Majuro (; Marshallese: ' ) is the

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

and largest city of the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 c ...

. It is also a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. It forms a

legislative district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

of the Ratak (Sunrise) Chain of the Marshall Islands. The atoll has a land area of and encloses a lagoon of . As with other atolls in the Marshall Islands, Majuro consists of narrow land masses. It has a tropical trade wind climate, with an average temperature of . Majuro has been inhabited by humans for at least 2,000 years and was first settled by the Austronesian ancestors of the modern day

Marshallese people The Micronesians or Micronesian peoples are various closely related ethnic groups native to Micronesia, a region of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. They are a part of the Austronesian ethnolinguistic group, which has an Urheimat in Taiwan. Ethno ...

. Majuro was the site of a Protestant mission and several

copra Copra (from ; ; ; ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted ...

trading stations in the 1870s, before the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

annexed the atoll as part of the German Protectorate of the Marshall Islands in 1885. The city was later under Japanese and American administration. After the Marshall Islands broke away from the

Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (, abbreviated FSM), or simply Micronesia, is an island country in Micronesia, a region of Oceania. The federation encompasses the majority of the Caroline Islands (excluding Palau) and consists of four Admin ...

in 1978 to form the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Majuro became the new country's capital and meeting place of the Nitijeļā, supplanting the former capital of Jaluit. The main population center, Delap-Uliga-Djarrit (DUD), is made up of three contiguous motus and had a population of 23,156 people at the 2021 census. Majuro has a port, shopping district, and various hotels. Majuro has an international airport with scheduled international flights to Hawaii, the Federated States of Micronesia,

Kiribati Kiribati, officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the central Pacific Ocean. Its permanent population is over 119,000 as of the 2020 census, and more than half live on Tarawa. The st ...

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

Nauru Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru, formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies within the Micronesia subregion of Oceania, with its nearest neighbour being Banaba (part of ...

, and flights to domestic destinations around the country. Its economy is primarily

service sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the ...

-dominated.

Geography

Majuro Atoll consists of over 60 islands, three of which are larger than . At the western end of the atoll, about from Delap-Uliga-Djarrit (DUD) by road, is the island community of Laura, an expanding residential area with a popular beach. Laura has the highest elevation point on the atoll, estimated at less than

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. Djarrit is mostly residential.

Climate

Being slightly north of the

Equator The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...

, Majuro has a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southeast Florida, United States ...

( Af) but not an equatorial climate because

trade wind The trade winds or easterlies are permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere, ...

s are prevailing throughout the year though they are frequently interrupted during the summer months by the movement of the

Intertropical Convergence Zone The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ , or ICZ), known by sailors as the doldrums or the calms because of its monotonous windless weather, is the area where the northeast and the southeast trade winds converge. It encircles Earth near the t ...

across the area.

Typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...

s are rare. Temperatures are extremely consistent throughout the course of the year with average temperatures around . The hottest month is only 0.4 degree Celsius hotter than the coldest month. Very rarely does the temperature fall below . Majuro sees roughly of precipitation annually, with fall (Sep - Nov) being both the hottest and the rainiest season.

History

The atoll has been inhabited for at least 2,000 years by Austronesian peoples, including the ancestors of modern-day Marshallese residents. Archaeological excavations of ''um'' earth ovens at the Laura village on Majuro suggest habitation around the 1st century AD with a

radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for Chronological dating, determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of carbon-14, radiocarbon, a radioactive Isotop ...

range of 93 BC to 127 AD. Protestant missionaries of the

American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) was among the first American Christian mission, Christian missionary organizations. It was created in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College. In the 19th century it was the l ...

