. In fact, this is not one atoll, but three, “fused” during the formation of coral reefs into one ring of irregular shape. It has its own airfield with two runways, and is home to almost 1,700 people. Its main attraction is the Langor region, better known as the “school of love”, where, before the arrival of Europeans, young women were taught the art of sexual games and family life. Many scientists are even inclined to believe that this place was the forerunner of the famous Japanese medieval school of geishas. These days, the waters off Langor are known for excellent conditions for deep-sea fishing (marlin, yellowfin tuna, mahi-mahi and sailfish are found here in abundance), as well as for secluded recreation.
Kwajalein Atoll
Kwajalein is the largest coral atoll in the region, consisting of 97 islands with a total area of 16.4 square meters. km, forming an extremely narrow strip of land (120 meters at the widest part) around a huge lagoon about 130 km long and up to 32 km across (water surface area about 2850 sq. km). Kwajalein Lagoon, often called "the hand of the world's greatest catcher" (the islanders, like all Oceanian peoples, are famous for their ability to give long and meaningful names to various objects), is the target and splashdown point for US intercontinental ballistic missiles launched from Vanderburgh Air Force Base in California, 6,700 km from here. Tests most often take place at night, lighting up the sky with fireworks and cascades of explosions, thereby attracting a considerable number of tourists who prefer to watch such an exotic spectacle from a safe distance.
Apart from this unusual spectacle, which not everyone gets to see (the launches themselves are infrequent, and access to Kwajalein is limited for obvious reasons), the only noteworthy object here is the Marshall Islands Cultural Center, which is dedicated to the protection and popularization of the culture and historical traditions of the islanders. Supported by the local Cultural Society and the capital's Alele Museum, the center contains many interesting objects and exhibits that can be seen on regular exhibitions.
Mili Atoll
Located at the southern end of the Rataka chain, approximately 25 km southeast of Majuro and Arno, Mili Atoll is considered the second largest in the Marshall Islands - its 84 (according to other sources - 92) islets occupy a total area of 14.9 square meters. km, and the almost completely closed central lagoon is 763 sq. km.
Mili Atoll is a good choice for travelers. One of Japan's main bases in World War II, Mili has many abandoned weapons, and the skeletons of warplanes and defensive structures are still scattered throughout the area. The main village of the atoll, usually called Mili-Mili, contains on its territory more than six dozen different relics of that war - since local law does not allow the export of anything that is the “right of this land,” here you can see both an extensive system of Japanese bunkers and dilapidated artillery positions (US Navy artillery “processed” this small piece of land for 30 days before the landing of the Marines, so the island is literally pitted with old craters), and even two irreconcilable enemies - the American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber and the Japanese A6M5 Zero fighter , whose remains still lie very close.
In 1937, the famous American aviator Emilia Earhart disappeared in this part of the Pacific Ocean, and the mystery surrounding her disappearance is still one of the reasons that attracts hundreds of underwater archaeologists to the Mile (the remains of the plane and crew are believed to have been found on the island of Tinian in the Mariana Islands, but this does not prevent divers from exploring the adjacent waters again and again). The atoll's ocean shores abound with shells and are considered some of the best in the world for collecting these seafood, while the white sand lagoon shores are perfect for sunbathing and swimming.
Votje Atoll (Rumyantseva)
Almost rectangular in plan, Wotje Atoll (area 8 sq. km, lagoon area - 624 sq. km) consists of 10 nearby smaller atolls (about 75 islets in total) and is known as the “garden center of the Marshall Islands” for its lush tropical forest. The huge defensive structures and artillery positions built by the Japanese during the defense of the islands during the Second World War, as well as the base of the N8K "Emily" flying boats, capable of "reaching" from here all the way to the Hawaiian island of Oahu, led to fierce bombing of Wotier by aircraft during the Second World War US Navy. Some buildings from that time, barely visible from under the dense cover of the jungle, can be found on the atoll today.
Right in the center of the village of the same name there is a large collection of Japanese military equipment and weapons (many examples are quite capable of moving independently). The lagoon is also full of remnants of the past war, including several ships, including the Bordeaux Maru, which was sunk on February 1, 1942, and several warplanes. The shores of the lagoon are very beautiful and relatively clean. The nearby small islands are even better holiday destinations than the main atoll, as they are mostly uninhabited and therefore pristine, and many of them can be easily reached on foot at low tide.
Mejit Atoll
The secluded coral island of Medjit (in the local dialect its name sounds completely unpronounceable - Mrdzhej) is located east of the main line of the Rataka chain, about 85 km northeast of Votje (Rumyantsev) Atoll. Occupying an area of only 1.86 square meters. km and inhabited by 450 inhabitants, it is one of the smallest landmass in the Marshall Islands. This is a very beautiful island, covered with lush taro trees and abounding in coconut trees, breadfruit trees and pandanus trees. Medjit is one of the few without a protective lagoon, so fishing and unloading boats here can be quite risky, especially in November and December when the winds are strong. But Medzhit has a small freshwater lake, a rarity in these parts, which makes it a truly unique (and amazingly colorful) place, especially during the period when algae floats on its surface.
