constitutional government in free association with the US; the Compact of Free Association entered into force 1 October 1994
Independence date
9 July 1816 (from Spain)
Religions
nominally Roman Catholic 92% (less than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 4%
Roman Catholic 41.6%, Protestant 23.3%, Modekngei 8.8% (indigenous to Palau), Seventh-Day Adventist 5.3%, Jehovah's Witness 0.9%, Latter-Day Saints 0.6%, other 3.1%, unspecified or none 16.4% (2000 census)
Languages
Spanish (official), Italian, English, German, French
Palauan 64.7% official in all islands except Sonsoral (Sonsoralese and English are official), Tobi (Tobi and English are official), and Angaur (Angaur, Japanese, and English are official), Filipino 13.5%, English 9.4%, Chinese 5.7%, Carolinian 1.5%, Japanese 1.5%, other Asian 2.3%, other languages 1.5% (2000 census)
Exports
soybeans and derivatives, petroleum and gas, vehicles, corn, wheat
External Debt
$136,800,000,000 $
Exchange Rate
Argentine pesos (ARS) per US dollar - 3.1636 (2008 est.), 3.1105 (2007), 3.0543 (2006), 2.9037 (2005), 2.9233 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
0.800%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
6
0
Location
Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay
Oceania, group of islands in the North Pacific Ocean, southeast of the Philippines
Area
2,780,400 km sq
459 km sq
Coastline
4,989 km
1,519 km
Climate
mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest
tropical; hot and humid; wet season May to November
