Kwajalein Atoll - home of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site
The Republic of the Marshall Islands, an independent country, lies between 4° and 19° North latitude and 160° and 175° East longitude in the region of Micronesia. Although the total land area accounts for only 70 square miles, the Republic is scattered over 500,000 square miles of the central Pacific. Twenty-nine atolls and five major islands form two parallel chains called the Ratak (Sunrise) and the Ralik (Sunset) Chains. According to the 1999 Census, the population of the Republic of the Marshall Islands was 50,840 people.