constitutional government in free association with the US; the Compact of Free Association entered into force 1 October 1994
parliamentary democracy
Independence date
3 March 1878 (as an autonomous principality within the Ottoman Empire); 22 September 1908 (complete independence from the Ottoman Empire)
Religions
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)
Bulgarian Orthodox 82.6%, Muslim 12.2%, other Christian 1.2%, other 4% (2001 census)
Languages
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)
Bulgarian 84.5%, Turkish 9.6%, Roma 4.1%, other and unspecified 1.8% (2001 census)
Exports
clothing, footwear, iron and steel, machinery and equipment, fuels
External Debt
$46,840,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
leva (BGN) per US dollar - 1.3171 (2008 est.), 1.4366 (2007), 1.5576 (2006), 1.5741 (2005), 1.5751 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
2.600%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
0
5
Location
Oceania, group of islands in the North Pacific Ocean, southeast of the Philippines
Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Romania and Turkey
Area
459 km sq
110,879 km sq
Coastline
1,519 km
354 km
Climate
tropical; hot and humid; wet season May to November
