City Australia and Oceania
Majuro
Majuro is the capital of the Marshall Islands. It is a ring of tiny islands around a lagoon.
Majuro is the capital of the Marshall Islands, a country in the Pacific Ocean. It is an atoll: a ring of 64 small islands on a coral reef around a lagoon. The 2021 census counted 23,156 people on the atoll.
Majuro, capital of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an atoll of the Ratak Chain: 64 islets on an elliptical reef 40 km long, with 9.7 km² of land (Universalis). Census 7 July 2021: 23,156 on Majuro Atoll (City Population, from the national statistics office).
Photo: Mark Uriona, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover Majuro
Majuro is the capital of the Marshall Islands. It is made of many small islands in the Pacific Ocean.
The islands make a ring around calm water, called a lagoon.
Majuro is the capital of the Marshall Islands, in the western Pacific Ocean. It is an atoll, a ring of low islands on a coral reef. Universalis counts 64 small islands, or islets, on a reef 40 kilometers long, with only about 9.7 square kilometers of land.
The census of 7 July 2021 counted 23,156 people on Majuro Atoll.
Universalis: capital of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, in the western Pacific; Majuro Atoll lies in the Ratak Chain (the eastern islands); 64 islets form an elliptical reef 40 km long with 9.7 km² of land in all. Larousse: the atoll (10 km²) surrounds a lagoon of 295 km². City Population (Economic Policy, Planning and Statistics Office): Majuro Atoll 23,156 at the census of 7 July 2021, 27,797 in 2011; its main population center, Delap-Uliga-Darrit, 14,149 in 2021.
- Country
- Marshall Islands (capital)
- People on Majuro Atoll (census, 7 July 2021)
- 23,156
- Islets
- 64, on a reef 40 km long (Universalis)
- Land
- about 9.7 km² (Universalis)
A strip of land between surf and lagoon
In this photo, buildings and a road fill a thin strip of land. Waves are on one side and a calm lagoon on the other.
This photo shows part of Majuro called Rita, seen from above on 12 February 2020. Buildings and a road crowd onto a thin strip of land. On the left, ocean waves roll in toward the shore; on the right lies the calm lagoon, with boats on the water.
Universalis says the atoll's main village, Delap-Uliga-Darrit, is spread over three islands joined together.
Commons: 'Majuro - Main Atoll of the RMI', own work by Mark Uriona (uploader account Kameradist Uriona), CC BY-SA 4.0, taken 12 February 2020, 12:42; the description says it shows a part of Majuro Atoll called Rita from above. In the picture: a built-up strip of land with a road, surf on the ocean side and the lagoon with boats on the other. Universalis: the main village, on three linked islands (Delap-Uliga-Darrit), is the country's administrative capital. City Population lists Darrit as 'Djarrit, Rita'.
- Photo
- part of Majuro called Rita, from above, 12 February 2020, by Mark Uriona
- Lagoon
- 295 km² (Larousse)
- Main village
- Delap-Uliga-Darrit, the main village, on three linked islands (Universalis)
Counting the people
Long ago, fewer people lived on Majuro. Then the number of people grew a lot.
The Marshall Islands' censuses show how Majuro changed. In 1980, 11,791 people lived on the atoll. By 2011 there were 27,797, more than twice as many.
The 2021 census counted fewer, 23,156 people. Universalis says Majuro has more people than any other atoll or island in the country.
City Population (censuses): Majuro Atoll 11,791 (1 April 1980), 19,664 (1988), 23,676 (1999), 27,797 (3 April 2011), 23,156 (7 July 2021). Delap-Uliga-Darrit, the main population center: 15,486 (1999), 16,838 (2011), 14,149 (2021). Universalis (about 30,000 people in 2008): Majuro is more populous than any other atoll or island in the archipelago, and its population density is one of the highest in Oceania.
- Census 1980
- 11,791 people on Majuro Atoll (City Population)
- Census 2011
- 27,797 (City Population)
- Census 2021
- 23,156 (City Population)
Port, airport and road
Planes land at Majuro's airport. Boats float in its lagoon.
