Peleliu (or Beliliou) is an island in the island nation of
Palau
Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...
. Peleliu, along with two small islands to its northeast, forms one of the sixteen states of Palau. The island is notable as the location of the
Battle of Peleliu
The Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II by the US military, was fought between the United States and Japan during the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign of World War II, from September 15 to November 27, 1944, on the island of ...
in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
History
Beliliou was traditionally divided into five villages. Teliu is located on the southwest coast bordered on the north by Ngerkeiukl on the west coast, Ngesias in the central portion of the island, and Ngerdelolk on the east coast. Ngerchol occupies the northern part of the island on the west side of Bloody Nose Ridge. Most of the surface remains of the traditional villages have been obliterated. However, the locations of the villages and the locations of features within the villages, including odesongel, are known and preserved in the oral tradition. These traditional features are important symbols giving identity to families, clans and regions.
The lagoon and adjacent rock islands are important resource areas, and probably were intensively exploited prehistorically. Important resources include many different species of trees and other plants and many different species of fish and shellfish. On the islands, traditional gardens would have been located in areas where sufficient soil had accumulated in low lying pockets and marshes.
First sighting of Peleliu,
Babeldaob
Babeldaob (also Babelthuap) is the largest island in the island nation of the Republic of Palau. It is in the western Caroline Islands, and the second largest island (after Guam) in the Micronesia region of Oceania. Palau's capital, Ngerulmud, is ...
, and
Koror
Koror is the state comprising the main commercial centre of the Republic of Palau. It consists of several islands, the most prominent being Koror Island (also ''Oreor Island''). It is Palau’s most populous state.
History
In the oral tradition ...
recorded by Westerners was by the
Spanish expedition of
Ruy López de Villalobos
Ruy López de Villalobos (; ca. 1500 – April 4, 1546) was a Spanish explorer who sailed the Pacific from Mexico to establish a permanent foothold for Spain in the East Indies, which was near the Line of Demarcation between Spain and Portugal a ...
at the end of January 1543. They were then charted as ''Los Arrecifes'' ("The Reefs" in Spanish). In November and December 1710 these three islands were again visited and explored by the
Spanish missionary expedition commanded by
Sargento Mayor Francisco Padilla on board of the
patache
A patache (occasionally "patax" or "''pataje''") is a type of sailing vessel with two masts, very light and shallow, a sort of cross between a brig and a schooner, which originally was a warship, being intended for surveillance and inspection of ...
''Santísima Trinidad''. Two years later they were explored in detail by the expedition of Spanish naval officer
Bernardo de Egoy.
Following its defeat in the
Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence
, image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg
, image_size = 300px
, caption = (clock ...
, Spain sold Palau (including Peleliu) to
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
in 1899. Control passed to
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
in 1914.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the
Battle of Peleliu
The Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II by the US military, was fought between the United States and Japan during the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign of World War II, from September 15 to November 27, 1944, on the island of ...
was a major battle between units of the
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
and
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
against the
Imperial Japanese Army
The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
in 1944. The battle for the island was particularly brutal because by this time the Japanese military had evolved island defense tactics with strong fortifications in the island's caves and rock formations within the
Umurbrogol Mountains (Bloody Nose Ridge), which enabled a
defense in depth
Defence in depth (also known as deep defence or elastic defence) is a military strategy that seeks to delay rather than prevent the advance of an attacker, buying time and causing additional casualties by yielding space. Rather than defeating ...
which maximized casualties on the attacking force. On both sides involved in the fighting there were high losses with more than 2,000 Americans and 10,000 Japanese killed, but, remarkably, there were no casualties among the local civilians because they were evacuated from the fighting to other islands of Palau.
The ruins of many of the military installations of the era, such as the airstrip, are still intact, and shipwrecks from the battle remain visible underwater just off the coast. There are war memorials on the island to both the American and the Japanese dead. Peleliu and Angaur were the only islands in the Palau archipelago to be occupied by the Americans during the war. The capital of Koror remained in Japanese hands to the end of the war.
Peleliu was formally placed under the control of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
under
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
auspices in 1947 as part of the
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from 1947 to 1994.
