Country profile
Palau
Beluu er a Belau
Oceania · Micronesia
PW · PLW
- Capital
- Ngerulmud
- Population
- 16,733
- Area
- 459 km²
- Democracy index
- 91
- Regime type
- Robust Democracy
Events
Ballots from Palau
The latest elections, referendums, and opinion polls from Palau. Community totals are not official results.
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Classification
Democracy profile
The score and regime label are assigned by Porto Voto using our in-house democracy index and classification framework, not ratings from governments or external agencies.
Democracy index
91/100
Regime type
Robust Democracy
Palau continues to showcase high institutional stability and a strong commitment to the rule of law as a well functioning Pacific island democracy. The country's democratic foundations were recently reaffirmed during the general elections, where incumbent President Surangel Whipps Jr. secured reelection in a free, fair, and highly competitive contest against former president Tommy Remengesau Jr. The legislative branch, the Olbiil Era Kelulau, operates transparently and maintains effective oversight of executive power, with political competition defined by individual merit and community coalitions rather than formal political parties. The judiciary remains thoroughly independent, ensuring objective arbitration of legal disputes and solidifying a secure system of public accountability. Civil liberties, freedom of speech, and the right to peaceful assembly are robustly protected under the constitution. While Palau faces long term fiscal dependencies, specialized administrative vulnerabilities, and ongoing legislative debates over the distribution of funding from the updated Compact of Free Association with the United States, these socio economic challenges are managed entirely through transparent, peaceful, and universally respected institutional mechanisms.
Last evaluation:
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Country background
A concise introduction to Palau, together with notes on how power and law are organized, to put local ballots in context.
Humans arrived in the Palauan archipelago from Southeast Asia around 1000 B.C. and developed a complex, highly organized matrilineal society where high-ranking women picked the chiefs. The islands were the westernmost part of the widely scattered Pacific islands north of New Guinea that Spanish explorers named the Caroline Islands in the 17th century. The 18th and 19th centuries saw occasional visits of whalers and traders as Spain gained some influence in the islands and administered it from the Philippines.
Spain sold Palau to Germany in 1899 after losing the Philippines in the Spanish-American War. Japan seized Palau in 1914, was granted a League of Nations mandate to administer the islands in 1920, and made Koror the capital of its South Seas Mandate in 1922. By the outbreak of World War II, there were four times as many Japanese living in Koror as Palauans.
In 1944, the US invasion of the island of Peleliu was one of the bloodiest island fights of the Pacific War. After the war, Palau became part of the US-administered Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Palau voted against joining the Federated States of Micronesia in 1978 and adopted its own constitution in 1981, which stated that Palau was a nuclear-free country.
In 1982, Palau signed a Compact of Free Association (COFA) with the US, which granted Palau financial assistance and access to many US domestic programs in exchange for exclusive US military access and defense responsibilities. However, many Palauans saw the COFA as incompatible with the Palauan Constitution because of the US military’s nuclear arsenal, and seven referenda failed to achieve ratification. Following a constitutional amendment and eighth referendum in 1993, the COFA was ratified and entered into force in 1994 when the islands gained their independence.
Its funding was renewed in 2010. Palau has been on the frontlines of combatting climate change and protecting marine resources. In 2011, Palau banned commercial shark fishing and created the world’s first shark sanctuary.
In 2017, Palau began stamping the Palau Pledge into passports, reminding visitors to act in ecologically and culturally responsible ways. In 2020, Palau banned coral reef-toxic sunscreens and expanded its fishing prohibition to include 80% of its exclusive economic zone.