constitutional government in free association with the US; the Compact of Free Association entered into force 21 October 1986 and the Amended Compact entered into force in May 2004
constitutional sultanate
Independence date
1 January 1984 (from UK)
Religions
Protestant 54.8%, Assembly of God 25.8%, Roman Catholic 8.4%, Bukot nan Jesus 2.8%, Mormon 2.1%, other Christian 3.6%, other 1%, none 1.5% (1999 census)
Muslim (official) 67%, Buddhist 13%, Christian 10%, other (includes indigenous beliefs) 10%
Languages
Marshallese (official) 98.2%, other languages 1.8% (1999 census) note: English (official), widely spoken as a second language
Malay (official), English, Chinese
Exports
crude oil, natural gas, garments
External Debt
$0 US
Exchange Rate
Bruneian dollars (BND) per US dollar - NA (2007), 1.5886 (2006), 1.6644 (2005), 1.6902 (2004), 1.7422 (2003)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
2.400%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
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 half way between Hawaii and Australia
Southeastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and Malaysia
Area
181 km sq
5,765 km sq
Coastline
370 km
161 km
Climate
tropical; hot and humid; wet season May to November; islands border typhoon belt
