l agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:
westernmost archipelago in the Caroline chain, consists of six
island groups totaling more than 300 islands; includes World War II
battleground of Beliliou (Peleliu) and world-famous rock islands

People Palau

Population:
20,303 (July 2005 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 26.4% (male 2,768/female 2,601)
15-64 years: 69% (male 7,565/female 6,436)
65 years and over: 4.6% (male 443/female 490) (2005 est.)

Median age:
total: 31.43 years
male: 32.4 years
female: 30.36 years (2005 est.)

Population growth rate:
1.39% (2005 est.)

Birth rate:
18.37 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate:
6.85 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate:
2.36 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.18 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.9 male(s)/female
total population: 1.13 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 14.84 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 16.6 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 12.99 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 70.14 years
male: 66.98 years
female: 73.48 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate:
2.46 children born/woman (2005 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) 69.9%,
Carolinian 1.4%, other Micronesian 1.1%, Filipino 15.3%, Chinese
4.9%, other Asian 2.4%, white 1.9%, other or unspecified 3.2% (2000
census)

Religions:
Roman Catholic 41.6%, Protestant 23.3%, Modekngei 8.8% (indigenous
to Palau), Seventh-Day Adventist 5.3%, Jehovah's Witness 0.9%,
Latter-Day Saints 0.6%, other religion 3.1%, unspecified or none
16.4% (2000 census)

Languages:
Palauan 64.7% official in all islands except Sonsoral (Sonsoralese
and English are official), Tobi (Tobi and English are official), and
Angaur (Angaur, Japanese, and English are official), Filipino 13.5%,
English 9.4%, Chinese 5.7%, Carolinian 1.5%, Japanese 1.