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
republic
Independence date
24 October 1964 (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)
Christian 50%-75%, Muslim and Hindu 24%-49%, indigenous beliefs 1%
Languages
Marshallese (official) 98.2%, other languages 1.8% (1999 census) note: English (official), widely spoken as a second language
English (official), major vernaculars - Bemba, Kaonda, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Nyanja, Tonga, and about 70 other indigenous languages
Zambian kwacha (ZMK) per US dollar - 3,512.9 (2008 est.), 3,990.2 (2007), 3,601.5 (2006), 4,463.5 (2005), 4,778.9 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
1.800%
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
Southern Africa, east of Angola
Area
181 km sq
752,618 km sq
Coastline
370 km
0 km
Climate
tropical; hot and humid; wet season May to November; islands border typhoon belt
tropical; modified by altitude; rainy season (October to April)
