Satellite maps

• The archipelago is also known as "The Black Islands." Vintage maps and village drawings can be found at the Australian library online, as well as photos of the tattooed and pierced Ibedul of Koror and Ludee.

• Palau was initially settled over 3,000 years ago, and perhaps 4,500 years ago, probably by migrants from the Philippines. A pygmy population is attested until about 900 years ago. The modern population, judging by its language, may have come from the Sunda Islands. British traders became prominent visitors in the 18th century, followed by expanding Spanish influence in the 19th century. Following its defeat in the Spanish-American War, Spain sold Palau and most of the rest of the Caroline Islands to Germany in 1899. Control passed to Japan in 1914 and during World War II the islands were taken by the United States in 1944, with the costly Battle of Peleliu between September 15 and November 25 with more than 2,000 Americans and 10,000 Japanese killed. The islands passed formally to the United States under United Nations auspices in 1947 as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

• Four of the Trust Territory districts formed a single federated Micronesian state in 1979, but the districts of Palau and the Marshall Islands declined to participate. Palau, the westernmost cluster of the Caroline Islands, instead opted for independent status in 1978, approved a new constitution and became the Republic of Palau in 1981, and signed a Compact of Free Association with the United States in 1982. After eight referendums and an amendment to the Palauan constitution, the Compact was ratified in 1993 and went into effect on October 1, 1994, marking Palau independent de jure (after Palau was independent de facto since May 25, 1994, when the trusteeship cancelled).

• Legislation making Palau an "offshore" financial center was passed by the Senate in 1998. In 2001, Palau passed its first bank regulation and anti-money laundering laws.

• Palau's politics takes place in a multi-party framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Palau is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government, while legislative power is vested in both the government and the Palau National Congress. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

• Palau adopted its own constitution in 1981, and the governments of the United States and Palau concluded a Compact of Free Association in 1986, similar to compacts that the United States had entered into with the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The compact entered into force on October 1, 1994, concluding Palau's transition from trusteeship to independence as the last portion of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands to gain its independence.

• The Compact of Free Association between the United States and Palau sets forth the free and voluntary association of their Governments, and is primarily focused on the issues of government relations, economic relations, and security and defense relations. Palau has no independent military, and relies on the United States for its defense. Under the Compact, the American military has been granted access to the islands for 50 years. The role of the US Navy is quite minimal, limited to a handful of Navy Seabees (construction engineers) but the United States Coast Guard does have a stronger presence in patrolling the waters.

• On June 10, 2009, Palau announced that it would accept up to all 17 of the remaining Uyghurs detained in Guantanamo "as a humanitarian gesture." Five Uyghur captives were cleared of all suspicion in 2004, and transferred to Albania in 2006. The remaining seventeen were cleared of all suspicion in 2008.

• Stuart Beck, Palau's representative to the United Nations, published an op-ed in the New York Times disputing the widely distributed report that Palau's agreement to accept the Uyghurs was tied to Palau's receipt of US$200 million in foreign aid. Beck asserted that Palau was receiving funds from the USA connected with accepting the Uyghurs, but it was $90,000 per Uyghur, not "$12 million". Beck asserted that the $90,000 was to compensate Palau for its "relocation costs" and was "to cover transportation, food, housing and medical help until the men can get oriented and get jobs". ABC News confirmed that the United States would be paying Palau for each captive who was resettled and quoted a senior official who described the amount as "not very substantial".

• William Cleary, writing in the Pacific Daily News, reported that Palau was in a poor bargaining position to decline the American request. He wrote:"The detainee transfer deal comes at a time when generous U.S. financial aid and economic development grants to Palau under a 15 year old treaty of free association between the two nations have expired. Palauan leaders apparently wanted to demonstrate their commitment to sharing mutual interests and burdens with the USA, as they make the case for renewal of U.S. grant assistance."However, Cleary also described the assertions that the captive resettlement was a straight quid pro quo as "misleading".

• He listed the USA's desire to continue to be able to base DoD personnel on Palau, to balance the growing military force of the People's Republic of China as one complicating factor. He also listed Palau's desire to have exemption from growing pressure within the USA to restrict immigration from former protectorates like Palau as another complicating factor.

• An official "technical working group" from Palau traveled to Guantanamo to meet with the Uyghurs in mid-June 2009. On June 23, the Palau government published a press release which said only eight of the thirteen Uyghurs agreed to meet with the delegation. Their report stated: "The team advised President Toribiong that in their opinion only a few of the detainees that were interviewed had any real interest in being relocated to Palau." On June 30, Radio New Zealand International reported only one Uyghur agreed to be temporarily resettled in Palau. On September 10, The Times reported that three of the Uyghurs, have accepted the invitation to be transferred to asylum in Palau. On September 19, Fox News reported that in the week since the first announcement three further Uyghurs agreed to be transferred to Palau. Fox reported that five of the other Uyghurs had refused to speak with Palau officials. On October 31, six Uyghurs were reported to have been transferred to Palau. Twelve of the thirteen remaining Uyghurs were offered asylum. The thirteenth man was not offered asylum because his mental health had deteriorated too severely for the mental health resources available in Palau.

• The USA agreed to give Palau additional aid in January 2010. Palau had rejected an earlier aid package of $156 million. The new aid package was for $250 million. President Toribiong asserted that the increase in aid was unrelated to Palau agreement to host the Uyghurs.

