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帛琉(Palau)，亦作Belau。
正式名称帛琉共和国 旧称Pelew 西太平洋独立的岛国。面积487平方公里。人口约19,700（2001）。首都︰科罗尔。人口混杂，祖先来自为马来人、美拉尼西亚人、菲律宾人和波里尼西亚人。语言：帛琉语、松索罗尔-托比语和英语（均为官方语）。宗教：天主教、基督教，以及一种混合基督教和巫术的摩德克纳（Modekne）教。货币：美元（U.S.$）。帛琉群岛诸岛土地肥沃，沿海有红树林沼泽，其後为稀树草原和棕榈树林，山上则为热带雨林。政府部门是最大的雇主。生存农业和渔业是农村地区人民的主业。政府形式为共和国，两院制。国家元首暨政府首脑为总统。帛琉在1899年卖给德国以前，三百多年来在名义上一直是属於西班牙所有。1914年日本占领此地，第二次世界大战期间为联军攻占。1947年成为美国太平洋岛屿托管地的一部分，1994年成立主权独立的国家，但美国仍提供其经济上的协助，并在岛内维持军事设施。 English version： Palau formerlyPelewIndependent island republic, western Pacific Ocean. Area: 188 sq mi (487 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 17,000. Capital: Koror. The population is of mixed Malay, Melanesian, Filipino, and Polynesian ancestry. Languages: Palauan, Sonsorolese-Tobian, English (all official). Religions: Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Modekne. Currency: U.S. dollar. The islands of the Palau group are fertile, with mangrove swamps along the coasts, backed by savanna and palms rising to rain forests in the hills. The major source of employment is government service. Subsistence farming and fishing are the main occupations in the rural areas. It is a republic with two legislative houses; its head of state and government is the president. The islands were under nominal Spanish ownership for more than three centuries when they were sold to Germany in 1899. They were seized by Japan in 1914 and taken by Allied forces in 1944 during World War II. Palau became part of the U.S. Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands in 1947 and became a sovereign state in 1994; the U.S. provides economic assistance and maintains a military presence in the islands.
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