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Palau travel guide

PalauPalau

About

Palau is located in Micronesia part of Oceania. It's total area is 460 km² and 90.2% of it is forest area. As of 2023 it has a total population of 18K. 82.4% lives in cities whereas 17.6% lives in rural areas.
Palau, officially the Republic of Palau and historically Belau, Palaos or Pelew, is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caroline Islands with parts of the Federated States of Micronesia. It has a total area of 466 square kilometers (180 sq mi). The most populous island is Koror, home to the country's most populous city of the same name. The capital Ngerulmud is located on the nearby island of Babeldaob, in Melekeok State. Palau shares maritime boundaries with international waters to the north, the Federated States of Micronesia to the east, Indonesia to the south, and the Philippines to the northwest.

The country was originally settled approximately 3,000 years ago by migrants from Maritime Southeast Asia. Palau was first drawn on a European map by the German missionary Paul Klein based on a description given by a group of Palauans shipwrecked on the Philippine coast on Samar. Palau islands were made part of the Spanish East Indies in 1885. Following Spain's defeat in the Spanish–American War in 1898, the islands were sold to Germany in 1899 under the terms of the German–Spanish Treaty, where they were administered as part of German New Guinea. After World War I, the islands were made a part of the Japanese-ruled South Seas Mandate by the League of Nations. During World War II, skirmishes, including the major Battle of Peleliu, were fought between American and Japanese troops as part of the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign. Along with other Pacific Islands, Palau was made a part of the United States-governed Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands in 1947. Having voted in a referendum against joining the Federated States of Micronesia in 1978, the islands gained full sovereignty in 1994 under a Compact of Free Association with the United States.

Politically, Palau is a presidential republic in free association with the United States, which provides defense, funding, and access to social services. Legislative power is concentrated in the bicameral Palau National Congress. Palau's economy is based mainly on tourism, subsistence agriculture and fishing, with a significant portion of gross national product (GNP) derived from foreign aid. The country uses the United States dollar as its official currency. The islands' culture mixes Micronesian, Melanesian, Asian, and Western elements. Ethnic Palauans, the majority of the population, are of mixed Micronesian, Melanesian, and Austronesian descent. A smaller proportion of the population is of Japanese descent. The country's two official languages are Palauan (a member of the Austronesian language family) and English, with Japanese, Sonsorolese, and Tobian recognized as regional languages.

🏷️ Tags

We have tagged Palau with these tags:

💬 Languages

English is the official language.

💵 Currencies

The official currency is United States dollar [1 USD = 1 USD].

🏧 Cash / Credit card usage

We don't have any data for credit card usage in Palau.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Tourism

In 2019, 94K tourists arrived to Palau. In 2017, tourism has contributed to Palau economy with a total of 123M $ income (%86.3).

📱 Bandwidth

We don't have any bandwidth data for Palau.

☀️ Climate

Averag yearly temperature is 🔥 27 °C and very hot. Current 3 months (October, November and December) average is 🔥 28 °C and very hot. Current season (fall) is 🔥 28 °C and very hot.
Yearly average27 °C 🔥
3 month average28 °C 🔥
Spring average28 °C 🔥
Summer average27 °C 🔥
Fall average28 °C 🔥
Winter average27 °C 🔥
About seasons: Remember that seasons in Southern Hemisphere are opposite of the Northern one. This means that in Argentina and Australia, winter begins in June. Currently season averages are rendered according Northern Hemisphere.

📈 Economics

In 2023, gross national income (GNI) was 257M $ and with %-4.5 decrease GNI per capita was 14K $. In 2023, consumer inflation was calculated as %12.8.
Note

The data contained in this page is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject matter. We gather our data from open resources and may contain outdated information. Make sure to verify these data from official resources of the respective country.