Timeline: Marshall Islands

A chronology of key events:

circa 2000 BC - First Micronesian navigators arrive in the Marshall Islands, naming the atolls Aelon Kein Ad - "our islands". They are skilled navigators able to make long canoe voyages among the atolls.

Residents of Bikini Atoll, an atomic weapons test site, were resettled

1521 -29 - Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan and Spaniard Miguel de Saavedra visit the islands.

1592 - Spain lays formal claim to the islands.

1788 - The Marshall Islands are given their name by British Naval Captain John William Marshall who sails through the area with convicts bound for New South Wales.

1864 - German Adolph Capelle establishes the first trading company. Several other German trading companies follow suit.

1885 - Germany annexes the Marshall Islands and pays Spain 4.5 million US dollars in compensation. Germany leaves the running of the islands to a group of powerful German trading companies.

German protectorate

1886 - Germany establishes a protectorate over the islands.

1887 - The Jaluit Company, a German corporation, is entrusted with the governance of the Marshall Islands.

1914 - Japan captures the islands and builds several large military bases there.

1920 - League of Nations grants Japan a mandate to administer the islands.

1944 - US forces capture islands from the Japanese.

Nuclear tests

1946 - US begins a nuclear weapons testing programme called Operation Crossroads on Bikini Atoll. Chief Juda of Bikini agrees to evacuate the 167 islanders to Rongerik Atoll, 125 miles east of Bikini Atoll, on the understanding that they will be able to return once the tests are over.

1947 - The Marshall Islands becomes part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands created by the UN and administered by the US.

NUCLEAR TESTS US conducted Operation Crossroads tests from 1946-58 67 weapons tests were conducted in Marshall Islands March 1954: "Bravo" hydrogen bomb detonated, the largest-ever US nuclear test 2004: Bikini Atoll bomb test remembered

1948

- Islanders are forced to evacuate Enewetak Atoll as US expands nuclear weapons testing programme in the area.

1954 - Bravo, the most powerful hydrogen bomb ever tested by the US, is detonated on Bikini Atoll.

1965 - US government sets up the Congress of Micronesia in preparation for greater self-governance in Micronesia.

Health worries

1969 - US embarks on a long-term project to decontaminate Bikini Atoll.

1970s Islanders are told that it is safe to return to Bikini but are subsequently found to have dangerous levels of radiation in their bodies and are evacuated once again. Following exposure to such high levels of radiation the islanders begin to develop severe health problems.

1973 - Marshall Islands withdraw from the Congress of Micronesia seeking greater political independence.

1979 - US recognises the Constitution of the Marshall Islands and its government. Amata Kabua is elected president.

1980 - Having removed much of the topsoil on Enewetak Atoll, the islanders are permitted to return.

1982 - Officially renamed the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

Compact with the US

1983 - Marshall Island voters approve the Compact of Free Association with the US which will give them independence. The Marshall Islands will receive financial and other aid from the US, which retains responsibility for defence. The US keeps its military base on Kwajalein Atoll. Today this is a vital part of the US missile defence shield tests.

1985 - US agrees to complete the decontamination of Bikini Atoll within 15 years.

1986 21 October - US Congress ratifies a Compact of Free Association giving the Marshall Islands independence. Islanders are promised compensation for damage caused by nuclear tests in the 1940s and 50s.

1988 - US-funded Nuclear Claims Tribunal is set up to determine a final compensation package to the islanders.

1989 - UN report warns that rising sea-levels will completely submerge the Marshall Islands by 2030 because of global warming.

1990 - UN terminates trusteeship status. Country is admitted to the UN in 1991.

1996 - Radiation levels are considered low enough to permit the return of tourism to Bikini Atoll.

1998 - Marshall Islands become one of only a handful of states to officially recognise Taiwan.

2001 - Nuclear Claims Tribunal determines damages to be paid to Bikinians. There is not enough cash to honour the award and it is left to the Bikinians to petition the US for more money. A decision is expected to take years.

2003 December - US president signs new Compact of Free Association, worth $3.5bn over 20 years, with Marshall Islands and Micronesia.

2004 January - President Kessai Note begins second four-year term.

2007 August - The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) removes the Marshall Islands from its blacklist of uncooperative tax havens.

2007 November - National election takes place amid reports of "chaotic" organisation.

2007 December - Election results show no clear winner and are challenged in court and by a number of recount petitions.

2008 January - Parliament elects former speaker Litokwa Tomeing as president by 18 votes to 15.

2008 December - Government declares state of emergency as waves flood Majuro and Ebeye urban centres, displacing hundreds of people.