Palau has several traditional chiefs of its 16 states. A factor that resulted in the decline of chiefly authority in Palau was the introduction of elected governors, called upon in the Constitution of Palau which came into effect on 1 January 1981.

List of current chiefs

Ibedul

Ibedul is a title given to the

high chief A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribe The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia. Tribal societies are sometimes categorized a ...

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 ...

, in Palau, who is also the head of the Idid clan. Koror is the most populated state with approximately 64% of Palauans living there as of 2020 and so historically bearers of the title were erroneously referred to as "Kings of Pelew" despite them not having authority over all of modern-day Palau.

List of known ibeduls

Abba Thulle Abba Thulle was the ibedul, of Koror whom the sailor Henry Wilson and his crew met on their voyage to Palau in 1783. His second son Prince Lee Boo became one of the first people from the Pacific Islands to visit Great Britain, but died six mon ...

, , , , - , Ilengelekei
1871
–
1911
''()'' , Ibedul Ilengelekei

, , , 1911 , - , Louch
1911
–
1917
''()'' , Ibedul Louch

, , , 1917 , - , Tem
1917
–
1943
''()'' , , , , 1943 , - , Mariur
1943
–
1958
''()'' , , , , 1958 , - , Ngoriakl
1958
–
1972
''()'' , , , , 1972 , - , Yutaka Gibbons
1973
–

() , Ibedul Yutaka Gibbons in 2013

, , ,
Aged 77 , - , Alexander Merep

–
present
''()'' , , , , ''Living''

References

{{Palau topics