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Palau Geography Profile

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LocationOceania, group of islands in the North Pacific Ocean, southeast of the Philippines
Geographic coordinates7 30 N, 134 30 E
Map referencesOceania
Areatotal: 459 sq km

land: 459 sq km

water: 0 sq km
Area - comparativeslightly more than 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundariestotal: 0 km
Coastline1,519 km
Maritime claimsterritorial sea: 12 nm

contiguous zone: 24 nm

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

continental shelf: 200 nm
Climatetropical; hot and humid; wet season May to November
Terrainvarying topography from the high, mountainous main island of Babelthuap to low, coral islands usually fringed by large barrier reefs
Elevation extremeshighest point: Mount Ngerchelchuus 242 m

lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
Natural resourcesforests, minerals (especially gold), marine products, deep-seabed minerals
Land useagricultural land: 10.8% (2018 est.)

arable land: 2.2% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 4.3% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 4.3% (2018 est.)

forest: 87.6% (2018 est.)

other: 1.6% (2018 est.)
Irrigated land0 sq km (2012)
Total renewable water resources0 cubic meters (2017 est.)
Natural hazardstyphoons (June to December)
Geography - notewesternmost 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

Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021