Ralik Chain

Native name: Rālik
Map of the Ralik (left) and Ratak island chains
Geography
Location	Pacific Ocean
Coordinates	8°00′N 167°00′E / 8.000°N 167.000°E / 8.000; 167.000
Administration
Marshall Islands

The Ralik Chain (Marshallese: Rālik, [rˠæːlʲik]^[1]) 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.^{[citation needed]} Christopher Loeak, who became President of the Marshall Islands in 2012, was formerly Minister for the Ralik Chain.

List of atolls and isolated islands in the chain:

Language

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 two dialects differ mainly in lexicon and in certain regular phonological reflexes.