---
title: "Palau — capital, area, population and currency"
description: "Palau: capital Ngerulmud, area 459 km², population 17,663 (2025), currency United States dollar. Languages, time zones and calling code."
url: https://atoneplace.net/country/palau/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Palau

**Palau: Capital Ngerulmud**

459 km² · 17,663 people (2025) · United States dollar

About 340 islands, most of them the Rock Islands — forested limestone mushrooms undercut at the waterline. Jellyfish Lake holds millions of golden jellyfish that have lost most of their sting after being cut off from the sea. In 2015 Palau closed eighty percent of its waters to commercial fishing, one of the largest marine sanctuaries in the world.

## The facts

- **Capital:** Ngerulmud
- **Largest city:** Koror
- **Area:** 459 km² — 177 sq mi
- **Population:** 17,663 (2025)
- **Density:** 38.5 people per km²
- **Currency:** United States dollar (USD, $)
- **Official languages:** English, Palauan
- **Time zone:** UTC+09:00
- **Calling code:** +680
- **Drives on the:** right
- **ISO codes:** PW · PLW
- **Continent:** Oceania

## How it compares

- **By area:** 185 of 200
- **By population:** 197 of 200

> Population is the only figure on this page that dates — it is a 2025 estimate and will drift. Area, capital, currency, languages, calling code and driving side change rarely or never.

## Countries of a similar size

| Country | Area (km²) | Population |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Saint Lucia | 616 | 180,149 |
| Andorra | 468 | 82,904 |
| Palau ← | 459 | 17,663 |
| Seychelles | 455 | 122,730 |
| Antigua and Barbuda | 443 | 94,209 |

## Common questions

### What is the capital of Palau?

Ngerulmud

### What currency does Palau use?

The United States dollar (USD).

### How big is Palau?

459 km², or 177 square miles — 185 of 200 by area.

### Which side of the road does Palau drive on?

The right.

## Related pages

- [Saint Lucia](https://atoneplace.net/country/saint-lucia/)
- [Andorra](https://atoneplace.net/country/andorra/)
- [Seychelles](https://atoneplace.net/country/seychelles/)
- [Antigua and Barbuda](https://atoneplace.net/country/antigua-and-barbuda/)
- [Australia](https://atoneplace.net/country/australia/)
- [Papua New Guinea](https://atoneplace.net/country/papua-new-guinea/)
- [New Zealand](https://atoneplace.net/country/new-zealand/)
- [Fiji](https://atoneplace.net/country/fiji/)
- [Solomon Islands](https://atoneplace.net/country/solomon-islands/)
- [Vanuatu](https://atoneplace.net/country/vanuatu/)
- [Samoa](https://atoneplace.net/country/samoa/)
- [Kiribati](https://atoneplace.net/country/kiribati/)

## Sources

- The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/) [Public domain (US Government)]
- World Bank Open Data — The World Bank (https://data.worldbank.org/) [CC BY 4.0]