Palau
-
- 1875 - 12 Oct 1899
-
|
-
- 12 Oct 1899 - 8
Oct 1914
-
|
-
- 8 Oct 1914 - 15
Sep 1944
-
|
-
- 15 Sep 1944 - 1
Oct 1994
-
|
-
- 18 Jul 1947 - 3
Oct 1962 Pacific Is.Trust Terr.
-
|
-
- 3 Oct 1962 - 31
Dec 1980 Pacific Is.Trust Terr.
-
|
-
- Adopted 1 Jan 1981
|
|
|
Map
of Palau
|
Hear
National Anthem
"Belau Rekid"
(Our Palau)
|
Text
of National Anthem
Adopted 25 Dec 1980
|
Constitution
(1 Jan 1981,
amended 15 Jul 2005)
|
Capital:
Ngerulmud
(Koror 1921-7 Oct
2006;
Malakal 1905-1921)
|
Currency:
US Dollar (USD);
1914-44
Japanese Yen (JPY)
|
National
Holiday: 9 Jul (1979)
Constitution Day
|
Population:
21,864 (2024)
16,347 (1945)
|
GDP: $263
million (2023)
|
Exports:
$24.48 million (2022)
Imports: $216.6
million (2022)
|
Ethnic groups:
Palauan (Micronesian with Malayan and
Melanesian admixtures) 70.6%,
Carolinian 1.2%, Asian 26.5%, other
1.7% (2020)
|
Total Police
Force: 75 (2012)
U.S. Forces: 89 (2023)
Defense is
the Responsibility of the U.S.
Merchant marine:
427 ships (2023)
|
Religions:
Roman Catholic 46.9%, Protestant 30.9%
(Evangelical 24.6%, Seventh Day
Adventist 5%, other Protestant 1.4%),
Modekngei 5.1% (indigenous to Palau),
Muslim 4.9%, other 12.3% (2020)
|
International
Organizations/Treaties: ACP,
ADB, AOSIS, APA, APM, BTWC, CCM, CTBT, CWC, ESCR (signatory), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM,
IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO,
IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, IRENA
(signatory), ISA, MIGA,
NPT, OPCW, PC, PIDF, PIF, UN, UNCLOS,
UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNFCC, UNFCC-KP, UNFCC-PA, UNIDO,
UNWTO, WCO, WHO, WMO
(observer)
|
Palau
Index
|
Chronology
6 May
1522
Spanish ship Trinidad of
Magellan's fleet commanded
by
Gonzalo Gómez de Espinosa (b. 1479 -
d. c.1540)
sights two small islands at 5° N,
which they
named "San Juan" - almost certainly
Sonsorol.
30
Nov
1710
Palau sighted by and claimed for Spain
by Lt. Col.
Francisco de Padilla, and later named
the Islas
de San Andreas
("Island of St. Andrew").
10
Aug 1783 - 12 Nov 1783 British
Capt. Henry Wilson (b. 1740 - d. 1810)
and
the crew of the Antelope
are shipwreck on Ulong
in Palau.
1874
Spain reasserts its claims to the
islands, but
does not begin settlement (Islas
Palaos).
May
1874
German trading firm the Hernsheim
& Co. establishes
Südsee-Stationen
Malakal (Koror, Palau) trading
station.
19 Sep
1885
Declared annexed by Germany (Pelew).
22
Oct
1885
Spanish possession is confirmed by the
arbitration
of Pope Leo XIII (signed 17 Dec 1885)
(Islas
Palaos).
21
Jan 1898 - 1902
Included (nominally) as
part of the revolutionary
Philippine
Republic under Malolos Constitution.
12 Feb
1899
Spain agrees sells the
Caroline Islands (including
Palau) to
Germany (confirmed 30 Jun 1899
Treaty,
takes possession 18 Jul 1899).
12 Oct
1899
Part of German New Guinea (see Papua New Guinea)
(Palau
[Pelew]-Inseln).
1905
Regierungsstation
Koror / Belau established.
1910
Regierungsstation
Angaur / Belau established.
8 Oct
1914
Japanese occupation (see under Marshall
Islands)
from 28 Dec 1914 [see below).
8 Oct 1914
- 1 Apr 1922 Japanese
military (naval) administration, from
Jul
1918, with civil
administration department
subordinate under the
navy. Dec 1914, Palau
district created (from
the Caroline Islands west
of 137 E).
