Marshall Islands: Introduction

The Marshall Islands is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The United States occupied the islands for several decades after World War II. They are now a sovereign nation. The government system is a constitutional government in free association with the United States; the chief of state and head of government is the president. The Marshall Islands, largely dependent on the United States, has a traditional economic system in which most of the population engages in subsistence agriculture.