Palau
- Capital Ngerulmud (7°30´N 134°37´E)
- International airport(s) Roman Tmetuchl International Airport, Airai
- Official language(s) English, Palauan, Japanese, Sonsorolese, Tobian
- Currency United States dollar (US$)
- Time UTC +9
- Region Pacific
GeographyClimateEconomyCulture
Palau is situated in the western Pacific Ocean, southeast of the Philippines, and consists of some 340 coral and volcanic islands. All but six of Palau's islands sit inside an expansive lagoon enclosed by a huge barrier reef. Palau stretches across 700 km of ocean and its forest coverage is one of the highest in the world. The topography of the islands varies from the mountainous main island, Babelthuap, to many low‐lying coral islands.
Palau has a tropical climate. Annual average temperature is around 28 °C and remains the same throughout the year, with daily highs around 31 °C and lows around 24 °C. The difference between the hottest and coldest months is about 0.8 °C. Heavy rains occur all year, with the least rainfall occurring between February and April. Annual average rainfall is about 3 100 mm. -—
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—- Palau does not lie directly in the path of tropical cyclones but is nevertheless sometimes affected. One of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded, Haiyan, hit Palau in January 2014.
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—- Palau does not lie directly in the path of tropical cyclones but is nevertheless sometimes affected. One of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded, Haiyan, hit Palau in January 2014.
Tourism, fishing and agriculture are the main economic activities of Palau. Tourism infrastructure is well developed ‐ tourist activities focus on water sports like scuba diving and snorkeling. Helicopter rides are also popular. The service sector accounts for most of the country's GDP with 88 per cent, including retail trade, restaurants and hotels contributing about 30 per cent to GDP. Palau exports fish, especially yellowfin tuna. The main export partners are Japan, Greece and the United States of America. Among the Pacific SIDS, Palau had the highest GDP per capita in 2019 at US$16 000, current prices. -—
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Women play an important role in Palauan society as it is organized around matrilineal clans. Senior women have strong decision making powers with regard to property.
Poetry and dancing are important arts in Palau. Traditional line dances are performed by both men and women. Men's dances often include war‐related elements.
The Palauan cuisine is centered around root vegetables, seafood dishes and the versatile use of coconut. It takes influences from the cuisines of the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan and the United States, but adds a unique Palauan twist.
Baseball is the most popular sport played in Palau. Palau first joined the Olympic Games in the 2000 Sydney Summer Games but has not yet participated in the Winter Games.
Poetry and dancing are important arts in Palau. Traditional line dances are performed by both men and women. Men's dances often include war‐related elements.
The Palauan cuisine is centered around root vegetables, seafood dishes and the versatile use of coconut. It takes influences from the cuisines of the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan and the United States, but adds a unique Palauan twist.
Baseball is the most popular sport played in Palau. Palau first joined the Olympic Games in the 2000 Sydney Summer Games but has not yet participated in the Winter Games.
Land areakm2
Arable land%
Forest area%
Coastline
lengthkm
lengthkm
Exclusive economic zonekm2
Nearest
neighbourkm
neighbourkm
Economic trendsMaritime transportPopulationInternational tradeEnvironmentInformation and communications technology
Gross domestic product
US dollars at constant prices (2015) in millions
US dollars at constant prices (2015) in millions
GDP per capita
2019
US$
Productive Capacity Index
2018
Economic and environmental vulnerability index
2019
Consumer Price Index growth
2019
%
Unemployment
rate
Female %, Male %
rate
Total %
Female %, Male %
Main economic sectors, 2019
Percentage of GDP
Percentage of GDP
Tourist arrivals
Thousands of tourists, percentage of GDP
Thousands of tourists, percentage of GDP
External financial resources
Percentage of GDP
Percentage of GDP
Public debt as % of GDP
2018
%
Fleet size
Number of ships
Number of ships
Ship type | 2011 | 2019 |
---|---|---|
Total fleet | 1 407 | 1 407 |
Oil tankers | 264 | 266 |
Bulk carriers | 311 | 333 |
General cargo | 161 | 77 |
Container ships | 52 | 49 |
Other types of ships | 619 | 682 |
Port performance
Ranked by 2019 data within SIDS group
Ranked by 2019 data within SIDS group
Indicators | 2019 | SIDS Ranking |
---|---|---|
Number of port calls | 0 | 36 |
Median time in port (days) | 0 | 31 |
Average age of vessels | 0 | 36 |
Average size (GT) of vessels | 0 | 36 |
Container port throuput
2019
TEU
Bilateral connectivity index, 2019
Top 5 partners
Top 5 partners
Liner shipping connectivity index
Maximum China Q1 2006=100
Maximum China Q1 2006=100
Total population
Thousands of people, share of urban population
Thousands of people, share of urban population
Population development indicators
Indicators | Period | Value | |
---|---|---|---|
Poverty headcount (% of population) | .. | .. | |
Human development index | 2018 | 0.8 | |
Human assets index | 2020 | 91 | |
Adult literacy rate (15+ years, both sexes %) | .. | .. | |
Gender inequality index | 2010 | 0.7 |
Life expectancy at birth
years
Population density
2019
persons per km2Dependency
ratio
Old-age:
ratio
2019
Child:Old-age:
Age structure by gender, 2019
Percentage of total population
Percentage of total population
Merchandise and services trade
US dollars in millions
US dollars in millions
Indicators | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2019 | 2019 (% of GDP) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Merchandise exports | 13 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 2.5 |
Merchandise imports | 105 | 107 | 150 | 169 | 60.3 |