Universalis says Majuro has port facilities and an airport, and Larousse adds that the airport is international. On Wikidata, the Marshall Islands International Airport is about 11 kilometers west-southwest of the city's center point, along the ring of islands.
Larousse says visitors come to Majuro for sport fishing and diving.
Universalis: the atoll has port facilities and an airport. Larousse: international airport; tourism based on sport fishing and diving; the administrative center lies in the east of the atoll (Larousse spells it Dalap-Uliga-Darrit). Wikidata: Marshall Islands International Airport (Q650373), 11.05 km WSW of the city point (Q12919).
- Transport
- port facilities and an airport (Universalis)
- Airport
- international (Larousse); about 11 km west-southwest of the city's Wikidata point (Wikidata)
- Visitors
- sport fishing and diving (Larousse)
Warm and wet all year
Majuro is warm every day of the year. It rains a lot, most of all in October.
The German weather service's table for Majuro (1961 to 1990) shows almost the same warmth all year: average highs between 29.4 °C and 30.2 °C, and average lows close to 24.6 °C.
Rain falls in every month. February is the driest, with 156 millimeters, and October the wettest, with 352. A whole year brings about 3,336 millimeters, and on about 218 days at least 1 millimeter falls.
Deutscher Wetterdienst climate table, Majuro (7° 06' N, 171° 24' E, 3 m; period 1961–1990 as printed): mean daily maximum 29.4 °C (Jan) to 30.2 °C (Sep, Oct); mean daily minimum 24.5 °C (Jul) to 24.8 °C (Feb, Mar, May); daily mean 27.1 to 27.4 °C. Precipitation 156.2 mm (Feb) to 351.5 mm (Oct), year 3,336.0 mm (the months add up to the same); days with at least 1.0 mm: 11.7 (Feb) to 21.3 (Jul), 218.4 a year. Relative humidity about 80%.
- Average daily highs (DWD, Majuro, 1961–1990)
- 29.4 °C (January) to 30.2 °C (September and October)
- Average daily lows (same table)
- 24.5 °C (July) to 24.8 °C (February, March and May)
- Rain in a year
- 3,336 mm
Life on a narrow atoll
Lots of people live close together on Majuro. The land is narrow, and water is all around.
With so little land, Majuro is crowded: Universalis says its population density is one of the highest in Oceania.
In 2021 the biggest places on the atoll were Delap, with 6,321 people, Darrit, with 5,809, and Rairok, with 4,653. Laura, another place on the same atoll, had 1,547.
Universalis: one of the highest population densities in Oceania. City Population (census 7 July 2021, places): Delap 6,321, Darrit (Djarrit, Rita) 5,809, Rairok 4,653, Uliga 2,019, Laura 1,547, Ajeltake 1,140, Woja 765; Delap-Uliga-Darrit together 14,149. With 23,156 people on about 9.7 km² of land (Universalis), the atoll averages roughly 2,400 people per square kilometer of land.
- Crowded
- one of the highest population densities in Oceania (Universalis)
- Biggest places (census 2021)
- Delap 6,321; Darrit 5,809; Rairok 4,653 (City Population)
- Laura
- 1,547 people in 2021, on the same atoll (City Population)
Majuro on the map
Find the Pacific Ocean on the globe. Majuro is a tiny ring of islands far out in it.
Majuro lies at about 7.1° north and 171.4° east, in the western Pacific Ocean. It belongs to the Ratak Chain, the eastern line of the Marshall Islands.
Measured from the city's center point on Wikidata, the international airport is about 11 kilometers west-southwest, on the same ring of islands.
Majuro lies at about 7.09° N, 171.38° E (Wikidata point Q12919; the Natural Earth/sheet point is 1.25 km N of it). Universalis: western Pacific, Ratak Chain (eastern islands). Larousse: Ratak archipelago; administrative center in the east of the atoll. Wikidata: Marshall Islands International Airport (Q650373) 11.05 km WSW of the city point.
- Latitude
- about 7.1° north
- Longitude
- about 171.4° east
- Chain
- the Ratak Chain, the eastern islands (Universalis)
Amazing facts
-
Majuro's lagoon is much bigger than all its land!
