Region: Oceania-Micronesia

Capital: Koror

Population: 20,016 (July 2004 est.)

Surface area: 459 sq km

Currency: US dollar

GDP per capita: purchasing power parity - $9,000 (2001 est.)

Background:
After three decades as part of the UN Trust Territory of the Pacific under US administration, this westernmost cluster of the Caroline Islands opted for independence in 1978 rather than join the Federated States of Micronesia. A Compact of Free Association with the US was approved in 1986, but not ratified until 1993. It entered into force the following year, when the islands gained independence.

Economy – Overview
The economy consists primarily of tourism, subsistence agriculture and fishing. The government is the major employer of the work force, relying heavily on financial assistance from the US. Business and tourist arrivals numbered 50,000 in FY00/01. The population enjoys a per capita income twice that of the Philippines and much of Micronesia. Long-run prospects for the key tourist sector have been greatly bolstered by the expansion of air travel in the Pacific, the rising prosperity of leading East Asian countries, and the willingness of foreigners to finance infrastructure development.

United Nations membership date: 15 December 1994

New York Mission:
Permanent Mission of the Republic of Palau To the United Nations
767 Third Avenue, 34th Floor
New York, N.Y. 10017 USA
Telephone: (212) 546-0410
Fax: (212) 826-2858