Posted on December 4, 2021
This is an update of my post published on December 4, 2010:
The Marshall Islands is a nation made up of 29 atolls and 5 islands in the Pacific Ocean, near the Federated States of Micronesia.
This country played an important part in World War II, because Japan used Kwajalein Atoll as an administrative center, and the U.S. invaded and occupied the islands in 1944, destroying the Japanese garrisons. The U.S. continued to have control over the islands until 1979, when the nation became self-governing, and 1986, when the nation became fully independent. Because of the American influence, although the main language of the Marshall Islands is Marshallese, English is also commonly spoken and shares official status.
The Marshall Islands are near two very important but imaginary lines on Earth: they lie just north of the Equator and just west of the International Date Line.
The Equator circles the globe at equal distances from the North and South Poles and is the starting point, the zero, in counting latitude.
Imagine two travelers flying from England to the Marshall Islands. One flies eastward and must set his clock ahead one hour for each 15 degrees of longitude (to match local time zones). The other flies westwards and sets his clock back one hour for each 15 degrees. When the two travelers meet up in the Marshall Islands, their clocks would differ by 24 hours. They would both say 9:00 a.m., say—but on a different calendar day!
To fix this problem, we change dates when crossing the 180-degree longitude line.
Learn about Latitude...
...the Equator...
...Longitude...
...and the International Date Line.
Check out the beauties of the Marshall Islands, including the culture:
Also on this date:
Plan ahead:
Check out my Pinterest pages on:
And here are my Pinterest boards for:
