Akiko C. Bedor Sugiyama is a Palauan politician, and widow of Palauan senator Peter Sugiyama. [1] As late as 1995, she was the only woman who had ever been elected to the Palau National Congress. [2] In 2005, she was elected governor of Ngardmau in a special election after the impeachment of Schwartz Tudong over the misuse of public funds. [3] Along with Vicky Kanai of Airai, she was the first woman to be elected governor of any of the states of Palau. [4]
Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific. The republic consists of approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caroline Islands with parts of the Federated States of Micronesia. It has a total area of 466 square kilometers (180 sq mi), making it one of the smallest countries in the world. The most populous island is Koror, home to the country's most populous city of the same name. The capital Ngerulmud is located on the largest island of Babeldaob, in Melekeok State. Palau shares maritime boundaries with international waters to the north, the Federated States of Micronesia to the east, Indonesia to the south, and the Philippines to the northwest.
Thomas Esang "Tommy" Remengesau Jr. is a Palauan politician; in 2013 he was elected the ninth president of Palau and was re-elected to that office in 2016. Previously he served as the seventh president of the island nation from 2001 to 2009. He served as a Senator in the Palau National Congress between his two administrations. In sum, Remengesau was elected Vice-President of Palau in 1992 and 1996, then president in 2000, 2004, 2012 and 2016.
Palau has a bicameral legislature, the Palau National Congress, consisting of the House of Delegates and the Senate of Palau, which both sit at the capitol complex in Ngerulmud, Melekeok State. The House of Delegates has 16 members, each serving four-year terms in single-seat constituencies. The Senate has 13 members, also serving four-year terms in multi-seat constituencies. In the last elections, held in 2020, only non-partisans were elected; no political parties exist.
University of Guam (U.O.G.) is a public land-grant university in Mangilao, Guam. It is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and offers thirty-four degree programs at the undergraduate level and eleven at the master's level. Of the university's 3,387 students, 94% are of Asian-Pacific Islander ethnicity and nearly 72% are full-time. A full-time faculty of about 180 work at the university.
Kuniwo Nakamura was a Palauan politician who served as the President of Palau from 1993 to 2001. He had earlier served as Vice President of Palau from 1989 to 1993, under Ngiratkel Etpison.
Elias Camsek Chin is a Palauan politician. He served as the Vice President of Palau from 1 January 2005 to 15 January 2009. He was elected as the president of the Senate of Palau from 16 January 2013 to 19 January 2017.
Sandra Sumang Pierantozzi is a Palauan politician. She served as the country's Vice-President from 19 January 2001 to 1 January 2005. Pierantozzi was defeated by Camsek Chin in the 2 November 2004 vice-presidential election, winning only 28.9% of the vote.
General elections were held in Palau on 4 November 2008 to elect the President and members of the National Congress. The presidential election was won by Johnson Toribiong. Incumbent President Tommy Remengesau was ineligible to run because he had served the maximum two consecutive terms allowed and announced that he would run for a seat in the Senate.
Hersey Kyota is a Palauan politician and diplomat who has served as the ambassador of Palau to the United States since 1997. He is the current dean of the Diplomatic Corps in Washington, D.C., as the longest-serving ambassador to the United States.
Leilani Reklai is a Palauan politician and businesswoman. She has served as the chairperson of the board of directors of the Palau National Communications Corporation.
Xavier High School is a private, Catholic coeducational college preparatory school high school run by the US East Province of the Society of Jesus on the island of Weno in Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia. It was established by the Jesuits in 1952. It was the first high school in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Bishop Thomas Feeney, S.J., D.D. from the New York Province of the Society of Jesus originally envisioned a minor seminary to train local clergy. Soon after, Xavier Seminary became the first college preparatory school in the Western Pacific.
Roman Tmetuchl was a Palauan political leader and businessman. He grew up in Japanese-controlled Palau and joined the Kempeitai, the Japanese secret police, during World War II. After the war, he became the leader of Palau's Liberal Party. He worked in the Congress of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands from 1964 to 1978 and advocated for Palau gaining a separate status from the rest of Micronesia. He became governor of Airai and engaged in three unsuccessful Palauan presidential campaigns. As a businessman, Tmetuchl led several construction projects for his business holdings and for the Palauan community, including the Palau International Airport and a Seventh-Day Adventist clinic.
There is a small Japanese community in the Pacific Island country of Palau, which mainly consists of Japanese expatriates residing in Palau over a long-term basis. A few Japanese expatriates started to reside in Palau after it gained independence in 1994, and established long-term businesses in the country. Japanese settlement in Palau dates back to the early 19th century, although large scale Japanese migration to Palau did not occur until the 1920s, when Palau came under Japanese rule and administered as part of the South Seas Mandate. Japanese settlers took on leading administrative roles in the Japanese colonial government, and developed Palau's economy. After the Japanese surrender in 1945, virtually all of the Japanese population was repatriated back to Japan, although people of mixed Japanese-Palauan descent were allowed to remain behind. People of Japanese-Palauan descent constitute a large minority of Palau's population as a result of substantial intermarriage between the Japanese settlers and Palauans. They generally identify with, conforming to cultural norms and daily lives with the Palauans.
Peter Lawrence Naoya Sugiyama was a Palauan politician.
General elections were held in Palau on 1 November 2016 to elect a President and the National Congress. Incumbent President Tommy Remengesau was challenged by his brother-in-law, Surangel Whipps Jr. for the presidency, emerging as the top two in the primary elections on 27 September. Remengesau was subsequently re-elected with 51% of the vote.
Surangel S. Whipps Jr. is a Palauan businessman and politician, who has served as the president of Palau since 2021. He served as senator from 2008 to 2016. He is from Ngatpang state, Republic of Palau. Whipps assumed office as the President of Palau on 21 January 2021.
J. Uduch Sengebau Senior is a Palauan lawyer, judge, and politician who has served as the Vice President of Palau since 2021. She was previously a member of the Senate of Palau from 2013 until she took office as Vice President.
Katharine Kesolei was an anthropologist and Senator from Palau.
Mirair Gabriela Ngirmang was a Palauan peace and anti-nuclear activist.
Regina Mesebeluu is a Palauan who was a senator in the Palau National Congress, between 2008 and 2012.