Palau is located in Oceania, group of islands in the North Pacific Ocean, southeast of the Philippines.
Land in Palau is varying geologically from the high, mountainous main island of Babelthuap to low, coral islands usually fringed by large barrier reefs.
Palauan land covers an area of 458 square kilometers which is slightly more than 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC
As for the Palauan climate; tropical; hot and humid; wet season May to November.
Palauan(s) speak Palauan 64.7% official in all islands except Sonsoral (Sonsoralese and English are official), Tobi (Tobi and English are official), and Angaur (Angaur, Japanese, and English are official), Filipino 13.5%, English 9.4%, Chinese 5.7%, Carolinian 1.5%, Japanese 1.5%, other Asian 2.3%, other languages 1.5% (2000 census).
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Meyungs Airai Kloulklubed Ngermechau Melekeok Ngaramasch | Imeong Ulimang Ollei Oikull Ngetkib |
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general Palau (general) |
After three decades as part of the UN Trust Territory of the Pacific under US administration, this westernmost cluster of the Caroline Islands opted for independence in 1978 rather than join the Federated States of Micronesia. A Compact of Free Association with the US was approved in 1986, but not ratified until 1993. It entered into force the following year, when the islands gained independence.
The economy consists primarily of tourism, subsistence agriculture, and fishing. The government is the major employer of the work force, relying heavily on financial assistance from the US. Business and tourist arrivals numbered 63,000 in 2003. The population enjoys a per capita income twice that of the Philippines and much of Micronesia. Long-run prospects for the key tourist sector have been greatly bolstered by the expansion of air travel in the Pacific, the rising prosperity of leading East Asian countries, and the willingness of foreigners to finance infrastructure development.
Palauan natural resources include forests, minerals (especially gold), marine products, deep-seabed minerals
westernmost archipelago in the Caroline chain, consists of six island groups totaling more than 300 islands; includes World War II battleground of Beliliou (Peleliu) and world-famous rock islands
Palauan religion is Roman Catholic 41.6%, Protestant 23.3%, Modekngei 8.8% (indigenous to Palau), Seventh-Day Adventist 5.3%, Jehovah's Witness 0.9%, Latter-Day Saints 0.6%, other religion 3.1%, unspecified or none 16.4% (2000 census).
Natural hazards in Palau include typhoons (June to December).