Classroom lesson Β· Majuro Β· πŸ‡²πŸ‡­ Marshall Islands

Majuro

The capital atoll – a long thin island where most Marshallese people live

Photo Β· Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

Majuro is the capital of the Marshall Islands and home to more than half the country's people. It is a long, thin strip of land – in some places only a few hundred metres wide – with the calm lagoon on one side and the big Pacific Ocean on the other. It has schools, markets, a hospital and a harbour.

Tell me more

Majuro Atoll is a ring of about 64 small islands, but most people live on a connected strip of land called the D-U-D, named after the three main towns joined together: Delap, Uliga and Djarrit. You can drive the length of it in about twenty minutes, with water on both sides the whole way.

The harbour at Majuro is one of the busiest in the Pacific. Big fishing boats come in to unload their catch, and smaller boats zip across the lagoon carrying people between communities. From the harbour you can sometimes see tuna jumping in the water just outside the reef.

Majuro has the country's main market, where you can buy fresh fish, breadfruit, pandanus fruit and locally made crafts including stick charts and woven baskets. The market is loudest early in the morning when fishing boats bring in their overnight catch.

Despite being a small island capital, Majuro is full of life. Children walk to school past the lagoon every morning. In the evenings, families gather on the waterfront to watch the sunset turn the lagoon orange and pink.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01Imagine living on a strip of land where you can always see water on both sides. What would you like about that? What might be tricky?
  2. 02Majuro is the capital city but it is very small. How is it similar to or different from other capital cities you know?
  3. 03Why do you think more than half of the country's people live on one atoll?
Try this

Classroom activity

Draw a bird's-eye view map of Majuro. Use a long, thin oval for the land strip. Colour the lagoon side pale blue and the ocean side dark blue. Mark where you would put the market, the school, the harbour and the road. Compare your map with a partner and explain your choices.