History
Spain initially claimed the islands that later composed the territory of the Trus ...
. Palau became independent in 1978, and Peleliu was organized as a state within the new republic. In August 2014, Peleliu hosted the "leader's retreat" at the
45th Pacific Islands Forum
The 45th Pacific Islands Forum was held from 29 July to 1 August 2014 in Palau. The forum's official opening was held in the capital Ngerulmud, in Melekeok State, but the majority of events were held in Koror, Palau's largest city and former cap ...
, featuring representatives from the forum's 15 member states.
Geography
![Muzeum peleliu](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Muzeum_peleliu.JPG)
Peleliu is approximately northeast of the island of
Angaur
, or in Palauan, is an island and state in the island nation of Palau.
History
Angaur was traditionally divided among some eight clans. Traditional features within clan areas represent important symbols giving identity to families, clans an ...
and southwest of the island of
Koror
Koror is the state comprising the main commercial centre of the Republic of Palau. It consists of several islands, the most prominent being Koror Island (also ''Oreor Island''). It is Palau’s most populous state.
History
In the oral tradition ...
. The state of Beliliou includes the islands of Beliliou, Ngedbus, Olngeuaol,
Ngercheu
Ngercheu, or Carp Island, is an island located within the nation of Palau, specifically within the state of Peleliu
Peleliu (or Beliliou) is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu, along with two small islands to its northeast, form ...
, Belualasmau, Ruruid, Ngebad, Ngurungor, Ngesuall, and several islets. The total area for the state is approximately . Beliliou Island, like
Angaur
, or in Palauan, is an island and state in the island nation of Palau.
History
Angaur was traditionally divided among some eight clans. Traditional features within clan areas represent important symbols giving identity to families, clans an ...
, is a raised platform coralline island with an area of . Located at the southern tip of the lagoon which encircles the main group of islands, Beliliou is surrounded by a thick fringe of mangrove forest comprising more than a quarter of its total area. On the island's west side is a steep spine named Bloody Nose Ridge during the Battle for Peleliu in World War II - rising to an elevation of . A second raised area, Rois ra Sang and Roischemiangel, rises to elevations of just over 50 m at the northern tip of the island. The rest of the island generally lies below in elevation. Along this ridge, jagged spires of coralline limestone jut skyward in a tangled maze.
Much of Beliliou is covered by a limestone island forest with stands of
Casuarina
''Casuarina'' is a genus of 17 tree species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and eastern Africa. It was once treated as the sole genus in the fami ...
forest along sandy beach
berm
A berm is a level space, shelf, or raised barrier (usually made of compacted soil) separating areas in a vertical way, especially partway up a long slope. It can serve as a terrace road, track, path, a fortification line, a border/ separation ...
s. With the exception of Ngercheu, the rest of the islands in the state are low, flat islands with large areas of sandy deposits covered by coconut or Casuarina forests. Ngercheu, located in the northern part of the state, has a typical rock island profile with steep cliffs of uplifted reef covered by a rock island forest.
The geography of Beliliou has been dramatically reshaped by the events of World War II. In preparation for the anticipated American invasion, the Japanese defenders transformed Beliliou into a defensive fortress. The build up, which was underway by 1943, began with the evacuation of Palauans from Beliliou to
Babeldaob
Babeldaob (also Babelthuap) is the largest island in the island nation of the Republic of Palau. It is in the western Caroline Islands, and the second largest island (after Guam) in the Micronesia region of Oceania. Palau's capital, Ngerulmud, is ...
. As many as 10,000 Japanese defenders dug into the natural caves and fissures of the coralline limestone formations, reinforcing these positions with concrete bunkers. So well established were the Japanese defenders that they withstood a massive naval bombardment and met the American invasion force at nearly full strength on September 5, 1944. The Battle of Peleliu, which proved in hindsight to be a costly miscalculation by the Americans, dragged on for weeks of bitter fighting at a terrible cost of lives.
Most of the land use in Beliliou today is for private gardens located in and around residential areas. There are no commercial enterprises active today, and municipal use is limited to a few small facilities. A large coconut plantation is on Ngedbus Island.
