nt: Pacific Ocean 0 m

highest point: Mount Ngerchelchauus 242 m

Natural resources: forests, minerals (especially gold), marine
products, deep-seabed minerals

Land use: arable land: NA%

permanent crops: NA%

permanent pastures: NA%

forests and woodland: NA%

other: NA%

Irrigated land: NA sq km

Natural hazards: typhoons (June to December)

Environment - current issues: inadequate facilities for disposal of
solid waste; threats to the marine ecosystem from sand and coral
dredging, illegal fishing practices, and overfishing

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Law
of the Sea

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note: includes World War II battleground of Beliliou
(Peleliu) and world-famous rock islands; archipelago of six island
groups totaling over 200 islands in the Caroline chain

Palau People

Population: 19,092 (July 2001 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 26.88% (male 2,641; female 2,491)

15-64 years: 68.46% (male 7,128; female 5,943)

65 years and over: 4.66% (male 420; female 469) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.69% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 19.64 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 7.23 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: 4.45 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 1.2 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.9 male(s)/female

total population: 1.14 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 16.67 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 68.89 years

male: 65.77 years

female: 72.19 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.47 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: NA%

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA

Nationality: noun: Palauan(s)

adjective: Palauan

Ethnic groups: Palauan (Micronesian with Malayan and Melanesian
admixtures) 70%, Asian (mainly Filipinos, followed by Chinese,
Taiwanese, and Vietnamese) 28%, white 2% (2000 est.)

Religions: Christian (Catholics, Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah's
Witnesses, the Assembly of God, the Liebenzell Mission, and
Latter-Day Saints), Modekngei religion (one-third of the population
observes this religion which is indigenous to