Marshall Islands - Settlements

With the exception of the urban settlements on Majuro and Kwajalein, most atoll dwellers live in small villages near the centers of the largest islets, on smaller atolls, or in dwellings dispersed along the lagoon side of these islets. Second dwellings may be maintained on smaller outer islets where families may go in search of fish or birds or during times of starvation. These islets are not permanently inhabited since they lack the underlying lens of brackish water that permits year-round settlement. Homes are built on pebbled grounds kept scrupulously clean and free of grass and weeds, and dedicated property owners maintain the lines of coconut palms that run from ocean side to lagoon and that delineate individual land parcels, which are kept cleared of underbrush, trash, and fallen fronds.