Palau 2018
Yearbook 2018
Palau is an island state of Oceania, in Micronesia, about 900 km SE of the Philippines, including the western section of the Caroline archipelago (to which the by far largest island, Babelthuap belongs) and, further south, the islands of Merir, Pulo Anna, Sonsorol and Tobi. The approximately 200 islands are partly volcanic and partly madreporic, affected by a subequatorial climate, characterized by a reduced temperature range and very abundant rainfall (over 3500 mm per year, concentrated from May to November).
The Palauan ethnicity (69.9% of the total population) is the result of crosses between groups of Micronesians, Malaysians, Melanesians and, to a lesser extent, Indonesians and Filipinos. Filipinos prevail among resident foreigners (15.3%), followed by Chinese (4.9%). About 1/3 of the population is concentrated on the island of Babelthuap. Besides the official languages, Filipino, Chinese and languages of the Caroline Islands are spoken ; the prevalent religion is Catholic.
- According to Abbreviationfinder: PLW is an three letter acronym for Palau.
Traditional resources are the cultivation of coconut palm (from which copra is obtained), pineapple, cassava and, above all, fishing (in particular that of tuna). The tourism sector has had impressive growth since the 1990s. The take-off of the country’s economy should be based precisely on tourism activities, as well as on investments by multinational companies interested in fishing.
There is a good air and sea transport network between the islands of the archipelago; the island of Koror is connected by a bridge with the island of Babelthuap, where an international airport is active.
HISTORY
German protectorate since 1885, Palau was occupied by Japan in 1914 and annexed in 1935; in trusteeship in 1947 to the USA, in 1994 it was admitted to the UN as a “sovereign state freely associated with the United States”. President of the Republic from 1999 to 2000 was K. Nakamura, who was succeeded by TE Remengesau, reconfirmed in 2004, who tackled the problem of reducing dependence on US aid; after the mandate of J. Toribiong (2008-12), in 2012 Remengesau was re-elected to the presidency, reappointed in 2016.
Palau. Due to Palau’s diplomatic relations with Taiwan, at the end of 2017, the Chinese government ordered the country’s tourist agencies to stop arranging trips to Palau. This had a negative impact on the tourism industry in the small island state in 2018.
Overall, however, tourism revenue grew during the year. In November, new laws were introduced to strengthen environmental protection and increase opportunities to punish tour operators who do not comply with the laws. According to Countryaah.com, Melekeok is the capital city of Palau, a country located in Micronesia. Environmentally friendly alternatives to disposable plastic products are now required and in 2020 a ban on sun protection products that are harmful to coral reefs will be introduced. Everyone who visits Palau will in the future sign an “environmental insurance” called The Palau Pledge.
In October, the EU removed Palau from its black list of countries that, due to non-cooperation, can be considered a tax haven.
