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Palau
What is the official language of Palau?
Palau has three official languages: Palauan, Sonsorolese-Tobian, and English.
What is the official currency of Palau?
The U.S. dollar is the official currency of Palau, which does not have a central bank. In 1997 the country joined the International Monetary Fund. There is a heavy reliance on financial assistance from the United States.
When did Palau gain independence?
Palau became independent in October 1994 and joined the United Nations the following December.
What is the capital of Palau?
Melekeok, on Babelthuap, became the capital in October 2006. The site in Melekeok where the country’s capitol complex is located is called Ngerulmud. Koror island just south of Babelthuap, is home to Koror city, the largest population centre and former capital.
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Palau,country in the westernPacific Ocean. It consists of some 340coral and volcanic islands perched on the Kyushu-Palau Ridge. The Palau (also spelled Belau or Pelew)archipelago lies in the southwest corner ofMicronesia, withGuam 830 miles (1,330 km) to the northeast,New Guinea 400 miles (650 km) to the south, and thePhilippines 550 miles (890 km) to the west, A hugebarrier reef system, continuous on the west and broken on the east, encircles most of the archipelago. Its major populated islands areBabelthuap (Babeldaob),Koror, Malakal, Arakabesan, and Peleliu. The sparsely populated Kayangel Islands to the north of Babelthuap and the raised coral islands of Angaur, Sonsorol, Pulo Anna, and Tobi south of Peleliu lie outside the barrier reef system.
Palau was a member of the UNTrust Territory of the Pacific Islands, which was established in 1947 and administered by theUnited States. The U.S. government dissolved the trusteeship in 1986, but repeated measures to win the required support for a compact of free association between Palau and the United States were unsuccessful until 1993. The Republic of Palau officially became asovereign state on October 1, 1994.
- Head Of State And Government:
- President: Surangel Whipps, Jr.
- Capital:
- Melekeok, on Babelthuap1
- Population:
- (2025 est.) 17,600
- Form Of Government:
- republic with two legislative houses (Senate [13]; House of Delegates [16])
- Official Languages:
- Palauan; English
- Official Religion:
- none
- Official Name:
- Beluu er a Belau (Palauan); Republic of Palau (English)
- Total Area (Sq Km):
- 488
- Total Area (Sq Mi):
- 188
- Monetary Unit:
- U.S. dollar (U.S.$)
- Population Rank:
- (2025) 220
- Population Projection 2030:
- 18,700
- Density: Persons Per Sq Mi:
- (2025) 93.6
- Density: Persons Per Sq Km:
- (2025) 36.1
- Urban-Rural Population:
- Urban: (2020) 77.9%
- Rural: (2020) 22.1%
- Life Expectancy At Birth:
- Male: (2022) 71.5 years
- Female: (2022) 78 years
- Literacy: Percentage Of Population Age 15 And Over Literate:
- Male: (2015) 97%
- Female: (2015) 96%
- Gni (U.S.$ ’000,000):
- (2023) 250
- Gni Per Capita (U.S.$):
- (2023) 14,110
- Ngerulmud capitol complex is located in the national capital of Melekeok.
Koror island, rising to 2,061 feet (628 metres) just south of Babelthuap, is home to Koror city, the largestpopulation centre and former capital.Melekeok, on Babelthuap, became the capital in October 2006. The site in Melekeok where the country’s capitol complex is located is called Ngerulmud.
Land
Relief and drainage
All but six of Palau’s islands lie within an expansivelagoon, enclosed by the barrier reef, that stretches northeast to southwest for almost 70 miles (115 km).Babelthuap, the largest island (153 square miles [396 square km]), is volcanic, mainly composed of andesite, and is bounded by thickmangrove forests broken occasionally by sandy beaches on the east coast. Its highest point,Ngerchelchuus, in the northwest, is 794 feet (242 metres) high. Babelthuap is essentially a rolling upland, part grassland and part jungle, that has been incised by stream action to form a well-developed drainage system of three rivers. With about 150 inches (3,800 mm) of rain annually, considerable erosion has taken place on Babelthuap inspite of the stability provided by laterite soils, clays, and vegetation. The Palauan practice of burning the grassy upland areas during the dry season has contributed to erosion.
A steel bridge connects the islands of Babelthuap and Koror. Koror in turn is linked by causeway to Malakal Island, the site of Palau’s deepwater port, and to Arakabesan Island. The combined area of the three smaller linked islands is 7 square miles (18 square km). All are of volcanic origin. However, beginningadjacent to southern Babelthuap and eastern Koror and filling the huge lagoon for 28 miles (45 km) south to Peleliu are more than 300 verdant “rock islands.” These are uplifted reef structures of coralline limestone, each deeply undercut atsea level. Some of the rock islands are large, towering some 600 feet (180 metres); these can have interior brackish lakes, containing unique organisms, that are connected to the lagoon by subterranean channels. Plant growth is thick on the rock islands and, together with the chemical action of heavy rains, has sculpted and broken their surfaces, producing razor-sharp edges and points and broken rubble. The limestone islands have rich deposits ofphosphate, and the more accessible ones have been mined.
Theinhabited coral islands outside Palau’s reef-lagoon-island system sit on volcanic substructures and consist of the Kayangel Islands, 25 miles (40 km) north of Babelthuap, andAngaur, 6 miles (10 km) south of Peleliu. Angaur was heavily mined for its phosphate first by the Germans and later by the Japanese. Sonsorol, Pulo Anna, and Tobi, all with areas of less than 1 square mile (2.6 square km), are 180 miles (290 km) southwest of the Palau archipelago. All are flat platform structures with fringing reefs.