Palau: Geography#
| Location | Oceania, group of islands in the North Pacific Ocean, southeast of the Philippines | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Geographic Coordinates | 7 30 N, 134 30 E 7.5,134.5 | ||
| Area | total: 459 sq km land: 459 sq km water: 0 sq km We are unable to verify those figures from Factbook, since the 6 main sources we used for checking give different figures as follows: Factbook: 459 DBpedia: 458 Geoname: 458 Infoplease: 458 Britannica: 488 Wolfram: 459 Attempted Explanation: Please help us to try to explain the discrepancies by sending us helpful information to office nospam@TUGraz.at @global-geography.org | ||
| Land boundaries | 0 km | ||
| Coastline | 1,519 km | ||
| Elevation Extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Ngerchelchuus 242 m | ||
| Highest Mountains | |||
| Terrain | varying geologically from the high, mountainous main island of Babelthuap to low, coral islands usually fringed by large barrier reefs | ||
| Natural Hazards | typhoons (June to December) | ||
| Natural Resource | forests, minerals (especially gold), marine products, deep-seabed minerals | ||
| Land Use | arable land: 2.17% permanent crops: 4.35% other: 93.48% (2011) | ||
| Climate | tropical; hot and humid; wet season May to November | ||
| Irrigated Land | NA | ||
| Renewable Water Resources | NA | ||
| Environment_CurrentIssues | inadequate facilities for disposal of solid waste; threats to the marine ecosystem from sand and coral dredging, illegal fishing practices, and overfishing | ||
| Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements | ||
| Large Cities | Geography-note | westernmost archipelago in the Caroline chain, consists of six island groups totaling more than 300 islands; includes World War II battleground of Beliliou (Peleliu) and world-famous rock islands |