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Zebra57
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824438. Thu Jun 16, 2011 3:45 am |
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Palau - is a Pacific nation about 191 square miles in size including of 200 islands. The Caroline Islands, which included Palau were named after King Charles II of Spain and formed part of the Spanish East Indies. In 1889 following many territorial disputes Spain sold the islands to Germany for 25m pesetas.
The Carolines were a German colony, until seized by Japan in 1914. which the League of Nations gave to Japan to administer after World War 1.
Palau was the western part of a UN Trust Territory of Pacific Islands administered by the USA after World War II. It became independent in 1994.
Capital is Melekeok
Largest town: Koror
Currency: US Dollar
Language: English and Palaun
Palau's major trading partner appears to be Taiwan.
The population is about 20,000. It is one of the smallest countries in the World. |
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Geography Guy
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987265. Mon Apr 08, 2013 5:55 am |
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Zebra57 wrote: | Capital is Melekeok |
Well, not quite.
The capital of the Republic of Palau is in fact the settlement of Ngerelmud, which is in Melekeok. The State of Melekeok has eight inhabited settlements, one being Ngerelmud, which replaced Koror (still the largest city) as capital city in 2006.
To add to the confusion, within the state of Melekeok is the town of Melekeok, only 2 km away from Ngerelmud, but a separate non-capital city with the same name as the capital state.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngerulmud
Palau has a pretty good excuse for all this confusion, being only 20 years old as an independent nation after passing through the hands of Pygmies, Indonesians, Filipinos, British, Spaniards, Germans, Japanese, and Americans. |
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Zebra57
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Geography Guy
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Zebra57
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Zebra57
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Zebra57
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