Palau

• 1. Introduction

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  Palau is an island country made up of roughly 340 islands in the western Pacific Ocean, with a total land area of only 466 square kilometres. That makes it the sixteenth smallest nation in the world. Its own name for the islands is Belau, and two explanations compete for the meaning of that word. One traces it to beluu, the Palauan word for village. The other points to aibebelau, which means indirect replies and ties back to a creation myth.

  The name Palau reached English by a roundabout route. It began as the Spanish Los Palaos and passed through German before arriving in English. An older English form was the Pelew Islands. Despite how alike the two words look, the name most likely has no connection to the Malay word pulau, meaning island.

  This documentary asks how a place so small first found its way onto a European map. It asks why a country with so little land spent centuries passing from one empire to the next, and why it wrote an unusual ban on weapons into its constitution. And it asks what holds up a nation of this size today, when it leans on a distant ally for its defense and on its reefs for its living.

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• 2. Pebbles and Enchanted Islands

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  In December 1696, a group of sailors from the Caroline Islands were stranded on Samar, near Guiuan, on the Philippine coast. There they met Paul Klein, a Bohemian missionary. The sailors had no chart to offer, so they laid out pebbles to show him roughly where their home islands lay and how large they were. Klein turned that arrangement into the first European map of the Palau area.

  Klein sent the map to the Jesuit Superior General with a letter. The letter gave the names of the islands, described the culture of the people, and recounted his own experiences with them. Europeans had brushed against the region once before. In 1521, the Trinidad, flagship of Ferdinand Magellan's voyage of circumnavigation, sighted two small islands near the 5th parallel north and named them San Juan. The Spanish later connected that sighting with Sonsorol.

  Klein's map and letter stirred up great interest. In 1705, Fr. Andrés Serrano sent another letter to Europe that largely copied Klein's information. Three Jesuit attempts to reach the islands from the Spanish Philippines, in 1700-1708 and 1709, all failed.

  The first visit came on the 30th of November 1710, with a Jesuit expedition led by Francisco Padilla. A storm then drove the mother ship, the Santísima Trinidad, as far as Mindanao. That left two priests, Jacques Du Beron and Joseph Cortyl, stranded on the coast of Sonsorol. A rescue ship sent from Guam in 1711 capsized, and three more Jesuit priests died. After such misfortunes, the Spanish named the islands Islas Encantadas, the Enchanted Islands. British traders, rather than missionaries, would go on to become the regular visitors through the 18th century.

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• 3. Empires and War

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  In 1783, the British East India Company packet ship Antelope was wrecked off Ulong Island. The wreck led to Prince Lee Boo's visit to London. Spanish influence then expanded through the 19th century, and the islands were counted as part of the Spanish East Indies, which were run from the Spanish Philippines.

  In 1898, Philippine revolutionaries gathered at the Malolos Congress, the first revolutionary congress in their country, hoping for full independence from colonial rulers. Palau, listed there as Palaos, was given one appointed member. No other island group in the Carolines received such high representation in a non-colonial Philippine congress. The delegates also backed Palau's right to self-determination, should it ever choose that road.

  Spain lost the Spanish-American War in 1898. In 1899, it sold the islands to Germany under the German-Spanish Treaty, and they were administered as part of German New Guinea. Japan seized them from Germany in 1914, during World War I. Afterwards the League of Nations placed them under Japanese administration as the South Seas Mandate.

  In World War II, Japan used Palau to support its invasion of the Philippines, launched in 1941 and successful in 1942. That invasion toppled the American-installed Commonwealth government and led to the Japanese-backed Second Philippine Republic in 1943. The United States captured Palau from Japan in 1944 after the costly Battle of Peleliu, in which more than 2,000 Americans and 10,000 Japanese were killed. The Battle of Angaur followed.

  From 1945 to 1946, the Americans governed Palau through Manila. By the latter half of 1946, the Philippines had gained full independence as the Third Republic, and the American Far West Pacific capital shifted to Guam. In 1947, Palau passed formally to the United States under United Nations auspices, as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands created by Security Council Resolution 21. Seventy years after the fighting, in 2015, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko traveled to Peleliu to honor the anniversary of the war.

