This article is about the demographic features of the population of Palau, including

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. About 70% of the

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 ...

an population lives in the city of Koror on

Koror Island 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 ...

. Koror is the former capital and the present capital is

Ngerulmud Ngerulmud () is the seat of government of the Republic of Palau, an island nation in the Pacific Ocean. It replaced Koror City, Palau's largest city, as the capital in 2006. The settlement is located in the state of Melekeok on Babeldaob, the ...

, in

Melekeok State Melekeok is a state of the Republic of Palau located on the central east coast of Babeldaob Island. The seat of government of the country, Ngerulmud, is located in the state. The state consists of long beaches, hills, steep ridges, rivers, and t ...

on the bigger but less developed island of

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, i ...

—the second-largest island in

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: the Philippines to the west, Polynesia to the east, and ...

after

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

Vital statistics

Births and deaths

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook (2020 est), unless otherwise indicated.

Population

*21,685 (July 2020 est.)

Age structure

*0–14 years: 18.68% (male 2,090 /female 1,961) *15–24 years: 15.86% (male 1,723 /female 1,716) *25–54 years: 45.33% (male 6,026 /female 3,804) *55–64 years: 10.68% (male 853 /female 1,463) *65 years and over: 9.45% (male 501 /female 1,548) (2020 est.)

Population growth rate

*0.39% (2020 est.)

Birth rate

*11.3 births/1,000 population (2020 est.)

Death rate

*8.3 deaths/1,000 population (2020 est.)

Net migration rate

*0.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2020 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female *0–14 years: 1.07 male(s)/female *15–24 years: 1 male(s)/female *25–54 years: 1.58 male(s)/female *55–64 years: 0.58 male(s)/female *65 years and over: 0.32 male(s)/female *Total population: 1.07 male(s)/female (2020 est.)

Infant mortality rate

*Total: 9.8 deaths/1,000 live births *Male: 11.2 deaths/1,000 live births *Female: 8.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2020 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

*Total population: 74.1 years *Male: 70.9 years *Female: 77.5 years (2020 est.)

Total fertility rate

*1.7 children born/woman (2020 est.)

Nationality

* Palauans (noun) * Palauan (adjective)

Ethnic groups

*Palauan ( Micronesian with Malayan and

Melanesian Melanesian is the adjectival form of Melanesia. It may refer to: * Melanesians * Melanesian mythology * Melanesian languages In linguistics, Melanesian is an obsolete term referring to the Austronesian languages of Melanesia: that is, the Oceani ...

admixtures) 73% * Carolinian 2% *

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

21.7% *

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

1.2%, *Other 2.1% (2020 est.)

Religions

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

45.3% *

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

34.9% (includes Protestant (general) 26.4%) *

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...

6.9%, *Other Protestant 1.6% *

Modekngei Modekngei, or ''Ngara Modekngei'' (United Sect), is a monotheistic religious movement founded around 1915 by "Tamadad," a native of the island of Babeldaob, that spread throughout Palau. It rose to political significance between the First and Se ...

5.7% (indigenous to Palau) * Islam (

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

) 3% *

Mormonism Mormonism is the religious tradition and theology of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s. As a label, Mormonism has been applied to various aspects of ...

1.5% *Other 9.7% (2015 est.)

Languages

* Palauan (official on most islands) 65.2% *Other Micronesian 1.9% *

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 ...

(official) 19.1% *

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

9.9% *

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

1.2% *Other 2.8% (2015 est.)

Literacy

Definition: age 15 and over can read and write *Total population: 96.6% *Male: 96.8% *Female: 96.3% (2015 est.)

References

{{Oceania topic, Demographics of Society of Palau pt:Palau#Demografia