3. There ‘is a great shift of population from the outiPing atolls and islands to two major centers. These are Ebeye, in Kwajalein atbl], and in the Rita area of the Majuro atoll. It is estimated that there are 12§000 Marshallese on Majuro and approximately 8,000 on Ebeye. These, then, congtitute the two major urban centers of population totaling approximately 20,0P0 Marshallese, which would be fully 2/3 of the total population. Social prob ems related to urbanization will be discussed below. C. Historical Background Bitter and bloody fighting between Japan and the United St es during World War II so devastated the Marshall Islands that no one would ha projected that by 1981 they would emerge as the newest among the sovereign nati@ns of the earth. And their population of some 30,000 on a land area of less tha 70 square miles makes this eminent development seem somewhat unique even today. Although anthropologists differ as to the origins of thos people who came ' to inhabit these scattered islands and atolls of the central Pa ific, historians agree that since the 16th century they have suffered almost co inuously at the hands of invaders, colonizers, exploiters, adventurers, and mi Sionaries. The myth of an idyllic, utopian society in the romantic South Seas drw men to them as iron to a magnet. But unfortunately the impact of these fdreigners on the Marshallese has been far from idyllic. After Magellan discovered this part of the world for Eufopeans in 1520, Spain slowly advanced her military, political, economic and relfigous control of the Pacific. But not until the 19th century were the Marshalls vast imperial holdings in any formal sense. And her control wasl aggressive Germany seized control of the Marshalls later in tha made a part of her so weak that an century. German administration encouraged the development of tradej and established copra production as the economic base for the Marshalls. Alfnough a limited public works program was commenced by Germany, this was abruptfly terminated by World War I when an expansionist Japan seized control. In 1922 the League of Nations formally granted Japan a Marshalls, which administration. time. was soon followed by the establishment flandate over the of a civilian Under firm Japanese control the economy prospemed for the first Thus, older citizens stil] remember the Japanese wi some fondness because jobs were abundant and education, modern agriculture, fimproved fishing techniques, and modern communication systems were introduced.