28 Jun 1919
Germany formally
renounces claim to the islands by
the Treaty of
Versailles.
17 Dec
1920
League of Nations class C mandate under
Japan
(South Seas Islands)(Nan'yō
Chō Guntō)(Caroline
Islands, Marshall Islands, and Mariana
Islands).
1
Apr
1922
South Seas Government (Nan'yō Chō)
created (it
includes Marshall, Palau, Caroline
[Micronesia]
and Northern Mariana islands; it is
composed of
six administrative districts - Palau,
Saipan, Yap,
Truk, Ponape,
and Jaluit Atoll).
26 Mar
1935
Japan declares that the mandated
islands are an
"integral part of the Japanese Empire"
as it exits
the
League of Nations.
8 Dec
1941
Martial law instituted by Japan.
5 Nov
1943
Re-organization, the Palau district
becomes the
Western Area (Palau and Yap),
headquarters Palau.
15 Sep 1944
U.S. invasion begins at
Peleliu.
14 Aug
1945
Japan
deprived of Nanyō Chō by
Potsdam agreement
(mandate formally revoked by the
United Nations
18 July 1947 and acknowledged 28 Apr
1952 by Peace
of
San Francisco).
2 Sep
1945
U.S. occupies
Palau.
2 Sep 1945 - 30 Jun
1951 U.S. Navy military
administration.
18 Jul 1947
Palau District
of the of United Nations Trust
Territory of the Pacific
Islands (see Micronesia)
1 Jul 1951 -
31 Dec 1980 Administered by U.S.
Department of Interior.
9 Jul
1980
Constitution ratified by referendum
(entered into
force 1 Jan 1981).
1 Jan
1981
Republic of Palau (Beluu er a Belau).
10 Jul
1987
Trust territory effectively dissolved;
Palau remains
in
trusteeship under the administrative
responsibility of the U.S. Interior
Department.
25 May
1994
United Nations formally ends
trusteeship for Palau.
1 Oct
1994
Independence, Compact of Free
Association with
the
U.S. effective.
|
States
(since 1981)
|
Traditional
Chiefs |
South
Seas
(Nan'yo
Cho)
(1914-1945) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Governors
12 Oct 1899 - 8 Oct 1914 the
governors of German New
Guinea
Bezirksamtmänner
(District magistrates)
12 Oct 1899 - 7 Oct 1914 the
District magistrates of the
Western Caroline Islands
(see under Micronesia)
Stationsleiter
Westkarolinen
(West Caroline
Station chief)(in
Koror, Palau)
Feb 1901
- 8 Feb 1904 James Gibbon
(b. 1828 - d. 1904)
Stationsleiter
Korror (Koror)(Koror
Station chief)(in Matalái,
Palau)
Jan 1905 - 1914
Wilhelm Winkler
Stationsleiters Angaur (Angaur
Station chiefs)
1910 -
1911
Georg
Eberhard von Heynitz (b. 1878 - d.
1935)
1911 -
1913
Hans Adolf Rodatz
(b. 1873 - d. 1927)
1913 -
1914
Völz
1914
Eckert
Japanese Commanders of the Interim Southern Islands
Defense Unit
(in charge of
administration the Caroline, Marshall, Mariana,
and Palau islands)
28 Dec 1914 - 6 Aug
1915 Tatsuo Matsumura
(b. 1868 - d. 1932)
6 Aug 1915 - 1
Dec 1916 Tōgō Kichitarō
(b. 1867 - d. 1942)
1 Dec 1916 - 1
Dec 1917 Yoshida Masujirō
(b. 1867 - d. 1942)
1 Dec 1917 - 1
Dec 1919 Nagata Yasujirō
(b. 1867 - d. 1923)
1 Dec 1919 - 1
Apr 1922 Kojūrō Nozaki
(b. 1872 - d. 1946)
Chiefs of the Palau Branch of
South Seas Government
1 Apr 1922 - 30 May 1922 Ryosaku Wachi
30 May 1922 - 4 Apr 1928 Yoshiyoshi
Fujisaki
23 May 1928 - 1932?
Yasaburō
Fushida
1932 - 1936?
Masaharu Mukai
1936 - 1938
Naotarō Mori
1938 - 1941?
Kiichi Kōsaka
1941 - 1942
Seiichi
Itō
(b. 1890 - d. 1945)
Jun 1942 - 1943?