established a church and school on atoll in 1869. By 1876, agents of the firms Capelle & Co., Hernsheim & Co., and Thomas Farrell were engaged in the

trade on Majuro. After buying out Thomas Farrell's interests in 1877, New Zealand-based copra firm Henderson & Macfarlane had its regional headquarters on Majuro. Rival iroij Jebrik and Rimi fought waged war against each other for several years in the late 1870s and 1880s. Their uncle Lerok, the previous iroijlaplap of Majuro had wanted them to divide the atoll between them when he died, but Jebrik began a war for sole control. At least 10 islanders died in the conflict; the destruction of trees and crops caused a serious food shortage; and a slowdown in copra production caused Jebrik to take on debt for his war effort. In 1883, Cyprian Bridge of the passing British warship mediated a peace treaty. The fighting never resumed, but when passed Majuro in 1884, Rimi was trying to persuade the iroij of Aur Atoll to join him in an attack on Jebrik. The British commander mediated peace and warned the iroij of Aur to stay out of the conflict. The commander of the ''Dart'' threatened to fine copra traders who had been selling weapons to the islanders, but some traders continued selling weapons in spite of the prohibition, and the residents of Majuro refused to give up their firearms after the war between Jebrik and Rimi ended, because they feared invasion by neighboring islanders. The

claimed Majuro Atoll as part of the German Protectorate of the

in 1885. As with the rest of the Marshalls, Majuro was captured by the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

in 1914 during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and mandated to the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

by the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

in 1920. The island then became a part of the Japanese mandated territory of the

South Seas Mandate The South Seas Mandate, officially the Mandate for the German Possessions in the Pacific Ocean Lying North of the Equator, was a League of Nations mandate in the " South Seas" given to the Empire of Japan by the League of Nations following W ...

; although the Japanese had established a government in the Mandate, local affairs were mostly left in the hands of traditional local leaders until the start of World War II. On January 30, 1944, United States Armed Forces invaded, but found that Japanese forces had evacuated their fortifications to Kwajalein and Enewetak about a year earlier. A single Japanese

warrant officer Warrant officer (WO) is a Military rank, rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ...

had been left as a caretaker. With his capture, the islands were secured. This gave the U.S. Navy use of one of the largest

anchorage Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...

s in the Central Pacific. The lagoon became a large forward naval base, Naval Base Majuro, and was the largest and most active port in the world until the war moved westward when it was supplanted by

Ulithi Ulithi (, , or ; pronounced roughly as YOU-li-thee) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap, within Yap State. Name The name of the island goes back to Chuukic languages, Proto-Chuukic ''*úlú-diw ...

( Yap,

). Following World War II, Majuro came under the control of the United States as part of the

Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from 1947 to 1994. The Imperial Japanese South Seas Mandate had been seized by the U.S. during the Pacifi ...

. After the Marshall Islands broke away from the Federated States of Micronesia in 1978 to form the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Majuro became the new country's capital and meeting place of the Nitijeļā, the legislature of the Marshall Islands. It supplanted Jaluit Atoll as the

administrative center An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

of the Marshall Islands, a status that it retains after the independence of the Marshall Islands in 1986 under a

Compact of Free Association The Compacts of Free Association (COFA) are international agreements establishing and governing the relationships of free association between the United States and the three Pacific Island sovereign states of the Federated States of Micronesia ( ...

. The island was also the site of the Majuro Declaration, a declaration by the

Pacific Islands Forum The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) is an inter-governmental organisation that aims to enhance cooperation among countries and territories of Oceania, including formation of a trade bloc and regional peacekeeping operations. It was founded in 197 ...

signed on September 5, 2013, to make a unified action on climate change adaptation and international aid.

Demographics

The major population centers are the D–U–D communities: the islets of Delap– Uliga– Djarrit (listed from south to north, on the eastern edge of the atoll). Majuro had a population of 23,156 at the 2021 census.

Religion

Most of the population is Christian. The majority are

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

and follow the

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a socially liberal mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Restorationist, Continental Reformed, and Lutheran t ...

(47%), Assembly of God (16%) and others such as Bukot Nan Jesus (5%),

Full Gospel The Full Gospel or Fourfold Gospel is an evangelical doctrine that summarizes the Gospel in four aspects, namely the Salvation (Christianity), salvation, sanctification, faith healing and Second Coming of Christ. It has been used in various Christi ...