Demography
The population of the state was 484 in the 2015 census and median age was 34.5 years. The official languages of the state are
Palauan and
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
.
, its population was about 571, making it the third most populous state of Palau. Most of the island's population lives in the village of
Kloulklubed
Kloulklubed, also spelled Klouklubed, is the main settlement on the Palau island of Peleliu.
It is situated at the northern end of the island, located near Imelchol Village and Koska. The village was a centre of Japanese operations during World W ...
which is the state
capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
on the northwestern coast. Including the capital, there are a total of four villages:
*
Kloulklubed
Kloulklubed, also spelled Klouklubed, is the main settlement on the Palau island of Peleliu.
It is situated at the northern end of the island, located near Imelchol Village and Koska. The village was a centre of Japanese operations during World W ...
(northwest)
*
Imelechol (northeast)
*
Lademisang (southernmost, in the central part of the island)
*
Ongeuidel (northernmost)
Today, the major concentration of people live in Kloulklubed near the northern tip of the island.
Islands of the state
The state consists of the following islands:
Phosphate
As at Angaur, phosphate mining in the Bloody Nose Ridge area of Beliliou began during the German administration and continued into the Japanese administration. The phosphate was loaded onto ships at a small harbor facility located at the northern tip of the island.
Environment
Important Bird Areas
The island has been designated an
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
(IBA) by
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...
because it supports populations of most of Palau's endemic birds, including
Micronesian megapode
The Micronesian megapode or Micronesian scrubfowl (''Megapodius laperouse'') is an endangered megapode which inhabits islands of the Western Pacific Ocean.
Description
The Micronesian megapode is a stocky medium-sized bird that is mostly dark b ...
s,
Palau ground doves,
Micronesian imperial pigeons,
Palau fruit doves,
swiftlet
Swiftlets are birds contained within the four genera ''Aerodramus'', ''Hydrochous'', ''Schoutedenapus'' and ''Collocalia''. They form the Collocaliini tribe within the swift family Apodidae. The group contains around thirty species mostly confine ...
s,
owl
Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...
s and
kingfisher
Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...
s,
Micronesian myzomela
The Micronesian myzomela (''Myzomela rubratra'') is a species of bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. The species forms a superspecies with a number of related and similar looking island and mainland myzomelas across the Pacific and Austra ...
s,
morningbird
The morningbird (''Pachycephala tenebrosa'') is a songbird species in the family (biology), family Pachycephalidae.
Taxonomy and systematics
The morningbird was previously placed in the genus ''Colluricincla'' until 2013, when it was transferred ...
s,
Palau fantails,
flycatchers and
bush warbler
Bush-warblers (or bush warblers) are small insectivorous songbirds of the genera ''Cettia'', ''Horornis'', and ''Bradypterus''. They were formerly placed in the "wastebin" Old World warbler family. None of the genera as traditionally delimited a ...
s,
giant
In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...
,
dusky
Dusky is an English electronic music duo from London consisting of Alfie Granger-Howell and Nick Harriman. and
citrine white-eyes, and
Micronesian starling
The Micronesian starling (''Aplonis opaca'') is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae. It is found in Micronesia, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Palau. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest and subtropical or tro ...
s.
The sandflats, mangroves, seagrass beds and islets just off the northern end of Peleliu provide feeding and roosting habitat for various
wader
245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots
Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...
species, as well as being home to megapodes. The site is an IBA for the megapodes,
Far Eastern curlew
The Far Eastern curlew (''Numenius madagascariensis'') is a large shorebird most similar in appearance to the long-billed curlew, but slightly larger. It is mostly brown in color, differentiated from other curlews by its plain, unpatterned brown ...
s,
ruddy turnstone
The ruddy turnstone (''Arenaria interpres'') is a small cosmopolitan wading bird, one of two species of turnstone in the genus ''Arenaria''.
