Palau: A Diamond in the Rough?

A tiny Pacific state with a plethora of possibilities

Relative Location: Oceania

Geography

• 2.5 x the size of Washington D.C. • Territorial Sea 3 nautical miles• Exclusive fishing zone 200 nautical miles• Climate: Tropical• May – November = rainy season• Elevation 0 m – 242 meters

Mt. Ngerchelchuus

Benefits

• 95.2% Literacy Rate• Official Language = English• US Dollar = Official Currency• 100,000 tourists

Infrastructure

• Approximately 100% have access to cell phones or land lines

• Internet capability in place• 3 airports + a major sea port: the capital,

Koror • Sanitation: 100% improved • Water: 97% improved for urban dwellers

Koror

Population

Population

• Around 20,000 persons• Palauan (Micronesian with Malayan and

Melanesian admixtures) 72.5%, Carolinian 1%, other Micronesian 2.4%, Filipino 16.3%, Chinese 1.6%, Vietnamese 1.6%, other Asian 3.4%, white 0.9%, other 0.3% (2005 est.)

• 14 years of schooling

Issues

• Pollution• Small• Run by the United States

Government

• Representative republic with separately elected president and vice president

Government

Services and Industry

• Tourism• Trade• Fishing • Subsistence Agriculture

• Has fishing rights over a large portion of the Pacific ocean that is rich with tuna

Palau