The population is Micronesian speaking Marshallese, an Austronesian (Micronesian) language with two main dialects. In addition to Marshallese, English is also the official language and is spoken by most residents.
In recent decades, the population has been increasingly concentrated on the country’s two cities: the capital Rita on the Majuroatoll with almost half of the country’s residents and Ebeye on the Kwajalein atoll with upwards a quarter of the population. The outer islands are sparsely populated.
- COUNTRYAAH.COM: Key populations estimated size and data of Marshall Islands, including population density of how many people per square mile. Also included are facts for population and language.
The natural population growth is high. But many, especially young people, leave the country for the United States, where the Marshallese have the right to study, work and live without special permission. From the mid-1990s to 2011, about 1,000 residents moved to the United States each year. Since 2012, there are no statistics on the number of marshalls who emigrated to the US, but it is clear that the rate of emigration is still high and that a large proportion of the population lives in the USA.
FACTS – POPULATION AND LANGUAGE
Population
Micronesian peoples 98%, other 2% (2006)
Number of residents
53 127 (2017)
Number of residents per square kilometer
295 (2017)
Percentage of residents in the cities
76.6 percent (2017)
Nativity / birth
31.2 per 1000 residents (2011)
Mortality / mortality
3.7 per 1000 residents (2011)
POPULATION GROWTH
0.1 percent (2017)
fertility rate
4.1 number of births per woman (2011)
Life expectancy
65 years (2000)
Life expectancy for women
68 years (2000)
Life expectancy for men
63 years (2000)
Language
English and Marshallese are official languages.