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While settled
by Micronesians in the 2nd millennium BC, little
is known of the early history of the islands.
Spanish explorer Alonso de Salazar was the first
European to sight the Marshalls in 1526, but the
islands remained virtually unvisited by Europeans
for several more centuries, before being visited
by English captain John Marshall in 1788; the
islands owe their name to him.
A German
trading company settled on the islands in 1885,
and they became part of the protectorate of German
New Guinea some years later. Japan conquered the
islands in World War I, and administered them
as a League of Nations mandate.
In World
War II, the United States invaded the islands
(1944), and they were added to the Trust Territory
of the Pacific Islands (including several more
island groups in the South Sea).
In 1979
the Republic of the Marshall Islands was established
and a Compact of Free Association with the U.S.
government was signed, becoming effective in 1986.
The independence was formally completed under
international law in 1990, when the UN officially
ended the trust given to the USA.
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