Dilmai Saiske is a Palauan politician, who has been a member of the House of Delegates of Palau since 2016 for the state of Ngarchelong. Prior to her election, Saiske worked in education for 25 years; she had previously stood for office unsuccessfully. [1]
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.
Palau was initially settled around 1000 BC.
Demographic features of the population of Palau include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects.
"Belau rekid" is the national anthem of Palau. Officially adopted in 1981, the music was composed by Ymesei O. Ezekiel, to which the combined words of several authors were set.
The Flag of Palau was adopted on 1 January 1981, when the island group separated from the United Nations Trust Territory. As with the flags of several other Pacific island groups, light blue is the color used to represent the ocean and the nation's place within it. While this puts Palau in common with the Federated States of Micronesia and other neighboring island groups, the disc on the flag is off-centre like that of the flag of Bangladesh, but in this case the disc represents the moon instead of the sun. The current flag was introduced in 1981 when Palau became a republic.
Palauan is a Malayo-Polynesian language native to the Republic of Palau, where it is one of the two official languages, alongside English. It is widely used in day-to-day life in the country. Palauan is not closely related to other Malayo-Polynesian languages and its exact classification within the branch is unclear.
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.
The music of Palau finds its heritage in Micronesia, but it has been supplemented with influences from the United States and Western Europe, as well as Japan.
Modekngei, or Ngara Modekngei, is a monotheistic religious movement founded around 1915 by Tamadad, a native of the island of Babeldaob, that spread throughout Palau. It rose to political significance between the First and Second World Wars and is currently professed by 5.7% of Palau's population. Modekngei is a hybrid of ancient Palauan customs and Christianity. Followers of the religion believe in the Christian God, recognize Jesus Christ as the Messiah, and simultaneously make appeasements to the traditional Palauan deities.
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.
Palau–United States relations are bilateral relations between the sovereign nations of Palau and the United States. Palau has an embassy in Washington, DC, whilst the United States has an embassy in Koror. The current US Ambassador to Palau Joel Ehrendreich.
Florian Skilang Temengil is a Palauan wrestler at Newman University in Wichita, Kansas. Skilang competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China in the freestyle wrestling. He lost his bout to Ottó Aubéli of Hungary 0-6, 1-7. However, he managed to score the first ever point for Palauan Olympic wrestlers, since his countryman John Tarkong Jr. had failed to score any points four years earlier, as would his countryman Elgin Loren Elwais in the Greco-Roman -55 kg category.
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.
The Palauan passport is an international travel document that is issued to Palauan citizens which is issued centrally at the Passport Office in Meyuns, Palau.
Palauan English is an emergent dialect of English spoken by the Palauan people. The dialect arose after the arrival of American and Filipino migrants to Palau in 1962. It bears many similarities with Philippine English in phonology, morphology and syntax and has many Palauan, Japanese and Tagalog borrowings.
Palauan Americans are Americans of Palauan descent. According to the 2010 census, there are about 7,450 Americans of Palauan origin.
Women in Palau, known also as Palauan women, Belauan women, Pelew women, or Women of Los Palaos Islands are women who live in or are from Palau. Historically, there was a strong "gendered division of labor" between women and men of Palau.
Palau competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's fifth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics.
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.