Palau
Updated: Sep 19, 2022
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Country Name
Palau, or officially The Republic of Palau.
Location
It is an island country located in the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of some 340 coral and volcanic islands perched on the Kyushu-Palau Ridge. The islands share maritime boundaries with Indonesia, the Philippines, and the Federated States of Micronesia.
Capital
Ngerulmud.
Reason For Naming
The name for the islands in the Palauan language, Belau, likely derives from either the Palauan word for "village", beluu, or aibebelau ("indirect replies"), relating to a creation myth. The name "Palau" entered the English language from the Spanish Los Palaos. An archaic name for the islands in English was the "Pelew Islands". Palau is unrelated to Pulau, which is a Malay word meaning "island" found in many place names in the region.
Flag
The flag of Palau was adopted on 1 January 1981 after gaining Independence from the United States. The flag of Palau consists of a blue base with a yellow circle situated towards the left side of the flag.
The blue color represents the political maturity of Palau, and its journey from foreign control (US) to independence.
The yellow circle represents the moon, a sign of national unity, and, according to Palauan belief, represents the best time for traditional activities, such as fishing, harvesting, planting, and festivals.
*Flag Facts:
-The flag of Palau, the flag of Bangladesh & the Flag of Japan are similar in design, while there is no direct relationship between the flags, there are indirect similarities. Both flags have a big red dot in the center of the flag, but the main difference is that the Japanese flag is a white rectangular flag whereas the flag of Bangladesh features a green field.
this Circle represents the sun in the Japanese flag & Bangladesh flag while the flag of Palau represents the moon.
Language
The official languages of Palau are Palauan and English, except in two states (Sonsorol and Hatohobei) where the local languages, Sonsorolese and Tobian, respectively, along with Palauan, are official. Japanese is spoken by some older Palauans and is an official language in the State of Angaur. Including second-language speakers, more people speak English than Palauan. Additionally, a significant portion of the population speaks the Filipino language.
Religion
Christianity is the predominant religion in Palau, in particular, Roman Catholicism is the most common Christian denomination in Palau.
The other Christian groups adhere to various Protestant denominations, such as Evangelicalism, Seventh Day Adventist, Assembly of God, and Baptism.
There is a minority of the country’s population who practice the indigenous monotheistic religion, Modekngei. Islam, Mormonism, and other faiths are practiced.
Currency
United States dollar (USD).
Time Zone
+09:00 GMT.
Government Regime
Democratic presidential republic.
Climate
Palau has an equatorial climate, which means it is hot, humid, and wet all year. In reality, there is no dry season, merely a decrease in the frequency of showers and thunderstorms between February and April.
The daytime temperature in Ngerulmud (or Melekeok) is approximately 30/31 °C all year, while the nighttime temperature is around 23/24 °C.
The rains are plentiful, with the summer months being the wettest (June, July, and August).
From February to May, the amount of sunshine is acceptable, but decreases somewhat from June to December, when rains occur almost daily. Except when a storm hits the islands, the sun nearly always shines for a few hours each day. Also, the sea in Palau is warm enough to swim in all year round and has a very stable temperature.