Country history · Oceania

History of the Marshall Islands

4 recorded states lay in what is now the Marshall Islands, from German New Guinea (1884 CE). 4 outside powers ruled here.

ProfileState (capital or seat)1 without a known seat not shownOpen in the atlas →

Empires that ruled here

Timeline

19th century

  1. German New Guinea1884 CE – 1914 CE · colony
  2. Marshall Islands Protectorate1885 CE – 1906 CE · protectorate

20th century

  1. South Seas Mandate1919 CE – 1947 CE · colony
  2. Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands1947 CE – 1994 CE · colony

In the encyclopedia

Shared histories

States that also lay in other present-day countries:

States of North America and Oceania → States of Korea and Japan → All country histories →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). History of the Marshall Islands. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/countries/marshall-islands
MLA
“History of the Marshall Islands.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/countries/marshall-islands. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “History of the Marshall Islands.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/countries/marshall-islands.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘History of the Marshall Islands’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/countries/marshall-islands (Accessed: ).