What Country do de Marshall Islands belong to?

Officially, the Republic of Marshall Islands is an independent nation in free association with the United States. In practical reality, the Marshall Islands are a self-governed protectorate of the US. Over half of the Marshall Islands GDP comes from US aid.

Before 1944, the Marshall Islands were controlled by a series of European colonial powers; Spain, Germany, and Japan. During WWII, the United States Navy bombarded Japanese facilities in the Marshalls, and occupied the islands in 1944. In 1947, the Marshalls and many other formerly-Japanese controlled islands became the Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands under the auspices of the United Nations. The Republic of Marshall Islands became quasi-independent in 1986.