Koror City (, ;''Koror'', World Book Advanced'',''

World Book The ''World Book Encyclopedia'' is an American encyclopedia. The encyclopedia is designed to cover major areas of knowledge uniformly, but it shows particular strength in scientific, technical, historical and medical subjects. ''World Book'' w ...

, Chicago) is the largest city and the commercial center in

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 ...

, home to about half of the country's population, located on Oreor Island. During the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relative ...

it served as the capital of the

South Seas Mandate The South Seas Mandate, officially the Mandate for the German Possessions in the Pacific Ocean Lying North of the Equator, was a League of Nations mandate in the " South Seas" given to the Empire of Japan by the League of Nations following W ...

, a group of islands that made up the

League of Nations mandate A League of Nations mandate was a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I, or the legal instruments that contained the internationally agreed-upon terms for administ ...

d territory held by the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent form ...

. It was subsequently the capital of Palau until it was replaced by

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 2006.

History

Koror was the administrative center of the Japanese South Sea Mandate, and thousands of Japanese lived in the city. File:Koror in the Japanese Period.JPG File:Koror in the Japanese Period3.JPG File:Koror in the Japanese Period4.JPG File:Koror in the Japanese Period2.JPG Parts of the city were destroyed by American aerial bombardment 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, and after the United States occupied the city they burnt or tore down the remainder of the city, leaving only a few buildings for the occupation forces.

Geography

In 1993, Koror was home to more than 7,000 people, but in the recent past the number was at times even greater as large numbers of people from other areas would stay in Koror to conduct business. The town is composed of ten hamlets where traditional roots are strong. Koror sprawls across the western end of Oreor Island along a low ridge. This is the volcanic island half of Oreor; the rock island half is, like most of the rock islands, uninhabited.

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 a part of the Koror Metropolitan Area.

Climate

Koror has a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southe ...

( Köppen ''Af'') with hot, humid weather conditions throughout the year.

Economy

Koror is the main tourist destination in Palau and has many resorts, nightclubs, restaurants, and hotels. The government is also a large employer in the city. Tuna export and copra production are two other economic activities of the city.

Places of interest

Belau National Museum The Belau National Museum (BNM), previously Palau Museum, is a museum in Koror, Palau. It is the oldest continuously run museum in Micronesia. History The museum was established in 1955. It is the oldest continually running museum in Micronesia; i ...

* Etpison Museum * Palau High School * Palau National Stadium * Palau Public Library

Twin towns and sister cities

Koror City is twinned with: *

Angeles City , anthem = Himno ning Angeles (Angeles Hymn) , subdivision_type3 = District , subdivision_name3 = , established_title = Settled , established_date = 1796 , established_title1 = Chartere ...

, Philippines *

Davao City Davao City, officially the City of Davao ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Dabaw; ), is a first class highly urbanized city in the Davao Region, Philippines. The city has a total land area of , making it the largest city in the Philippines in terms of land ...

, Philippines * Gilroy, United States *

Manado Manado () is the capital city of the Indonesian province of North Sulawesi. It is the second largest city in Sulawesi after Makassar, with the 2020 Census giving a population of 451,916 distributed over a land area of 162.53 km2.Badan Pusa ...

, Indonesia

References

{{Authority control Palau Populated places in Palau 1866 establishments in Oceania Populated places established in 1866