constitutional government in free association with the US; the Compact of Free Association entered into force 1 October 1994
republic; authoritarian presidential rule, with little power outside the executive branch
Independence date
1 September 1991 (from Soviet Union)
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)
Muslim 88% (mostly Sunnis), Eastern Orthodox 9%, other 3%
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)
Uzbek 74.3%, Russian 14.2%, Tajik 4.4%, other 7.1%
Exports
cotton, gold, energy products, mineral fertilizers, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, textiles, food products, machinery, automobiles
External Debt
$8,570,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
Uzbekistani soum (UZS) per US dollar - 1,317 (2008 est.), 1,263.8 (2007), 1,219.8 (2006), 1,020 (2005), 971.265 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
3.500%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
0
6
Location
Oceania, group of islands in the North Pacific Ocean, southeast of the Philippines
Central Asia, north of Afghanistan
Area
459 km sq
447,400 km sq
Coastline
1,519 km
0 km
Climate
tropical; hot and humid; wet season May to November
mostly midlatitude desert, long, hot summers, mild winters; semiarid grassland in east
