The Palau island chain consists of about 200 islands located in the western Pacific Ocean, 528 mi (650 km) southeast of the Philippines. Only eight of the islands are permanently inhabited. They vary geologically from the high mountainous largest island, Babelthuap, to low, coral islands usually fringed by large barrier reefs.
Country lead by President: Tommy Remengesau (2001)
Population
20,579 (growth rate: 1.3%); birth rate: 18.0/1000; infant mortality rate: 14.5/1000; life expectancy: 70.4; density per sq mi: 116
Land Area
177 sq mi (458 sq km)
Monetary unit
U.S. dollar used Language
Palauan 64.7%, English 9.4%, Sonsoralese, Tobi, Angaur (each official on some islands), Filipino 13.5%, Chinese 5.7%, Carolinian 1.5%, Japanese 1.5%, other Asian 2.3%, other languages 1.5% (2000)
Ethnicity Palauan (Micronesian with Malayan and Melanesian admixtures) 69.9%, Filipino 15.3%, Chinese 4.9%, other Asian 2.4%, white 1.9%, Carolinian 1.4%, other Micronesian 1.1%, other or unspecified 3.2% (2000)
Religion Roman Catholic 42%, Protestant 23%, Modekngei 9% (indigenous), Seventh-Day Adventist 5%, Jehovah's Witness 1%, Latter-Day Saints 1%, other religion 3%, unspecified or none 16% (2000)
Transportation Railways: 0 km. Highways: total: 61 km; paved: 36 km; unpaved: 25 km. Ports and harbors: Koror. Airports: 3 (2002).
