Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Inte ...
. Ratak means "sunrise". It lies to the east of the country's other island chain, the
Ralik Chain
The Ralik Chain ( Marshallese: , ) is a chain of islands within the island nation of the Marshall Islands. Ralik means "sunset". It is west of the Ratak Chain. In 1999 the total population of the Ralik islands was 19,915. Christopher Loeak, who b ...
. In 1999 the total population of the Ratak islands was 30,925.
The atolls and isolated islands in the chain are:
* Ailuk Atoll
* Arno Atoll
* Aur Atoll
*
Bikar Atoll
Bikar Atoll ( Marshallese: , ) is an uninhabited atoll in the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. It is one of the smallest atolls in the Marshalls. Due to its relative isolation from the main islands in the group, Bikar's flora and fauna has bee ...
Erikub Atoll
Erikub Atoll ( Marshallese: , ) is an uninhabited coral atoll of fourteen islands in the Pacific Ocean, located in the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is only , but it encloses a lagoon with an area of . It is located sli ...
*
Jemo Island
Jemo Island Atoll ( Marshallese: or , ) is an uninhabited coral island in the Pacific Ocean, in the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands north-east of Likiep Atoll. The island is oval-shaped and occupies the southwestern end of a narrow submarine r ...
*
Knox Atoll
Knox Atoll ( Marshallese: , ) is an uninhabited coral atoll of 18 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and is the southernmost atoll of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. The total land area is only , but it encloses a largely sand-filled lagoon w ...
*
Likiep Atoll
Likiep Atoll ( Marshallese: , ) is a coral atoll of 65 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. It is approximately northwest of Wotje. Its total land area is only , but that enclo ...
Maloelap Atoll
The Maloelap Atoll ( Marshallese: , ) (also spelled Maleolap) is a coral atoll of 71 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its land area is only , but that encloses a lagoon of ...
Taka Atoll
Toke Atoll or Taka Atoll ( Marshallese: , ) is a small, uninhabited coral atoll in the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. It is one of the smaller atolls in the Marshalls and located at . It is visited regularly by the residents of nearby Utiri ...
*
Utirik Atoll
Utirik Atoll or Utrik Atoll ( Marshallese: , ) is a coral atoll of 10 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is only , but it encloses a lagoon with an area ...
* Wotje Atoll
The Ratak Chain forms a continuous chain of
seamount
A seamount is a large geologic landform that rises from the ocean floor that does not reach to the water's surface (sea level), and thus is not an island, islet or cliff-rock. Seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise a ...
s with the
Gilbert Islands
The Gilbert Islands ( gil, Tungaru;Reilly Ridgell. ''Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.'' 3rd. Ed. Honolulu: Bess Press, 1995. p. 95. formerly Kingsmill or King's-Mill IslandsVery often, this n ...
to the south, which are part of
Kiribati
Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),Kiribati ''The Wor ...
.
Language
The Ratak Chain is home to the Ratak dialect (or eastern dialect) of the Marshallese language. It is mutually intelligible with the Rālik dialect (or western dialect) located on the Rālik Chain. The two dialects differ mainly in lexicon and in certain regular phonological reflexes.