Majuro's islands have about 10 square kilometers of land, but Larousse says they surround a lagoon of 295 square kilometers.
Larousse: atoll 10 km² of land around a 295 km² lagoon, roughly 30 times as much water as land inside the ring.
-
Majuro is made of 64 little islands!
Universalis counts 64 islets on Majuro's reef, which is 40 kilometers long.
Universalis: 64 islets forming an elliptical reef 40 km long, with 9.7 km² of land.
-
More people live on Majuro than on any other island in the Marshall Islands!
Universalis says Majuro has more people than any other atoll or island in the Marshall Islands.
Universalis: Majuro is more populous than any other atoll or island of the archipelago, with one of the highest population densities in Oceania.
Words to know
- atoll
- a ring of low coral islands around a lagoon
- lagoon
- a stretch of calm, shallow water cut off from the sea by a reef or islands
- islet
- a very small island
- reef
- a ridge of rock or coral near the surface of the sea
- population density
- how many people live on each square kilometer of land
- census
- an official count of all the people in a country
Discovery challenge
-
Majuro is the capital of which country?
Majuro is the capital of which Pacific country?
Majuro is the capital of which republic in the western Pacific?
- The Marshall Islands
- Fiji
- New Zealand
Show the answer
The Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands!
The Marshall Islands.
The Republic of the Marshall Islands.
-
What is a ring of tiny islands around a lagoon called?
Majuro is a ring of low coral islands around a lagoon. What is that called?
What kind of landform is Majuro: 64 islets on a reef around a lagoon?
- An atoll
- A volcano
- A peninsula
Show the answer
An atoll
An atoll!
An atoll.
An atoll.
-
How many little islands make up Majuro?
How many islets does Universalis count on Majuro's reef?
According to Universalis, how many islets form Majuro's 40-km reef?
- 64
- 6
- 640
Show the answer
64
64!
64.
64.
-
How many people lived on Majuro in 2021?
How many people did the 2021 census count on Majuro Atoll?
Census 7 July 2021: Majuro Atoll's population was about how many?
- About 23,000
- About 2,300
- About 230,000
Show the answer
About 23,000
About 23,000: 23,156!
About 23,000 (23,156).
23,156.
-
Which is the wettest month in Majuro?
In the German weather service's table, which month is wettest in Majuro?
DWD 1961–1990: in which month does Majuro get its most rain, 351.5 mm?
- October
- February
- March
Show the answer
October
October!
October, with about 352 millimeters.
October (351.5 mm).
Nearby places
-
Watch
City
Palikir
Palikir is the capital of the Federated States of Micronesia, on the mountainous island of Pohnpei in the Pacific Ocean. It is a small place: Larousse gives an estimate of 6,696 people for 2011, and the 2023 census counted 4,903 in the municipality of Sokehs, which includes Palikir.
-
Watch
City
Funafuti
Funafuti is the atoll that serves as the capital of Tuvalu, a small island country in the Pacific Ocean. Its main island, Fongafale, is long and very narrow. Tuvalu's 2022 census counted 6,602 people on the atoll.
-
Watch
City
Honiara
Honiara is the capital of the Solomon Islands, in the southwest Pacific Ocean. It lies on the north coast of Guadalcanal, the country's largest island, where the Matanikau River meets the sea. The 2019 census counted 130,176 people in the city.
-
Watch
Natural wonder
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered group of islands in the western Pacific Ocean, shared by the Federated States of Micronesia in the east and Palau in the west. They include low coral atolls, volcanic high islands and islands of raised limestone.
-
Watch
City
Port Vila
Port Vila is the capital and largest city of Vanuatu. It lies at the head of Mele Bay on the southwest coast of the island of Efate, and Universalis calls it the country's economic heart. The 2020 census counted 49,528 people there.
-
Watch
City
Pago Pago
Pago Pago is the main town of American Samoa, on the island of Tutuila in the South Pacific. It lies by Pago Pago Harbor, between steep green mountains. The 2020 census counted 3,000 people in the village of Pago Pago.