• Palau's most populous islands are Angaur, Babeldaob, Koror, and Peleliu. The latter three lie together within the same barrier reef, while Angaur is an oceanic island several miles to the south. About two-thirds of the population live on Koror. The coral atoll of Kayangel is situated north of these islands, while the uninhabited Rock Islands (about 200) are situated to the west of the main island group. A remote group of six islands, known as the Southwest Islands, some 375 miles from the main islands, are also part of the country and make up the states of Hatohobei and Sonsorol.

• While much of Palau's natural environment remains free of environmental degradation, there are several areas of concern, including illegal fishing with the use of dynamite, inadequate facilities for disposal of solid waste in Koror, and extensive sand and coral dredging in the Palau lagoon. Like the other Pacific island nations, a potential major environmental threat is rising sea levels. Water coverage of low-lying areas is a threat to coastal vegetation, agriculture, and the purity of the nation's water supply. Palau also has a problem with inadequate water supply and limited agricultural areas to support the size of the population. The nation is also vulnerable to earthquakes, volcanic activity, and tropical storms. Sewage treatment is a problem, along with the handling of toxic waste from fertilizers and biocides.

• On November 5, 2005, President of Palau, Tommy E. Remengesau, Jr. took the lead on a regional environmental initiative called the Micronesia challenge, which would conserve 30% of near shore coastal waters and 20% of forest land by 2020. In addition to Palau, the initiative was joined by the Federated States of Micronesia and Marshall Islands, and the U.S. territories of Guam and Northern Mariana Islands. Together, this combined region represents nearly 5% of the marine area of the Pacific Ocean and 7% of its coastlines.

• On September 25, 2009, Palau announced that it would create the world's first "shark sanctuary". Palau has banned all commercial shark fishing within its EEZ waters. The sanctuary protects about 600,000 square kilometres (230,000 sq mi) of ocean, a similar size to the European country of France. President Johnson Toribiong made the announcement at a meeting of the United Nations. President Toribiong also requested a worldwide ban on fishing for sharks.

• Saltwater crocodiles are also residents of Palau and occur in varying numbers throughout the various mangroves and even in parts of the beautiful rock islands. Although this species is generally considered extremely dangerous, there has only been one fatal human attack in Palau within modern history, and that was in the 1960s. In Palau the largest crocodile measured in at 4.5 metres (15 ft).

• Palau's economy consists primarily of tourism, subsistence agriculture, and fishing. Tourist activity focuses on scuba diving and snorkeling in the islands' rich marine environment, including its barrier reefs walls and World War II wrecks. The government is the major employer of the work force, relying heavily on financial assistance from the US. Business and tourist arrivals numbered 50,000 in the financial year 2000/2001. The population enjoys a per capita income twice that of Micronesia. Long-term prospects for the key tourist sector have been greatly bolstered by the expansion of air travel in the Pacific, the rising prosperity of leading East Asian countries, and the willingness of foreigners to finance infrastructure development.

• In July 2004, Palau Micronesia Air was launched with service from Palau to Yap, Guam, Micronesia, Saipan, Australia, and the Philippines. By offering low fares it was planned to be a competitor of Continental Micronesia, however it ceased operations in December of the same year, mainly because of rising fuel prices. Palau Micronesia Air has not restarted operations since but has made a codeshare alliance with Asian Spirit, a carrier that operated flights between Palau and the Philippines (Davao, Cebu, and Manila). There were two flights weekly from Manila via Cebu to Palau and one flight weekly from Davao. Just after few months of service, Asian Spirit ceased its Philippines to Palau route. As of March 2010, Pacific Flier provides air services to Clark, Gold Coast and Guam.

• In Nov. 2006, Palau Saving Bank officially announced bankruptcy. Same year, Dec. 13th, Palau Horizon reported that there were total 641 depositors been affected by such event. Among the 641, 398 account holds had less than $5000 USD in their accounts, for the rest of the accounts deposites were range from $5000 USD to 2 million USD. On Dec. 12th, 2006, 79 personale received compensation, 1 Taiwanese, while the rest were Palauan, Filipino and US citizens. Mr. Toribiong said, "The fund for the payout came from the balance of Palau government's loan from Taiwan." From a total of $ 1 million USD, which originally was for assisting Palau's development, there was $955,000 USD left at the time of bankruptcy. For the $955 thousand, Toribiong requested the Taiwan government use it to repay. Taiwan agreed to the request. The compensation will start its paying to depositor, who held less than $4,000 USD in the account.

• Taxes are moderate, the income tax has 3 brackets with medium rates (9.3%, 15% and 19.6%), corporate tax is 4% and general sales tax is 7.5%. There are no property taxes.

• The German and Japanese occupations of Palau both subsidized missionaries. Three quarters of the population are Christians (mainly Roman Catholics and Protestants), while Modekngei (a combination of Christianity, traditional Palauan religion and fortune telling) and the ancient Palauan religion are commonly observed. According to the 2005 census 49.4% of the population is Roman Catholic, 21.3% Protestant, 8.7% Modekngei and 5.3% Seventh-day Adventist. There is a small Jewish community in Palau. In 2009 it sent 3 members to the 18th Maccabiah Games. There are also approximately 400 Bengali Muslims in Palau, and recently 6 Uyghurs detained in Guantanamo Bay were allowed to settle in the island nation.