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.
LGBT rights in the Marshall Islands to HIV/AIDS, the infection rate is very low. The Ministry of Health has included HIV/AIDS among its local health education programs, and public health clinics offer free testing. According to 2017 estimates from UNAIDS, there were about 150 men who have sex with men (MSM) in the country, and about 100 transgender people. LGBT rights in the Marshall Islands Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in the Marshall Islands may face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Homosexuality has been legal in the Marshall Islands since 2005. Despite this, households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for