Palau

Palau or Beluu er a Belau as it is known to the natives is located in an area called Oceania, group of islands in the North Pacific Ocean, southeast of the Philippines Today's Palauans are distant relatives of the Malays of Indonesia, Melanesians of New Guinea and Polynesians. Carbon dating of artifacts from the oldest known village sites place civilization there as earlyas 1,000 BC.The most noteworthy first foreign contact took place in 1783 when the vessel Antelope, under the command of English Captain Henry Wilson, was shipwrecked on a reef. With the assistance of High Chief Ibedul, Wilson and his men stayed for three months to rebuild his ship. From that time onward, many foreign explorers called on Palau, and the islands were exposed to further European contact. One of the most popular Palauan traditions is storry-telling. In fact there was no written language until the late 1800's (which begs the question, Just WHO DID scrawl the name of Dragoon on the walls??). Palau gained its independence on October 1, 1994, upon the signing of the Compact of Free Association with the United States. Between the population of 18,467 there are 1500 telephones and 1600 television sets, but then again there is only one broadcasting station.

 Photos and information obtained from Visit-Palau.Com and the CIA.

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