The Islands!
The Republic of the Marshall Islands is one of onlyfour atoll nations in the world and is also one ofthe world’s youngest nations, independent onlysince 1986.The Marshall Islands consists of 29 atolls eachmade up of many islets and 5 islands in the centralPacific. The atolls and islands are situated in twoalmost parallel chain-like formations known as theRatak (Sunrise or Eastern) group and Ralik (Sunsetor Western) group. The total number of islands andislets in the whole Republic is approximately 1,225spreading across a sea area of over 750,000square miles (1.2 million square kms). The totalland area is about 70 square miles (171 squarekms)
Majuro
Majuro is the main island of the Marshall Islands. Here you can find restaurants, cinema, bank, post office, diving- and fishing tour operators, accommodation and one of the Islands’ two airports. You can even find nightclubs and a bowling alley. You will not be bored on Majuro.
Bikini Atoll
There are great opportunities for diving and snorkeling in the blue waves around the Marshall Islands. But there are not just beautiful fish and corals to look at. The U.S. has used selected areas around the Marshall Islands for nuclear testing in the postwar period. You can still find remains of the USS Saratogaon on the seabed off the Bikini Atoll as an eternal memory of the devastation the blasts caused. It is reportedly the only aircraft carrier wreck in the world that can be explored with regular sports diving equipment.
The Bikini Atoll is on the UNESCO world heritage list because it represents the dawn of the nuclear age. But the island is also known for something more “uplifting” – the two-piece swimsuit the “bikini” is named after the island.