Yūzaburō Yamaguchi
Chiefs, Western Area Branch, South Seas
Government (in
Palau)
5 Nov
1943 - 1944?
Sadaichi Domoto
22 May 1944 - 2 Sep 1945 Kenji Takeoka
(b. 1899 - d. 1974)
U.S. Military Governors
2 Sep 1945 - 18 Jul 1947 the
Commanders of U.S. Naval Forces
Mariana Islands (see Northern Marianas)
Commanders, Western Carolines
Subarea
Sep 1944 - 27 Jan 1945
John Walter Reeves, Jr.
(b. 1888 - d. 1967)
27 Jan 1945 - 15
Aug 1945 Elliott
Buckmaster
(b. 1889 - d. 1976)
15 Aug 1945 - 22 Aug 1945 George
Dominic
Murray
(b. 1889 - d. 1956)
22 Aug 1945 -
1947 the
Commanders of U.S. Naval Forces Marianas Area
Officers in Charge, Military Government Palaus
Oct 1946 - Apr 1946
Alfred Jensen
Byrholdt
(b. 1892 - d. 1952)
May 1946 - Sep 1946
Carroll Darsie Anderson
(b. 1905 - d. 19..)
Oct 1946 - Sep 1947 William
C. Ball
(b. 1901 - d. ....)
Civil Administrators Palaus (Belau)
Sep 1947 - 1947
William C. Ball
(s.a.)
Dec 1947 - Mar
1949 Chesley
Marshall Hardison (b. 1903 - d.
1954)
Mar 1949 - Jun
1949 Thomas E.
Quillman, Jr. (acting)(b. 1907 - d. 1988)
Jun 1949 - 30 Jun 1951 Alan D.
Curtis
(b. 1902 - d. ....)
District Administrators, Palau
(Belau)
1 Jul 1951 - 1952
....
1952 - 1953
Sidney Burnett
(b. 1889 - d. 1961)
Oct 1953 - Oct
1958 David
Donald Heron
(b. 1903 – d. 1964)
1958 - 24 Aug
1962
Francis B. Mahoney
(b. 1922 - d. 1981)
(acting to 1959)
1962 - 1966
Manuel Godinez
(b. 1914 - d. 1990)
1966 -
1969 James
Boyd MacKenzie
(b. 1918 – d. 1978)
Mar 1969 - Oct 1969
James C. Flannery
(b. 1918 - d. 1978)
1 Nov 1969 - 28 Jan 1979 Thomas
Ongelibel Remengesau, Sr.(b. 1929 - d. 2019)
(acting to 1970)
28 Jan 1979 - 31 Dec 1980 Kim Brian
Batcheller (acting) (b. 1939)
U.S. Resident representatives in Palau
1 Jan 1981 - 16 Dec 1990 ....
Director of the Palau Office of Trust Territory of the
Pacific Islands
(Resident representative of the U.S. Interior
Department)
16 Dec 1990 - 1 Oct 1994 J. Victor
Hobson, Jr.
Presidents
1 Jan 1981 - 2 Mar
1981 Ngirngetpak Tosiwo
Nakamura (b. 1938 - d.
2003) Non-party
(Speaker of the Legislature)
(acting)
2 Mar 1981 - 30 Jun 1985
Haruo Ignacio
Remeliik
(b. 1934 - d. 1985) Non-party
30 Jun 1985 - 2 Jul 1985 Thomas
Ongelibel Remengesau, Sr.(s.a.)
Non-party
(1st time) (acting)
2 Jul 1985 - 25 Oct 1985
Alfonso Rehobong
Oiterong (b. 1924 -
d. 1994) Non-party
25 Oct 1985 - 20 Aug 1988 Lazarus Eitaro
Salii
(b. 1935 - d. 1988) Non-party
20 Aug 1988 - 1 Jan 1989 Thomas
Ongelibel Remengesau, Sr.(s.a.)
Non-party
(2nd time)
1 Jan 1989 - 1 Jan
1993 Ngiratkel
Etpison
(b. 1925 - d. 1997) Non-party
1 Jan 1993 - 1 Jan
2001 Kuniwo
Nakamura
(b. 1943 - d. 2020) Non-party
1 Jan 2001 - 15 Jan 2009
Thomas Esang "Tommy"
(b.