Services exports | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Services imports | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Trade openness
Goods and services
Goods and services
% of GDP
Export concentration index
2019
Food import
dependency
Average 2015-2019
dependency
Average 2015-2019
Top 5 partners in merchandise trade, 2019
Exports in millions US dollars
Exports in millions US dollars
Merchandise exports by product group, 2019
Services exports by category, 2019
CO2 emissions per capita
Kg per capita
Kg per capita
CO2 emissions per GDP
Kg per 2010 US$ of GDP
Kg per 2010 US$ of GDP
Renewable energy share in total energy consumption, 2017
Percentage of total energy consumption
Percentage of total energy consumption
Material
footprint
per capita
footprint
per capita
2016
kg
Terrestrial
protected
area
protected
area
2018
%
Marine
protected
area
protected
area
2018
%
Disasters indicators
Data not available
Trade in ICT goods
Imports: %
Exports: %
Imports: %
Trade in ICT services
Imports: %
Exports: %
Imports: %
Fixed broadband vs Mobile broadband subscriptions
Number of subscriptions per 100 people
Number of subscriptions per 100 people
Sources
Source of data: -—
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—- except indicators listed below.
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—- except indicators listed below.
- Adult literacy rate: -—
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—- - Arable land: -—
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—- https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND.ARBL.ZS - CO2 emissions per capita: -—
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—- https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.ATM.CO2E.PC - CO2 emissions per GDP: -—
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—- https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.ATM.CO2E.KD.GD - Distance to nearest neighbour: -—
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—- https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/cshapes/index.html - Economic losses due to disasters: -—
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—- https://www.sdg.org/datasets/e3adb2406c2e452b81c3654e276fc5ca_0 - Exclusive economic zone: -—
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—- http://www.seaaroundus.org/ - Fixed broadband/mobile subscriptions: -—
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—-. World telecommunication/ICT indicators database. Available at https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/publications/wtid.aspx (accessed 28 May 2020). - Forest area: -—
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—- https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND.FRST.ZS - Gender inequality index: -—
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—-. Gender inequality index (GII), http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/gender-inequality-index-gii - Human assets index: -—
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—- http://data.uis.unesco.org/ - Human development index: -—
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—- http://hdr.undp.org/en/data# - Life expectancy at birth: -—
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—- https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN - Marine protected area: -—
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—- https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/ER.MRN.PTMR.ZS - Material footprint: -—
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—- https://environmentlive.unep.org/indicator/index/12_2_1 - Number of people affected by disasters: -—
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—- https://www.sdg.org/datasets/1beb260e9ca14674b391b815e4874990_0 - ODA: -—
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—- https://stats.oecd.org - Percentage of population in low elevated coastal zones: -—
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—- https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.POP.EL5M.ZS - Poverty headcount ratio: -—
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—- https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.DDAY - Renewable energy share in total energy consumption: -—
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—- https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.ATM.CO2E.KD.GD - Share of internet users: -—
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—-. World telecommunication/ICT indicators database. Available at https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/publications/wtid.aspx (accessed 28 May 2020). - Terrestrial protected area: -—
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—- https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/ER.LND.PTLD.ZS - Tourism: -—
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—- Compendium of Tourism Statistics dataset [Electronic], UNWTO, Madrid, data updated on 21/09/2020. - Unemployment rate, total/female/male: -—
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—- https://www.ilo.org/shinyapps/bulkexplorer2/?lang=en&segment=indicator&id=SDG_0852_SEX_AGE_RT_A - World risk index: -—
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—-: https://weltrisikobericht.de/download/1386/
References
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Donec tincidunt vel mauris a dignissim. Curabitur sodales nunc id vestibulum tempor. Nunc tortor orci, sodales nec eros eget.
Donec tincidunt vel mauris a dignissim. Curabitur sodales nunc id vestibulum tempor. Nunc tortor orci, sodales nec eros eget.
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Donec tincidunt vel mauris a dignissim. Curabitur sodales nunc id vestibulum tempor. Nunc tortor orci, sodales nec eros eget.
Donec tincidunt vel mauris a dignissim. Curabitur sodales nunc id vestibulum tempor. Nunc tortor orci, sodales nec eros eget.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
Donec tincidunt vel mauris a dignissim. Curabitur sodales nunc id vestibulum tempor. Nunc tortor orci, sodales nec eros eget.
Donec tincidunt vel mauris a dignissim. Curabitur sodales nunc id vestibulum tempor. Nunc tortor orci, sodales nec eros eget.