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• 4. Independence and Allies

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  In 1978, Palau voted against joining the Federated States of Micronesia. Four other districts of the Trust Territory formed that federation in 1979, while Palau and the Marshall Islands rejected the proposed constitution. Palau, the westernmost cluster of the Carolines, chose independent status instead, and the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan widely supported the decision. It approved its own constitution and became the Republic of Palau on the 1st of January 1981.

  That constitution was the world's first nuclear-free one. It barred the use, storage and disposal of nuclear, toxic chemical, gas and biological weapons unless 75 percent of voters approved in a referendum. The clause collided with American demands. While the compact was being negotiated, the United States insisted on the option to operate nuclear-propelled vessels and store nuclear weapons in the territory. That stand-off delayed independence and prompted campaigns for it. In 2017, Palau signed the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

  Palau signed its Compact of Free Association with the United States in 1982, the same year it became a founding member of the Nauru Agreement on managing fisheries. The compact entered into force on the 1st of October 1994. That made Palau the last part of the Trust Territory to gain independence, under Security Council Resolution 956. Before the year ended, the Security Council recommended Palau's admission to the United Nations in Resolution 963 on the 29th of November 1994. The General Assembly approved it in Resolution 49/63 on the 15th of December 1994.

  Under the compact, the United States provides defense, funding and access to social services, so Palau keeps no military of its own. American forces were granted access to the islands for 50 years. The day-to-day presence is small, limited to a handful of Navy Seabees, who are construction engineers, and Coast Guard patrols of national waters. Palau has agreed to host a large United States Air Force high-frequency radar station, an over-the-horizon system costing well over $100 million and expected to be operational in 2026. The compact even brought Palau the ZIP Codes 96939 and 96940, along with regular United States mail delivery.

  Palau is a presidential republic with a bicameral Palau National Congress and an independent judiciary. In November 2020, Surangel Whipps Jr was elected to succeed President Tommy Remengesau. Michael Walsh, president of Islands Society, calls Palau a key example of successful modern state-building in the Indo-Pacific, citing a peaceful move from colonial rule to full membership of the United Nations. Others point to the heavy reliance on international aid, which Whipps described in his 2021 address to the UN General Assembly. They also point to dependence on the American military under the compact. Palau is not officially a protectorate, but some argue it may not yet count as a fully independent state.

  Palau runs its own foreign relations. In international politics, it often votes alongside the United States in the General Assembly. Japan has funded infrastructure, including the Koror-Babeldaob Bridge. In September 2006, Palau hosted the first Taiwan-Pacific Allies Summit, and Taiwan has paid for Palau to keep a presence at the United Nations and at climate conferences. In 2018, Palau and the Philippines began reconnecting their economic and diplomatic ties, and the Philippines backed Palau to become an observer state in ASEAN.

  In June 2009, Palau announced that it would accept up to seventeen Uyghurs formerly held by the American military at Guantanamo Bay, with some American compensation for their upkeep. Only one initially agreed, but six had been transferred by the end of October. An aid agreement finalized in January 2010 was reported to be unrelated. Regional ties have not always run smoothly either. In February 2021, Palau withdrew from the Pacific Islands Forum after a dispute over Henry Puna's election as secretary-general.

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• 5. Protecting the Sea

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  On the 25th of September 2009, Palau announced that it would create the world's first shark sanctuary. President Johnson Toribiong made the announcement at a meeting of the United Nations and proposed a worldwide ban on fishing for sharks. Palau banned all commercial shark fishing inside its exclusive economic zone, protecting about 600,000 square kilometres of ocean, roughly the size of France. In 2012, the World Future Council gave Palau its Future Policy Award, stating that "Palau is a global leader in protecting marine ecosystems."

  Care for the environment there runs older than that. The Ngerukewid Islands Wildlife Preserve, which protects Ngerukewid and the surrounding area, was established in 1956. On the 5th of November 2005, President Tommy E. Remengesau Jr. led a regional effort called the Micronesia Challenge. Its aim was to conserve 30% of near-shore coastal waters and 20% of forest land by 2020. The Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands joined after Palau. Together they represent nearly 5% of the marine area of the Pacific Ocean and 7% of its coastline.