1956)
Non-party
Remengesau,
Jr. (1st time)
15 Jan 2009 - 15 Jan 2013
Johnson Toribiong
(b. 1946)
Non-party
15 Jan 2013 - 21 Jan 2021 Thomas Esang
"Tommy"
(s.a.)
Non-party
Remengesau,
Jr. (2nd time)
21 Jan 2021 -
Surangel Whipps, Jr.
(b. 1968)
Non-party
No Political Parties Exist
Territorial Disputes: Maritime
delineation negotiations continue with Philippines,
Indonesia.
South Seas Islands
-
- Oct 1914 - Sep 1945
|
Map
of South Seas Islands (1921)
|
Capital:
Koror
(Truk Oct 1914-Jun 1921)
|
Population:
129,104 (1939)
(of which 77,257 Japanese [incl.
ethnic Chinese and Koreans];
51,723 indigenous islanders;
and 124 foreigners)
|
Currency: Japanese Yen
(JPY) (1914-1945)
|
Exports: $3.3 million (1933) |
Imports: $1.7 million (1933) |
8-31 Oct
1914
Japanese occupation of the German colonial
islands north of
the equator (see under Marshall Islands)(from
28 Dec 1914
see below).
8 Oct 1914 - 1
Apr 1922 Japanese Interim Southern Islands Defense
Unit military (naval)
administration, from Jul 1918, with
a civil administration
department subordinate under the
Imperial Navy.
28 Jun 1919
Germany formally renounces claim to
the islands by the
Treaty of Versailles.
17 Dec
1920
League of Nations Class C Mandate
for the former German Islands
in the North Pacific under Japan as the South
Seas Islands
(Nanyō Chō Guntō),
officially the Mandate for the German
Possessions in the Pacific Ocean Lying North of the
Equator
(composed of the Caroline
Islands and Palau, Marshall
Islands,
and Mariana Islands).
In Japan the territory was known as
"Japanese
Mandate for the Governance of the South Seas Islands"
(Nihon
Inin Tōchi-ryō Nan'yō
Guntō).
Jul
1921
Japanese transfer civil administration from
Chuuk in the
Caroline Islands to Koror in Palau.
1 Apr
1922
South Seas Government (Nan'yō Chō)
created as the civil government
of the
South Sea Islands (it includes
Marshall, Palau, Caroline
[Micronesia] and Northern Mariana
islands; it is composed of six
administrative districts - Palau, Saipan, Yap,
Truk, Ponape,
and
Jaluit Atoll).
1 Apr 1922 - 1 Jun 1929
Subordinated directly to the Office of Prime minister.
1 Jun 1929 - 1 Nov 1942 Subordinated
to the Ministry of Treasury/Ministry of
Overseas
Affairs.
27 Mar 1933
Japan declares its withdrawal from the
League of Nations (effective
26 Mar
1935).
26 Mar
1935
Japan declares that the mandated islands are an
"integral part
of the Japanese Empire" as it exits
the League of Nations.
Dec
1941
Martial law declared.
1 Nov 1942 - 26 Aug 1945 Subordinated to the
Ministry of Greater East Asia
5 Nov
1943
Administrative
re-organization: six districts are reduced to three
areas (the Eastern Area [Jaluit, Truk,
and Ponape], Western Area
[Palau and Yap], and Northern
Area [Marianas]).
5 Nov 1943 - 2 Sep 1945
Japanese military administration.
15 Sep 1944
U.S. invasion begins
at Peleliu.
14 Aug 1945
Japanese
South
Seas Mandate dissolved by Potsdam agreement (mandate
formally revoked by the United Nations on 18 July 1947
and
acknowledged by the 28 Apr 1952 by Peace of San
Francisco).
2 Sep 1945 - 18 Jul 1947
U.S. Naval military administration (see under Northern Marianas).
18 Jul 1947
Reformed as the United
Nations Trust Territory of the
Pacific Islands (see under Micronesia).
Japanese Commanders of the Interim Southern
Islands Defense Unit
(in charge of administration the Caroline, Marshall,
Mariana, and Palau islands)
28 Dec 1914 - 6 Aug 1915 Tatsuo Matsumura
(b. 1868 - d. 1932)
6 Aug 1915 - 1 Dec 1916 Tōgō Kichitarō
(b. 1867 - d. 1942)
1 Dec 1916 - 1 Dec 1917 Yoshida
Masujirō
(b. 1867 - d. 1942)
1 Dec 1917 - 1 Dec 1919 Nagata
Yasujirō
(b. 1867 - d. 1923)
1 Dec 1919 - 1 Apr 1922 Kojūrō Nozaki
(b. 1872 - d. 1946)
Director of the Department of Civil Affairs of the
South Sea Agency
1 Jul 1918 - 1 Apr 1922 Toshirō Tezuka
(b. 1873 - d. 1933)
Directors of the South Seas Government
1 Apr 1922 - 4 Apr 1923 Toshirō Tezuka
(s.a.)
