Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean.
The territory consists of 29 c ...
. Ralik means "sunset". It is west of the
Ratak Chain
The Ratak Chain ( , ) is a chain of islands and atolls within the island nation of the Marshall Islands. Ratak means "sunrise". It lies to the east of the country's other island chain, the Ralik Chain. In 1999, the total population of the Rat ...
. In 1999 the total population of the Ralik islands was 19,915.
Christopher Loeak
Iroijlaplap Christopher Jorebon Loeak (born 11 November 1952) is a Marshallese politician who was the President of the Marshall Islands from 2012 to 2016. He was elected by parliament as President in January 2012, following the 2011 general el ...
, who became
President of the Marshall Islands
The following is a list of President (government title), presidents of the Marshall Islands, since the establishment of that office in 1979. The president of the Republic of the Marshall Islands is the head of state and government of the Marshall ...
in 2012, was formerly Minister for the Ralik Chain.
List of
atoll
An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical parts of the oceans and seas where corals can develop. Most ...
Ailinglaplap Atoll
Ailinglaplap or Ailinglapalap ( Marshallese: , ) is a coral atoll of 56 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain in the Marshall Islands. It is located northwest of Jaluit Atoll. Its total land area is ...
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Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll ( or ; Marshallese language, Marshallese: , , ), known as Eschscholtz Atoll between the 19th century and 1946, is a coral reef in the Marshall Islands consisting of 23 islands surrounding a central lagoon. The atoll is at the no ...
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Ebon Atoll
Ebon Atoll (Marshallese language, Marshallese: , ) is a coral atoll of 22 islands in the Pacific Ocean, forming a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its land area is , and it encloses a deep lagoon with an area of . ...
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Enewetak Atoll
Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; , , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with its 296 people (as of 2021) forms a leg ...
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Jabat Island
Jabat Island (or Jabot Island or Jabwot Island; Marshallese: , ) is an island in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is only , and has a length of . It is located ...
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Jaluit Atoll
Jaluit Atoll ( Marshallese: , , or , ) is a large coral atoll of 91 islands in the Pacific Ocean and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is , and it encloses a lagoon with a ...
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Kili Island
Kili Island or Kili Atoll (Marshallese language, Marshallese: , ) is a small, () island located in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. As of 2021, 415 people lived on the island, many of whom were descended from islanders who originally li ...
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Kwajalein Atoll
Kwajalein Atoll (; Marshallese language, Marshallese: ) is part of the Marshall Islands, Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking re ...
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Lae Atoll
Lae Atoll ( Marshallese: , ) is a coral atoll of 20 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is only , but it encloses a lagoon with an area of . It is located ...
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Lib Island
Lib Island ( Marshallese: , ) is an island in the Pacific Ocean. It is a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is . The population of Lib Island was 156 as per the 2021 census.
History
The first ...
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Namdrik Atoll
Namdrik Atoll or Namorik Atoll ( Marshallese: , ) is a coral atoll of two islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is only , but it encloses a lagoon with a ...
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Namu Atoll
Namu Atoll (Marshallese language, Marshallese: , ) is a coral atoll of 54 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is only , but that encloses a lagoon of . It i ...
Rongelap Atoll
Rongelap Atoll ( ; , ) is an uninhabited coral atoll of 61 islands (or motus) in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is . It encloses a lagoon with an area of . ...
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Ujae Atoll
Ujae Atoll ( Marshallese: or , ) is a coral atoll of 15 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is only , but it encloses a lagoon of . It is located about ...
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Ujelang Atoll
Ujelang Atoll ( Marshallese: , ) is an uninhabited coral atoll of 30 islands in the Pacific Ocean, in the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is , and it encloses a lagoon of . It is the westernmost island in the Marshall I ...
The Rālik Chain is home to the Rālik dialect (or western dialect) of the Marshallese language. It is mutually intelligible with the Ratak dialect (or eastern dialect) located on the
Ratak Chain
The Ratak Chain ( , ) is a chain of islands and atolls within the island nation of the Marshall Islands. Ratak means "sunrise". It lies to the east of the country's other island chain, the Ralik Chain. In 1999, the total population of the Rat ...
. The two dialects differ mainly in lexicon and in certain regular phonological reflexes.