Demographics of the Marshall Islands Islands and the University of the South Pacific. The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated. Demographics of the Marshall Islands This article is about the demographic features of the population of the Marshall Islands, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. The people of the Marshall Islands are of Micronesian origin, which is traced to a combination of peoples who emigrated from Southeast Asia in the remote past. The matrilineal Marshallese culture revolves around a complex system of clans and lineages
History of the Marshall Islands History of the Marshall Islands Micronesians settled the Marshall Islands in the 2nd millennium BC, but there are no historical or oral records of that period. Over time, the Marshall Island people learned to navigate over long ocean distances by canoe using traditional stick charts. Spanish explorer Alonso de Salazar was the first European to see the islands in 1526, commanding the ship "Santa Maria de la Victoria", the only surviving vessel of the Loaísa Expedition. On August 21, he sighted an island (probably Taongi) at 14°N that he named "San Bartolome". On September 21, 1529, Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón