macrohistory & world report

Republic of Palau

Location of the Republic of Palau

World Factbook as of November 2014: "The economy consists of tourism and other services such as trade, subsistence agriculture, and fishing. Government is a major employer of the work force relying on financial assistance from the US under the Compact of Free Association (Compact) with the US. The Compact took effect, after the end of the UN trusteeship on 1 October 1994. The US provided Palau with roughly $700 million in aid for the first 15 years following commencement of the Compact in 1994 in return for unrestricted access to its land and waterways for strategic purposes. Business and leisure tourist arrivals numbered over 109,000 in 2011, for a 27% increase over 2010. The population enjoys a per capita income roughly double that of the Philippines and much of Micronesia. Long-run prospects for tourism have been bolstered by the expansion of air travel in the Pacific, the rising prosperity of industrial East Asia, and the willingness of foreigners to finance infrastructure development. Proximity to Guam, the region's major destination for tourists from East Asia, and a regionally competitive tourist infrastructure enhance Palau's advantage as a destination."

Estimated per capita GDP
2008 $8,100
2005: $7,600

Budget
2008: revenues $114.8 million, 115% of expenditures ($99.5 million), 70% of GDP.

Foreign debt: 0

Taxes
Wikipedia June 2011: "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.

Unemployment rate
2005: 4.2%

Deaths and Births per 1,000 persons, estimated for the year 2008
Deaths: 6.73. Births: 17.4 down from 18.37 in 2005.

Infant mortality (deaths before the age of one year per 1,000 live births)
2011: 12.43
2008: 13.69

Average life expectancy at birth:
2011: 71.78 years
2005: 70.14

People

Living in an urban area: 81% (2008)

Population
July 2011: 20,956
July 2009: 20,796.

Wikipedia: Population is 70% "native Palauans, who are of mixed Melanesian, Micronesian, and Austronesian descent. Many Palauans also have some Asian ancestry, which is the result of intermarriage between settlers and Palauans between the 19th and 20th centuries."

Density for 2005: 44 persons per square kilometer.

Net migration rates:
2011: A net gain of 0.76 persons per 1,000 population.

Religion
Roman Catholics 49 percent. Modekngei (indigenous to Palau) 33 percent. Protestants, including Jehovah's Witnesses 18 percent.

Geography

Islands among the western Carolines, north of New Guinea, and west of the southern tip of the Philippines. Total of 458 square kilometers, equivalent to 21.4 by 21.4 kilometers or 13.4 by 13.4 miles:

Government

Constitutional government in free association with the United States. One of the world's youngest and smallest sovereign states. It has a bicameral National Congress or Olbiil Era Kelulau (OEK) that consists of the Senate with 9 seats filled by members elected by popular vote on a population basis to serve four-year terms. And it has a House of Delegates with (16 seats filled by members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms. Capital: Koror.

Recent History

Independence: 1 October 1994. Had been UN Trust Territory administered by the United States.

SOURCES:
The World Factbook