Overview
Humans arrived in the Palauan archipelago from Southeast Asia around 1000 B.C. and developed a complex, highly organized matrilineal society where high-ranking women picked the chiefs. The islands were the westernmost part of the widely scattered Pacific islands north of New Guinea that Spanish explorers named the Caroline Islands in the 17th century. The 18th and 19th centuries saw occasional visits of whalers and traders as Spain gained some influence in the islands and administered it from the Philippines. Spain sold Palau to Germany in 1899 after losing the Philippines in the Spanish-American War.Japan seized Palau in 1914, was granted a League of Nations mandate to administer the islands in 1920, and made Koror the capital of its South Seas Mandate in 1922. By the outbreak of World War II, there were four times as many Japanese living in Koror as Palauans. In 1944, the US invasion of the island of Peleliu was one of the bloodiest island fights of the Pacific War. After the war, Palau became part of the US-administered Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.Palau voted against joining the Federated States of Micronesia in 1978 and adopted its own constitution in 1981, which stated that Palau was a nuclear-free country. In 1982, Palau signed a Compact of Free Association (COFA) with the US, which granted Palau financial assistance and access to many US domestic programs in exchange for exclusive US military access and defense responsibilities. However, many Palauans saw the COFA as incompatible with the Palauan Constitution because of the US military’s nuclear arsenal, and seven referenda failed to achieve ratification. Following a constitutional amendment and eighth referendum in 1993, the COFA was ratified and entered into force in 1994 when the islands gained their independence. Its funding was renewed in 2010.Palau has been on the frontlines of combatting climate change and protecting marine resources. In 2011, Palau banned commercial shark fishing and created the world’s first shark sanctuary. In 2017, Palau began stamping the Palau Pledge into passports, reminding visitors to act in ecologically and culturally responsible ways. In 2020, Palau banned coral reef-toxic sunscreens and expanded its fishing prohibition to include 80% of its exclusive economic zone.
Geography
- Location
- Oceania, group of islands in the North Pacific Ocean, southeast of the Philippines
- Total Area
- 459 sq km
- Climate
- tropical; hot and humid; wet season May to November
- Terrain
- varying topography from the high, mountainous main island of Babelthuap to low, coral islands usually fringed by large barrier reefs
- Natural Resources
- forests, minerals (especially gold), marine products, deep-seabed minerals
- Coastline
- 1,519 km
- Land Borders
- 0 km
People & Society
- Population
- 21,947 (2025 est.)
- Languages
- Palauan (official on most islands) 65.2%, other Micronesian 1.9%, English (official) 19.1%, Filipino 9.9%, Chinese 1.2%, other 2.8% (2015 est.)
- Religions
- Roman Catholic 46.9%, Protestant 30.9% (Evangelical 24.6%, Seventh Day Adventist 5%, other Protestant 1.4%), Modekngei 5.1% (indigenous to Palau), Muslim 4.9%, other 12.3% (2020 est.)
- Ethnic Groups
- Palauan (Micronesian with Malayan and Melanesian admixtures) 70.6%, Carolinian 1.2%, Asian 26.5%, other 1.7% (2020 est.)
- Life Expectancy
- 75.2 years (2024 est.)
- Literacy Rate
- 100% (2020 est.)
- Urbanization
- 82.4% of total population (2023)
Government
- Government Type
- presidential republic in free association with the US
- Capital
- Ngerulmud
- Independence
- 1 October 1994 (from the US-administered UN trusteeship)
- Constitution
- ratified 9 July 1980, effective 1 January 1981
- Legal System
- mixed system of civil, common, and customary law
- Executive Branch
- President Surangel WHIPPS, Jr. (since 21 January 2021)
Economy
- Economic Overview
- high-income Pacific island economy; environmentally fragile; subsistence agriculture and fishing industries; US aid reliance; rebounding post-pandemic tourism industry and services sector; very high living standard and low unemployment
- GDP (Official Rate)
- $281.849 million (2023 est.)
- Major Industries
- tourism, fishing, subsistence agriculture