SPRINGDALE — The president of the Marshall Islands will be in northwest Arkansas to help open a consulate there.
President Litokwa Tomeing will be on hand Monday for a ceremony christening the new consulate in Springdale. Thousands of Marshallese citizens have moved to northwest Arkansas since the 1970s, drawn by available jobs in the chicken-processing plants.
Officials believe northwest Arkansas has the biggest Marshallese population outside of the nation. The Marshall Islands have 64,000 citizens spread among a series of islands and atolls halfway between Australia and Hawaii.
The U.S. provides military protection for the island. A compact between the two nations allows easy immigration for islanders coming to the U.S.