Marshall Islands

Formerly a U.S. trust territory, the Marshall Islands are now an independent nation made up of 29 29 atolls each made up of many islets and 5 islands in the central Pacific Ocean between 4 degrees and 14 degrees North, and 160 degrees and 173 degrees East. They are generally in two parallel lines called the  the Ratak (Sunrise) group and Ralik (Sunset) group.

Under the terms of the 1986 Compact of Free Association, the Republic of the Marshall Islands was no more under American control. The RMI was sovereign in both foreign and domestic affairs, but did grant the U.S. defense rights.

There are roughly 1,225 land masses, with a total of about 70 square miles, om a sea area of over 750,000 square miles. The total land area is about 70 square miles (181 square kilometers).

U.S. nuclear testing
A large number of U.S. nuclear tests were conducted in the Marshall Islands after the Second World War, requiring some short-term and some long-term relocation, and the complete destruction of some land masses. Some of the health effects of radiation were not understood at the start, as with Operation CROSSROADS, although some was later known but kept classified. The power of the first thermonuclear devices, in Operation IVY of 1952, were underestimated.

Various damage claims have been paid, and the issue remains open.