Marshall Islands Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands (), are an island country and a United States associated state near the equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the International Date Line. Geographically, the country is part of the larger island group of Micronesia. The country's population of 53,158 people (at the 2011 Census) is spread out over 29 coral atolls, comprising 1,156 individual islands and islets. The islands share maritime boundaries with the Federated States of Micronesia to the west, Wake Island to the north, Kiribati to the southeast, and Nauru to the south.
Human rights in the Marshall Islands factors. Women's rights are a significant issue in the Marshall Islands "given the absence in the over-arching freedom from discrimination clause of sex or gender as a prohibited ground of discrimination." Furthermore, while the Constitution guarantees equal protection of the law, the CEDAW Legislative Compliance Review noted the Constitution does not guarantee equal benefits or outcomes as required by [CEDAW]. Despite this, the Marshall Islands achieved its 2015 targets relating to gender equality and women's empowerment set by the Millennium Development Goals. Equal age of consent has also existed since 2005. While the Marshall Islands has ratified the Convention on