constitutional government in free association with the US; the Compact of Free Association entered into force 1 October 1994
Independence date
11 March 1990 (declared); 6 September 1991 (recognized by Soviet Union)
Religions
Roman Catholic 79%, Russian Orthodox 4.1%, Protestant (including Lutheran and Evangelical Christian Baptist) 1.9%, other or unspecified 5.5%, none 9.5% (2001 census)
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
Lithuanian (official) 82%, Russian 8%, Polish 5.6%, other and unspecified 4.4% (2001 census)
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
mineral products 23%, textiles and clothing 16%, machinery and equipment 11%, chemicals 6%, wood and wood products 5%, foodstuffs 5% (2001)
External Debt
$31,030,000,000 $
Exchange Rate
litai (LTL) per US dollar - 2.3251 (2008 est.), 2.5362 (2007), 2.7498 (2006), 2.774 (2005), 2.7806 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
0.900%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
5
0
Location
Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Latvia and Russia
Oceania, group of islands in the North Pacific Ocean, southeast of the Philippines
Area
65,300 km sq
459 km sq
Coastline
90 km
1,519 km
Climate
transitional, between maritime and continental; wet, moderate winters and summers
tropical; hot and humid; wet season May to November
