Today, the Republic of Palau celebrates its Independence Day, commemorating its exit from U.S. trusteeship in 1994. Part of an island archipelago dubbed the Caroline Islands, Palau was first settled over 4,000 years ago and has a population today of just 21,947, spread almost entirely across eight larger islands, with another set of over 250 minuscule islands hosting just six people. The country’s tropical climate and beautiful forests and coasts allow it to host a pretty sizeable tourist population, though.
While Spain claimed the Carolines as a territory as early as 1574, it didn’t exercise much control over them until the 19th century. After World War II, the area was administered by the United States as part of the sprawling Trust Territory of the East Indies, which spanned an area the size of the continental U.S. By the late 1970s, that arrangement began to break apart as island chains across the region declared independence. Palau was one of them, issuing its constitution in 1981. It quickly entered a Compact of Free Association with the U.S., allowing it to benefit from some U.S. economic and government support (including Medicaid!) while allowing America to operate military bases there. Under that agreement, Palau was officially recognized as independent on Oct. 1, 1994.
Now, the island nation operates as a democratic republic, holding its presidential elections at the same time as the U.S. Palauans are avid baseball players, having first been exposed to the sport by Japanese athletes in the 1920s. The local cuisine is heavy on fish, pork, and locally grown root vegetables, with strong influences from American, Japanese, and Filipino food cultures.
The sea is, naturally, a major topic there. Fishing is one of its biggest industries in Palau, and it also engages in preservation efforts for sharks and a native Crocodile species. Sea level rise is a major concern given the low-lying nature of the islands, with saltwater threatening to destroy farmlands, damage infrastructure, and force some populations to move inland over the next few decades.
