The Carolinian, or Refaluwasch, people are an Austronesian people group who originated from Oceania, in the eastern Caroline Islands. The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Tradition says that their ancestors originally immigrated from Asia and Indonesia to Micronesia around 2,000 years ago.

Great diversity of physical types, cultures, and languages prevails within the Caroline Islands, with the western islands exhibiting an intermingling of Melanesian and Philippine influences and the eastern showing Polynesian characteristics.

Carolinian are a matriarchal society in which respect is a very important factor in their daily lives, especially toward the matriarchs.

Most Carolinian adhere to Roman Catholicism.