  In 2012, the Rock Islands of Palau were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2015, Palau officially protected 80% of its water resources, the first country to do so. The economy grew significantly in less than two years afterward. In 2017, Palau created the Palau Pledge, an eco-promise stamped on local and foreign passports. In April 2022, it launched Ol'au Palau, a responsible tourism program meant to preserve both the natural environment and traditional culture.

  Enforcement falls to the Division of Marine Law Enforcement, based in Koror, which patrols an exclusive economic zone of 230,000 square miles. Two long-range patrol boats, the Kedam and the Remeliik II, hunt poachers and unlicensed fishermen. Smaller boats handle work closer to shore.

  Much of Palau remains free of environmental degradation, but worries persist. They include illegal dynamite fishing, inadequate solid waste disposal facilities in Koror, and extensive sand and coral dredging in the Palau lagoon. Rising sea level threatens coastal vegetation, agriculture and an already insufficient water supply. Wastewater treatment and toxic waste from fertilizers and biocides add to the strain. Yet the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research put carbon dioxide emissions at 60 tonnes per person in 2019, the highest in the world and mostly from transport.

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• 6. Land and Weather

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  About 200 uninhabited Rock Islands lie west of the main island group. The most populous islands are Angaur, Babeldaob, Koror and Peleliu. The last three share a single barrier reef, while Angaur is an oceanic island several kilometers to the south. Babeldaob is the largest island and holds the capital, Ngerulmud, in Melekeok State. The coral atoll of Kayangel lies to the north. Some 375 miles from the main islands, six remote islands known as the Southwest Islands make up the states of Hatohobei and Sonsorol.

  Palau is divided into sixteen states, which were called municipalities until 1984. Koror is by far the largest by population, and about two-thirds of Palauans live there. The 2020 census counted 11,199 people in Koror State. Kayangel State, at 1.7 square kilometres, held 41 people, and Hatohobei State, at just 0.9 square kilometres, held 39.

  Palau has a tropical rainforest climate with an annual mean temperature of 28 C. Rain averages 3,800 mm a year, and average humidity is 82%. Rain falls more often between June and October, though plenty of sunshine remains. The islands sit on the edge of the typhoon belt. Tropical disturbances form nearby every year, but significant cyclones are rare, and only Mike, Bopha and Haiyan are on record as striking Palau as typhoons. The country is also vulnerable to earthquakes and volcanic activity.

  One species of saltwater crocodile, Crocodylus porosus, is native to Palau. It lives in varying numbers across the mangroves and parts of the Rock Islands. Although the species is generally considered extremely dangerous, only one fatal human attack is recorded in modern Palauan history, on the 28th of December 1965. That attack led to a crocodile eradication program and a trade in crocodile hides that ran into the 1980s. A management and conservation program running since the 1990s has stabilized the population.

  Palau contains the Palau tropical moist forests terrestrial ecoregion. In 2019, it scored a mean of 8.09 out of 10 on the Forest Landscape Integrity Index, ranking 27th among 172 countries.

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• 7. Island Economy

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  Divers and snorkelers anchor Palau's tourist trade, drawn by the walls of its barrier reefs and by World War II wrecks. The economy rests on tourism, subsistence agriculture and fishing, and the government is the largest employer, relying heavily on American financial assistance. Residents enjoy a per capita income twice that of Micronesia as a whole. Business and tourist arrivals numbered some 50,000 in fiscal year 2000-2001. Growing air travel in the Pacific Rim and the rising prosperity of leading East Asian countries bolster the outlook. The Rock Islands Southern Lagoon is the headline attraction. Four tentative UNESCO sites also draw visitors: Ouballang ra Ngebedech (Ngebedech Terraces), the Imeong Conservation Area, the Yapease Quarry Sites and Tet el Bad (Stone Coffin).

  The income tax has three brackets, at 9.3 percent, 15 percent and 19.6 percent. Corporate tax is four percent. On the 1st of January 2023, Palau introduced a broad-based Goods and Services Tax of 10% on most goods and services. There are no property taxes.