4 Apr 1923 - 11 Oct 1931 Gōsuke Yokota
(b. 1880 - d. 1931)
12 Oct 1931 - 21 Nov 1931 Mitsusada Horiguchi
(interim) (b. 1881 - d. 19..)
21 Nov 1931 - 5 Feb 1932 Kazuo Tawara
(b. 1887 - d. 1955)
5 Feb 1932 - 4 Aug 1933 Baron Masayuki
Matsuda
(b. 1892 - d. 1976)
4 Aug 1933 - 19 Sep 1936 Hisao Hayashi
(b. 1881 - d. 1963)
19 Sep 1936 - 9 Apr 1940 Kenjirō
Kitajima
(b. 1893 - d. 1957)
9 Apr 1940 - 5 Nov 1943 Shunsuke
Kondō
(b. 1890 - d. 1966)
Director of the South Seas Government and
Commander-in-chief of the South Pacific Detachment
5 Nov 1943 - 2 Sep 1945 Boshirō
Hosogaya (in Truk)
(b. 1888 - d. 1964) Mil
(nominally to 12 Mar 1946)
Traditional
chiefs of Palau
Note: Palau is divided into two
regions, Eoueldaob and Babeldaob (Babelthuap; dominated
by one big island). The highest chief in Eoueldaob (and
in his own estimation in all Palau) is the Ibedul,
the chief of Oreor (Koror)(ritual name Ngerekldeu); the
highest chief in Babeldoab is the Reklai, the
chief of Melekeok (ritual name Ngetelngal), following an
earlier line of chiefs with the style Tmekei.
Chiefs (title Ibedul)
c.1710
Mlad ra ulekadei
"ibedul re kerel"
17.. - 17..
Kemangel ibedul
17.. - 17..
Mlad reksom "mlad raksong"
17.. - 17..
Bokelolom ngiragolival
1783? - Sep 1791
Ngiraidid Chorot "mlad er a burek" (b. 17..
- d. 1791)
1791 -
....
Kingsos "King George"
.... -
....
Ngiratachadong
.... -
....
Meang Merikl "meringel a kemedil"
.... - 12 Apr 1867
Ngirachosarech "mlad er a soldau" (d.
1867)
1867 - 1872
Meresou
1872 - 18..
Ngirchokebai
(b. c.1830 - d. 1911)
1883? - c.1900
Ilengelekei
.... - 1911
....
1911 -
1917
Louch Semelemoch
(d. 1917)
1917 - 29 Jan 1939
Tem
1939 - 19..
Ngiraked
1950? - 1956
Mariur
(d. 1956)
1956 - 25 Sep
1972
Ngoriakl
(b. 1917? - d. 1972)
1972 - 4 Nov 2021
Yutaka Miller Gibbons
(b. 1944 - d. 2021)
1972 - 1973
Takeo Yano (acting for Gibbons)
1973
Gloria Gibbons
(f)
(b. 1950)
(acting for Gibbons)
22 Feb 2022
-
Alexander Merep
Chiefs (title Reklai)
.... -
....
Tangesechel [not the first Reklai]
.... - ....
Orakiruu
.... - ....
Omekerall
.... - ....
Busechesuch
18.. - 18..
Cheltuk
18.. -
1862
Okerangel
(d. 1862)
1880? -
1890?
Temol
.... - ....
Ngirachermang
.... -
....
Soilokel
.... - ....
Ngiratrang
.... - 1914
Ruluked (= Rrull)
1914 - 1934
Tellei
1934 - 1960?
Rekewis Brel
1968 - 1974
Ngiratelbadel Lomisang
(b. 18.. - d. 197.)
1974 - 1983
Eusevio
Nguakl Termeteet (acting) (b. 1916 - d. 1989)
1983 - 1992
Siangeldeb Basilius
(b. 1918 - d. 1992)
17 Nov 1993
-
Raphael Bao Ngirmang
(b. 1932)
© Ben Cahoon
|