Country · Oceania
Palau
Republic of Palau
Palau is a country in Micronesia. About 18 000 people live there, in an area of 459 square kilometres. Its capital city is Ngerulmud.
Picture credit: LuxTonnerre (CC BY 2.0) · Jenny (CC BY 2.0) · Zykasaa (CC BY 4.0) · Ben Shoshana (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Palau?
Palau lies in Micronesia, on the continent of Oceania.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 835 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 1 519 km long.
It has no land neighbours — every border it has is with the sea.
How big is Palau?
Palau covers 459 square kilometres.
Luxembourg is about 5.6 times bigger.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 179th largest.
Spread everybody out evenly and you get about 39 people on every square kilometre.
That is close to the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Palau?
About 18 000 people live in Palau.
That is the 191st biggest population in the world.
People here speak English and Palauan.
They pay with the United States dollar ($).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 69 years.
The land of Palau
Its coast runs for about 1 519 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 76 days.
It lies inside the tropics, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Palau different?
Websites from here often end in .pw.
Palau and the rest of the world
Fewer than one person in every thousand on Earth lives in Palau.
It takes up less than a hundredth of one per cent of all the land in the world.
Within Oceania the country ranks 11th of 14 by size, and 12th by population.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, 2 live wild in Palau: Giant clam and Chambered nautilus. The highest mountain in the country is Mount Ngerchelchuus, at 242 metres. The longest river in the country is the Ngermeskang River. The largest lake in the country is Lake Ngardok.
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
Where this country lands in the record lists
How big is Palau compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 20 420 times as big as Palau: 9 372 610 km² against 459 km².
- The United Kingdom is about 529 times as big as Palau: 242 900 km² against 459 km².
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Palau?
The capital of Palau is Ngerulmud. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Palau?
About 18 000 people live in Palau, which makes it the 191st most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
How big is Palau?
Palau covers 459 square kilometres, making it the 179th largest country in the world. Luxembourg is about 5.6 times bigger.
What is the highest mountain in Palau?
The highest mountain in Palau is Mount Ngerchelchuus, 242 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
What is the longest river in Palau?
The longest river in Palau is the Ngermeskang River.
What is the largest lake in Palau?
The largest lake in Palau is Lake Ngardok. It covers about 0.1 km².
Which continent is Palau in?
Palau is in Oceania, in the part called Micronesia.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
Last checked: · How these pages are made