(3%), Reformed Congressional Church (3%), the

Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

(2%),

Seventh-Day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbat ...

(1%), and Meram in Jesus (1%). 8% of the population are

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, with the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Roman Catholic Apostolic Prefecture of the Marshall Islands located in Majuro. Islamic influence has been increasing. There are a sizable number of Ahmadi Muslims. The first mosque opened in Majuro in September 2012.First Mosque opens up in Marshall Islands
by Radio New Zealand International, September 21, 2012 There are also LDS churches,

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

churches, and

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...

Ethnic composition

Economy

Majuro's economy is driven by the

, which composed 86% of the GDP in 2011. On September 15, 2007, Witon Barry, of the Tobolar Copra processing plant in the Marshall Islands' capital of Majuro, said power authorities, private companies and entrepreneurs had been experimenting with

coconut oil Coconut oil (or coconut fat) is an edible oil derived from the kernels, meat, and milk of the coconut palm fruit. Coconut oil is a white solid fat below around , and a clear thin liquid oil at higher temperatures. Unrefined varieties have a disti ...

as an alternative to

diesel fuel Diesel fuel, also called diesel oil, heavy oil (historically) or simply diesel, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a re ...

for vehicles, power generators, and ships. Coconut trees abound in the Pacific's tropical islands.

Copra Copra (from ; ; ; ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted ...

from 6 to 10 coconuts makes 1 litre of oil.

Air Marshall Islands Air Marshall Islands is an airline based in Majuro, Marshall Islands, Majuro, Marshall Islands. It is the flag carrier of the Marshall Islands, operating inter-island services in the Central Pacific. Its main base is Marshall Islands Internati ...

has its headquarters in Majuro.Contact Information
."

. Retrieved October 6, 2010. "Headquarters P.O. Box 1319 Majuro, MH 96960."

Education

Colleges and universities

The College of the Marshall Islands is located in Uliga. The University of South Pacific has a presence on Majuro.

Primary and secondary schools

Marshall Islands Public School System operates public schools. High schools:Secondary Schools Division
." Marshall Islands Public School System. Retrieved February 21, 2018. * The

Marshall Islands High School Marshall Islands High School (also known as Majol Island or MIHS) is the main public high school located in Rita,McMurray, Christine and Roy Smith. ''Diseases of Globalization: Socioeconomic Transition and Health''. Routledge Routledge ( ) i ...

is near the north end of Majuro. * Laura High School * Life Skills Academy Primary schools:Public Schools
." Marshall Islands Public School System. Retrieved February 21, 2018. * Ajeltake Elementary School * Delap Elementary School * DUD Kindergarten * Ejit Elementary School * Laura Elementary School * Long Island Elementary School * Majuro Middle School * Rairok Elementary School * Rita Elementary School * Uliga Elementary School * Woja Maj. Elementary School * Carl Kuli Lobat. Elementary School In the 1994–1995 school year Majuro had 10 private elementary schools and six private high schools.McMurray, Christine and Roy Smith. ''Diseases of Globalization: Socioeconomic Transition and Health''.

Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

, October 11, 2013. , 9781134200221. p
127
There is a Seventh Day Adventist High School and Elementary School in Delap, where English is taught to all students.SSD

Health

The 101-bed Majuro Hospital (officially the Leroij Atama Zedkeia Medical Center) is the main

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

for Majuro, as well as many of the outer islands. The country's only other major hospital is on Ebeye Island, the Leroij Kitlang Memorial Health Center. As of 2015, most of the 43 physicians employed by the Marshall Islands were located at the Majuro Hospital. The Laura and Rongrong Health Centers are also located on the atoll of Majuro.

