The Marshall Islands (Marshall Inseln), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands is an island country near the equator in the Pacific Ocean, and an Associated state of the United States. Geographically, the country is part of the larger island group of Micronesia. The islands derive their name from John Marshall, who visited in 1788. The islands were historically known by the inhabitants as “jolet jen Anij” (Gifts from God).
Micronesian colonists reached the Marshall Islands using canoes circa 2nd millennium BC, with interisland navigation made possible using traditional stick charts. They eventually settled here. Islands in the archipelago were first explored by Europeans in the 1520s, starting with Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer in the service of Spain, Juan Sebastián Elcano and Miguel de Saavedra. Spain claimed the islands in 1592, and the European powers recognized its sovereignty over the islands in 1874. They had been part of the Spanish East Indies formally since 1528.
Spain sold some of the islands to the German Empire in 1885, and they became part of German New Guinea. In World War I the Empire of Japan occupied the Marshall Islands, which in 1920, the League of Nations combined with other former German territories to form the South Seas Mandate.
During World War II, the United States took control of the islands in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign in 1944. The US government formed the Congress of Micronesia in 1965, a plan for increased self-governance of Pacific islands. The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands in 1979 provided independence to the Marshall Islands, whose constitution were formally recognized by the US.
In 1982, the Republic of Marshall Islands was formed.
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