  Palau's ship registry covers less than 0.001% of the world's commercial fleet. Yet it accounted for almost 60% of last-voyage flags in 2019. That suggests shipping companies use it to dodge end-of-life responsibilities, which include decommissioning a ship with proper care for the environment and labor conditions.

  In November 2006, the Pacific Savings Bank announced its bankruptcy. On the 13th of December 2006, the Palau Horizon reported that 641 depositors were affected. Of these, 398 held less than US$5,000, while the remainder held between US$5,000 and US$2 million. On the 12th of December, 79 people received compensation. President Toribiong said, "The fund for the payout came from the balance of the Palau government's loan from Taiwan." Of an original US$1 million meant for development, US$955,000 remained, and Taiwan agreed to let it be used.

  Palau has no railways. Of its 61 kilometres of highways, only 36 are paved. Driving is on the right, the speed limit is 40 km/h, and taxis in Koror have no meters, so fares are negotiable. Travel between islands relies mostly on private boats and domestic flights, with cheaper state-run boats as an alternative. Palau International Airport offers scheduled direct flights to Guam, Manila, Brisbane and Taipei. Air service has at times been spotty, and Palau Micronesia Air, Asian Spirit and Pacific Flier all suspended routes after serving the country during the 2000s. In May 2024, Nauru Airlines began weekly flights to Brisbane. Qantas took over in December 2024 with the weekly Palau Paradise Express, flown by a Boeing 737-800.

  The 80-bed Belau National Hospital serves the whole country, yet it has no dermatologists or ophthalmologists. Visiting American ophthalmologists perform laser surgery for diabetic eye disease. Some specialist care means traveling to Taiwan, the Philippines or Hawaii, and certain brain hemorrhages call for an emergency airlift to Taiwan.

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• 8. People and Culture

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  Palau's population stood at about 21,947 in 2025, and 73% of residents are native Palauans of mixed Melanesian and Austronesian descent. Filipinos form the largest Asian group and the second largest ethnic group, a presence dating back to the Spanish colonial period. Significant numbers of Chinese and Koreans also live there. Many Chinese, Bangladeshis and Nepalese came in the late 20th century as unskilled workers and professionals. Smaller numbers of Palauans have full or partial Japanese ancestry.

  The official languages are Palauan and English. English is a core school subject, a legacy of the trust territory education system, and most residents use it as a second language. A local dialect influenced by Philippine English is developing. Sonsorolese and Tobian are official in the states of Sonsorol and Hatohobei, while the Angaur dialect of Palauan is considered the language of that state. Japanese was made an additional official language of Angaur when some elders still knew it, but nobody speaks it now.

  In the 2020 census, 46.9% of residents were Roman Catholic and 25.9% Protestant, primarily evangelical. Another 5.1% followed Modekngei, a blend of Christianity, traditional Palauan religion and fortune telling, and 4.9% were Muslim, including approximately 400 Bengali Muslims. Each colonial power sent its own missionaries. Spain sent Roman Catholics, Germany sent Catholics and Protestants, and Japan brought Mahayana Buddhism and Shinto. After Japan's defeat in World War II, most remaining Japanese converted to Christianity.

  Palauan society follows a strict matrilineal system. It shapes nearly every tradition, especially funerals, marriages, inheritance and the passing of traditional titles. The cuisine features cassava, taro, yam, potato, fish and pork, with Japanese, American and Filipino influences. Fruit bat soup is a delicacy. Drinks include an alcoholic one made from a coconut still on the tree and another made from kava roots, and betel nuts are chewed. A dessert called tama was developed in Palau.

  Primary education is required until age 16. For undergraduate, graduate and professional study, students travel abroad, mostly to the United States, though distance learning is offered through San Diego State University and the University of the South Pacific. The newspaper Tia Belau has appeared since 1992. The earlier Rengel Belau ran from 1983 to 1985.

  Baseball arrived in the 1920s, introduced by the Japanese. The national team won gold at the Micronesian Games in 1990-1998 and 2010, and at the 2007 Pacific Games. On the 20th of June 2022, left fielder Bligh Madris played his first game for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Chicago Cubs. He became the first person of Palauan descent to play in Major League Baseball.

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