Rongerik Atoll

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Rongerik Atoll

NASA picture of Rongerik Atoll
Rongerik Atoll
Geography
Location	North Pacific
Coordinates	11°20′N 167°27′E / 11.333°N 167.450°E / 11.333; 167.450
Archipelago	Ralik
Total islands	22
Area	1.68 km2 (0.65 sq mi)
Highest elevation	3 m (10 ft)
Administration
Marshall Islands
Demographics
Population	0
Ethnic groups	Marshallese (formerly)

Rongerik Atoll or Rongdrik Atoll (Marshallese: Ron̄dik, [rʷɔŋʷ(ɯ)rʲik]^[1]) is an unpopulated coral atoll of 17 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and is located in the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands, approximately 200 kilometers (120 mi) east of Bikini Atoll. Its total land area is only 1.68 square kilometers (0.65 sq mi), but it encloses a lagoon of 144 square kilometers (56 sq mi).

In 1946, Rongerik was briefly inhabited by Bikini Islanders who, working with United States Navy moved here temporarily, with Bikini used for nuclear tests. However, the islanders could not get enough food to support the population, so after two years they had to relocate again, choosing Kili Island

Politically it was annexed by the German Empire in 1885, then seized by the Japanese in WW1, then the United States took it during WW2. After WW2, it was part of a United Nations trust territory, eventually it became part of the Marshall Islands, an island nation founded in the 1980s, but with a compact of association with the United States.