Palau,officially the Republic of Palau and historically Belau,Palaos or Pelew,is an island country and microstate 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). 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 nearby 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 Ongelibel Remengesau,also known as Thomas Remengesau Sr.,was a politician in Palau. He was Vice President of Palau from 1985 to 1988,and acting President of Palau in 1985 and President of Palau from 1988 to 1989 following the violent deaths of two previous presidents.
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.
Ngiratkel Etpison was a politician and businessman from Palau. Etpison was elected President in 1988 and served from 1989 until 1993,becoming the country’s first elected president to serve a full term in office.
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.
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 is John Hennessey-Niland
Johnson Toribiong is a Palauan attorney and politician. Toribiong became the President of Palau,following his victory in the November 2008 election,and left office in 2013. Before 2020 elections,Toribiong has run for president four times - in 1992,1996,2008 and 2012.
Peter Lawrence Naoya Sugiyama was a Palauan politician.
General elections were held in Palau in 1996 to elect a President,Vice-President,Senate and House of Delegates. The first round of the presidential election took place on 24 September,whilst the run-off election and the election for the House of Delegates and Senate took place on 5 November. All candidates ran as independents,with 36 candidates contesting the 14 Senate seats and 35 for the 16 House of Delegates seats Incumbent Kuniwo Nakamura was re-elected President,whilst Thomas Remengesau Jr. was re-elected Vice-President. Voter turnout was 77% in the presidential elections on 24 September and 81% on 5 November.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) people in Palau face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Same-sex sexual activity has been legal in Palau since 23 July 2014,when the current Penal Code took effect,but households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex married couples. Same-sex marriage is constitutionally banned,and there are no anti-discrimination laws concerning sexual orientation and gender identity.
General elections were held in Palau on 6 November 2012. Former President Tommy Remengesau defeated his successor,incumbent Johnson Toribiong,who had been elected in 2008. Antonio Bells was elected Vice-President,defeating Kerai Mariur,who had finished first in the primary elections on 26 September.
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.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Palau is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached Palau on 31 May 2021. As of August 2021,Palau has one of the highest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the world with approximately 84% of its population fully vaccinated.
General elections were held in Palau on 3 November 2020 to elect a President and the National Congress.
Valerie Esang Whipps is a Palauan stateswoman who has been First Lady of Palau since 21 January 2021.
The following lists events that happened during 2021 in the Republic of Palau.
