The capital of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Majuro is an atoll on which the government offices are located. An atoll is a ring of low coral islands that surround a lagoon. The country is made up of many such atolls and islands, spread out across a wide area of the North Pacific Ocean. Majuro is about 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) southwest of Hawaii.
Nearly half of the Marshallese people live on Majuro Atoll. Some of them were resettled from far-off Bikini Atoll, where the United States tested nuclear weapons in the 1940s and 1950s. Most of the people of Majuro Atoll live on three connected islands called Dalap, Uliga, and Darrit. These islands house government buildings, a branch of the College of Micronesia, and the Alele Museum of Marshallese culture.
Most of the country's economic activity takes place in Majuro. Government and tourism employ many of the people of Majuro. The city's largest industrial operation is a factory that produces oil from coconut meat. The rest of the town's manufacturing sector consists of various small-scale operations, such as furniture, boat making, and fish processing. The city is the site of a seaport as well as an international airport.
The Marshall Islands were believed to have been settled in about the 1st century BC by people from nearby islands. In the 18th and 19th centuries Majuro and the other islands were visited by seafarers and Christian missionaries. After World War II, the islands became a territory of the United Nations governed by the United States. The U.S. government gave up control in 1986, and Majuro became capital of the independent Marshall Islands republic soon afterward. Population (1999 estimate), 23,670.