-
Watch
Natural wonder
Coral Sea
The Coral Sea lies in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of Australia, beyond the Great Barrier Reef. Far from land, reefs grow on the tops of underwater mountains and plateaus, and small coral islands called cays are home to noisy seabird colonies. Australia protects part of it as one of the world's biggest marine parks.
- Watch Natural wonder Mariana Trench The Mariana Trench is a long, curving valley in the floor of the western Pacific Ocean, near the island of Guam. Its deepest spot, the Challenger Deep, is the deepest place known in the whole ocean, close to 11,000 meters down. If Mount Everest stood on the bottom, its peak would still be about 2 kilometers under water.
Explore next
-
Watch
Country
Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands are a country in the central Pacific made of 29 coral atolls and 5 coral islands in two long chains. No island rises more than 6 meters above high tide. Marshallese navigators once learned to read ocean swells with charts made of sticks. The 2021 census counted 42,418 people.
-
Watch
Natural wonder
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest ocean basin on Earth, covering more than 30 percent of the planet's surface. It holds more than half of Earth's free water. Its deepest point, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, is nearly 11 kilometers down, and earthquakes and volcanoes ring its edges.
-
Watch
City
Port Vila
Port Vila is the capital and largest city of Vanuatu. It lies at the head of Mele Bay on the southwest coast of the island of Efate, and Universalis calls it the country's economic heart. The 2020 census counted 49,528 people there.
-
Watch
City
Honolulu
Honolulu is the capital of Hawaii, a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean that became the 50th US state in 1959. Hawaii's monarchs once lived in its ʻIolani Palace, and an old volcanic crater called Diamond Head rises beside Waikīkī. The US Census Bureau estimated 341,868 people in Urban Honolulu in July 2025.
-
Watch
City
Funafuti
Funafuti is the atoll that serves as the capital of Tuvalu, a small island country in the Pacific Ocean. Its main island, Fongafale, is long and very narrow. Tuvalu's 2022 census counted 6,602 people on the atoll.
-
Watch
City
Palikir
Palikir is the capital of the Federated States of Micronesia, on the mountainous island of Pohnpei in the Pacific Ocean. It is a small place: Larousse gives an estimate of 6,696 people for 2011, and the 2023 census counted 4,903 in the municipality of Sokehs, which includes Palikir.
-
Watch
City
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital of South Australia. About 1.49 million people lived in Greater Adelaide in mid-2025. Founded in 1837, it was laid out on a plan by Colonel William Light, with a grid of streets ringed by green Park Lands, on the land of the Kaurna people.
-
Watch
City
Alofi
Alofi is the capital of Niue, a raised coral island in the Pacific Ocean. It is made up of two villages, Alofi North and Alofi South, by Alofi Bay. A census in 2022 counted 606 people in Alofi.
For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate Majuro in the western Pacific and say what an atoll is.
- Compare an atoll's small land area with its large lagoon.
- Read census numbers that go up and then down.
- Explain what population density means.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- What would daily life be like on a strip of land with the ocean on one side and a lagoon on the other?
- Why might the number of people in a place go down between two censuses?
- How do people on a small atoll get food and supplies from far away?
Try at home or in class
- Atoll model: make a ring of sand around a dish of water and add tiny paper houses on the ring.
- Density math: 23,156 people on about 9.7 km² of land. About how many people is that per square kilometer?
- Map hunt: find the Marshall Islands on a world map and measure how far they are from the nearest continent.
Key vocabulary: atoll, lagoon, islet, reef, population density, census
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Natural Earth vector data , Natural Earth (NACIS) (Public domain)
- Majuro , Encyclopædia Universalis
- Majuro , Encyclopédie Larousse
- Marshall Islands: Atolls and Major Places (census results from the Economic Policy, Planning and Statistics Office) , City Population (Thomas Brinkhoff)
- Klimatafel von Majuro / Majuro-Atoll, Nord-Pazifik / Marshall-Inseln (1961–1990) , Deutscher Wetterdienst
- File:Majuro - Main Atoll of the RMI.jpg (Mark Uriona) , Wikimedia Commons
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.