Infrastructure

Water and sewage

The Majuro Water and Sewer Company obtains water from a

catchment basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, th ...

on the International Airport runway. It supplies a year or per person per day. This compares with New York City's per person per day. Water is supplied 12 hours daily. The threat of drought is commonplace. Local Traffic Regulations

Transport

Air

Marshall Islands International Airport, offering domestic and international services, is on Majuro. It is served by four passenger airlines:

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...

, Nauru Airlines,

, and Asia Pacific Airlines. Air Marshall Islands flies to most of the Marshalls' inhabited atolls once a week. It offers daily service between Majuro and Kwajalein, except Thursdays and Sundays.Air Marshall Islands

Sea

Majuro Lagoon is an active port. It is one of the busiest tuna

transshipment Transshipment, trans-shipment or transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, then to another destination. One possible reason for transshipment is to change the means of transport during the journey (e.g. ...

ports in the world, with 306,796 tons of tuna being moved from purse seine vessels to carrier vessels in 2018. The Marshall Islands Shipping Corporation was established by the Marshall Islands via the Marshall Islands Shipping Corporation Act 2004. It manages several government ships that move people and freight around the islands. These ships include three older ships (Langidrik, Aemman, and Ribuuk Ae), as well as two newer ships (Majuro, Kwajalein) which were donated to the Republic of the Marshall Islands by Japan in 2013. They also operate a landing craft (''Jelejeletae''). These vessels are the main link for transporting people and supplies to and from the outer islands. Additionally, the

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...

acts as a harbor for

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for Commerce, commercial Profit (economics), profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice ...

vessels,

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

s, and

luxury yacht A superyacht or megayacht is a large and luxurious pleasure vessel. There are no official or agreed upon definitions for such yachts, but these terms are regularly used to describe professionally crewed motor or sailing yachts, ranging from t ...

Sport

Majuro was initially scheduled to host the seventh edition of the

Micronesian Games The Micronesian Games (or Micro Games, MicroGames) are a quadrennial international multi-sport event within the Micronesian region. The Games were first held in 1969 in Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands). The 2010 Micronesian Games were initially du ...

, in 2010. It subsequently renounced its hosting rights, citing a lack of adequate infrastructure."Scaled down Micro Games in 2010"
, Jon Perez, ''Saipan Tribune'', April 9, 2008 In 2018, the Marshall Islands were awarded the 2022 Micro Games, and a new stadium is being built in Majuro. (In 2021, it was decided to move back the Games a year, to 2023.) The new stadium is also expected to host soccer matches, which will be a first step in forming the Marshall Islands' first-ever national soccer team. Weightlifter Mattie Langtor Sasser competed for the Marshall Islands in the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, participating in the Women's 58 kg category on August 8.

Twin towns

Majuro is twinned with: * Inalåhan, Guam, United States, since 1973 * Kawai,

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...

, Japan *

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

, Republic of China (Taiwan), since 1999 * Basco, Philippines *

Luganville Luganville is the second largest city in Vanuatu after the capital Port Vila; it is located on the island of Espiritu Santo and has a population of 18,062 as of the 2020 census. Those on Vanuatu's northern islands who regard Luganville as their ...

, Vanuatu * Weno, Micronesia * Tamuning, Guam, United States *

Tarawa Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati
''

Honiara Honiara () is the capital and largest city of Solomon Islands, situated on the northwestern coast of Guadalcanal. , it had a population of 92,344 people. The city is served by Honiara International Airport and the seaport of Point Cruz, and lies ...

, Solomon Islands *

Nukuʻalofa Nukualofa ( , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Tonga. It is located on the north coast of the island of Tongatapu, in the country's southernmost island group. History First western records of Nukualofa On 10 June 1777, British ...

, Tonga

References

External links

Marshall Islands site
*

World War II photos of Majuro

{{Authority control Atolls of the Marshall Islands Capitals in Oceania Pacific Ocean theater of World War II Populated places in the Marshall Islands Ratak Chain United States Navy in World War II 1884 establishments in Oceania Populated places established in 1884