It is now classified in the sandpiper family Scolopacidae but was formerly sometimes placed in the plov ...
s,
great knot
__NOTOC__
The great knot (''Calidris tenuirostris'') is a small wader. It is the largest of the calidrid species. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''kalidris'' or ''skalidris'', a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside bird ...
s,
red-necked stint
The red-necked stint (''Calidris ruficollis'') is a small migratory wader. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''kalidris'' or ''skalidris'', a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific ''ruficollis'' is from ...
s and
grey-tailed tattler
The grey-tailed tattler (''Tringa brevipes'', formerly ''Heteroscelus brevipes''Banks, Richard C.; Cicero, Carla; Dunn, Jon L.; Kratter, Andrew W.; Rasmussen, Pamela C.; Remsen, J. V. Jr.; Rising, James D. & Stotz, Douglas F. (2006):Forty-seventh ...
s.
Political system
The state of Peleliu, with population of less than 500, has an elected chief executive, governor. The state also has a legislature elected every three years. The state population elects one of the members of the
House of Delegates of Palau
The House of Delegates of Palau is the lower house of the Palau National Congress (''Olbiil era Kelulau''), Palau's bicameral legislature. The Senate of Palau is the upper house. The House of Delegates has 16 members, each serving four-year terms ...
. Obak is the title of the traditional high chief from the state.
Transport
Peleliu Airfield
Peleliu Airfield is a small airfield on Peleliu, one of the islands of Palau. It also served as an airfield during World War II.
History
Peleliu Airfield was built by the Japanese in 1944 with a pair of intersecting runways. During the Battle of ...
, created by the Japanese in World War II, has the longest and widest runway in Palau (), but has been used only by small chartered aircraft after Palau's domestic flights were discontinued in late 2005. A regular boat service connects the island twice a week to Koror and Angaur. Travel time by boat from Koror is over an hour. The small harbor in the far north of the island is shallow and suitable only for yachts with shallow draft.
The main road lies on the west side of Bloody Nose Ridge and extends from
Kloulklubed
Kloulklubed, also spelled Klouklubed, is the main settlement on the Palau island of Peleliu.
It is situated at the northern end of the island, located near Imelchol Village and Koska. The village was a centre of Japanese operations during World W ...
to the landing strip. Secondary roads extend to all parts of the island. The landing strip was built during the Japanese era and originally consisted of a 6600-foot runway oriented SW to NE with a smaller perpendicular runway intersecting the main run way about 2200 feet from the SW. Additional taxiways connected the runways to airport facilities located to the north of the runways. The landing strips are unimproved, but still serve for the daily flight from the Airai airport by a single engine plane. A third landing strip was built on Ngedbus Island, just north of Beliliou, during the Japanese administration. It was abandoned after the Battle of Peleliu and today is overgrown with a coconut plantation.
Peleliu Battlefield
The entire island has been listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
as the Peleliu Battlefield, and has been designated a U.S.
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
.
Education
The
Ministry of Education
An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
operates public schools.
Peleliu Elementary School opened in 1946, and had its second building open in 1966, with the first still in use.
[Peleliu Elementary School]
." Ministry of Education (Palau). Retrieved on February 22, 2018.
Palau High School
Palau High School (PHS) is a senior high school in Koror City, Palau. Opened in 1962, it is the country's only public high school, and the first high school established in Palau. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accredits the ...
in
Koror
Koror is the state comprising the main commercial centre of the Republic of Palau. It consists of several islands, the most prominent being Koror Island (also ''Oreor Island''). It is Palau’s most populous state.
History
In the oral tradition ...
is the country's only public high school, so children from this community go there.
[About]
." Palau High School
Palau High School (PHS) is a senior high school in Koror City, Palau. Opened in 1962, it is the country's only public high school, and the first high school established in Palau. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accredits the ...
. Retrieved on February 22, 2018.
References
External links
Map of PeleliuBloody PeleliuPhotos of WW2-era relics and equipment on PeleliuHonorary Consulate of the Republic of Palau to the UK &NI
{{Authority control
National Register of Historic Places in Palau
National Historic Landmarks of the United States by insular area
States of Palau
Islands of Palau
World War II on the National Register of Historic Places
Important Bird Areas of Palau
Important Bird Areas of the Caroline Islands