California Beach on the northwest side of the island is a great place for swimming and snorkeling, and the waters around the island are widely recognized as some of the best fishing in the world. And what really sets Medjit apart from all the Marshall Islands is the complete absence of poisonous fish in the local waters, which is very rare for the region. The island is also famous for its pandanus leaf mats, which are woven by the islanders, as well as the quality of its schools, both general education (which is very important for the islands) and diving schools.
Maloelap Atoll
One of the largest atolls of the Marshall Islands, Maloelap-Taroa, or Tarawa (not to be confused with Tarawa in the Kiribati Islands), is located in the Rataka chain slightly north of Majuro. Its main islets (Eiruk, Jang, Kaven, Tharwa and Walot, totaling 71 islands with a total area of 9.8 sq. km) are located on a continuous strip of reef around a beautiful lagoon covering 972 sq. km. km (the fourth largest lagoon among the Marshall Islands). Only the western side of the lagoon is broken by several channels and passages in the reef wall, making the atoll an excellent anchorage.
The island was the main Japanese air force base in the eastern Marshall Islands during World War II, so today most tourists come here to see the rusting relics of the war. Throughout the atoll you can find numerous wrecks of Zero fighters and Betty bombers, an airfield, anti-aircraft positions and even several quite well-preserved howitzers. Most of the relics of that war are hidden under the thick jungle canopy, but the islanders are happy to give tours of the sites of battles and discovered weapons. Directly opposite the beach of Taroa Lagoon, in shallow water, the Japanese cargo ship Toroshima Maru, sunk by American bombers, still lies. And the waters of the lagoon and reefs are home to a huge number of living creatures, which creates excellent conditions for diving and snorkeling.
15 km south of Maloelap (120 km north of Majuro) lies the small Ur (Aur) atoll, consisting of the islands of Tabal, Ur, Bigen and 39 small islets, which have a total area of 5.6 square meters. km. The lagoon they surround is deep (over 80 meters) and has an area of about 240 square meters. km.
This atoll is quite traditional and is considered one of the best places in the archipelago to get acquainted with the traditions of the islanders. Almost all traditional crafts and activities practiced today on Ur are a complete copy of the age-old skills of the Sea Peoples. Locals specialize in creating traditional canoes and large wall hangings from palm leaves, seaweed and shells. The beautiful Oura Lagoon provides excellent diving conditions, with a wide variety of tropical fish and coral, and turtles and small sharks are common inhabitants.
Not far from Ur are the Bikar and Taongi (Bokaak) atolls, which are actively preparing to receive the status of national parks of world significance. The latter is perhaps the only example of a completely natural, unmodified semi-arid coral atoll ecosystem. Bicar has a particularly large population of green sea turtles.
Bikini Atoll
The uninhabited Bikini Atoll (Pikinni) lies at the northern end of the Ralik chain, approximately 850 km northwest of Majuro. The atoll consists of an almost continuous reef "frame", broken by a network of Enirik, Enyu and Rukoji straits only on the south side. 36 Bikini islands occupy only 6 square meters. km area, and its deep central lagoon has an area of about 594 sq. km at a depth of about 55 meters.
Quite famous until the mid-20th century for its beautiful lagoon, many sunken ships from the Second World War and free morals (the bikini swimsuit got its name in honor of this popular area, although the author of this item of clothing claimed that it simply had the same effect in Puritan society of the 50s, like an exploding atomic bomb, and was presented to the public just in the days of testing these weapons), after the war it became quite notorious - from 1946 to 1958, more than two dozen tests of nuclear devices were carried out here, including including the first practical hydrogen bomb, Castle Bravo, in 1954, so the entire local population was removed from the atoll to Rongerik and Kili. In 1968, the United States declared Bikini habitable, and residents began returning to the atoll. However, by 1978, the levels of strontium in their tissues had reached alarming levels, and Bikini was once again depopulated.
Today, the Bikini Lagoon is a real accumulation of relics of the Second World War, therefore, despite the danger of radiation sickness, in the last 10 years real diving tours have been held here for extreme sports enthusiasts, who are attracted not only by sunken ships, but also by colossal accumulations of living organisms inhabiting the lagoon (not worth it). forget that for more than 60 years no one here hunted sea animals or fished, and the background radiation led to the formation of an analogue of the “Chernobyl zone”, in which a huge number of sea creatures demonstrate the amazing flexibility of natural communities in relation to the most unfavorable environmental conditions) .
Banks and currency
Banks are located in almost all the main tourist areas, their opening hours vary greatly in each case.You can exchange currency at bank offices and specialized exchange offices. The Bank of the Marshall Islands has several branches in Majuro and Ebeye. The Bank of Guam has a branch on Majuro (the only ATM on the island is located here).
Credit cards are quite limited in use, although most bank central offices carry out all types of transactions with them. Visa, Mastercard and American Express are accepted for payment in most large commercial establishments in the central atolls; in the periphery it is difficult to use non-cash means of payment.
Travel checks can be cashed at banks in Majuro and Kwajalein.
US dollar ($, US$, USD), equal to 100 cents. In circulation there are bills in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 dollars, as well as coins: penny (1 cent), nickel (5 cents), dime (10 cents), quarter (25 cents), half- dollar (50 cents) and 1 dollar.
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