Republic of Palau Hauro Willter
Freely Associated States CIP Coordinator Office of Insular Affairs
Department of the Interior
Post Office Box 6031
Koror, Palau 96946
011 (680) 488-2649 Fax
EST + 14 hours
DST + 13 hours History
Western contact with Palau first took place in l783 when the vessel of explorer, Captain Henry Wilson of England, was shipwrecked near the islands. The British dominated trade with Palau until 1885; however, Spain claimed control of Palau until 1899. In l899, Spain sold Palau, along with the rest of the Caroline and Northern Mariana Islands, to Germany following its defeat in the Spanish-American War. During the German administration of the island from 1899 to 1914, Germany increased Palau's economic potential by introducing coconut planting and phosphate mining. The Germans also introduced widespread sanitary measures to combat epidemics of influenza and dysentery. Those two diseases caused the population of Palau to fall from 40,000 to 4,000 in approximately 120 years. Japanese forces occupied Palau in 1914. The League of Nations recognized the Emperor of Japan as the mandatory power in a mandated territory which included the Northern Mariana Islands, the Marshall Islands, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae as well as Palau. The Japanese increased efforts in mining, agriculture, and commercial fishing. Palau became a closed military area in 1938. Fighting during World War II took place throughout Palau, principally in Peleliu, Angaur, and Koror. | |
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