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Palau

Political sketch

Also spelled Belau, or formerly Peliu. Independent from the United States on 10 October 1994.

Palau was visited by the Spanish navigator Ruy López de Villalobos in 1543. Spain claimed the islands in 1686 but did nothing to enforce its claim until 1885, when it expelled the British traders who had become the main foreign trading partners of the islanders. Germany bought the Palau group, the Caroline Islands, and the Mariana Islands from Spain on 12 February 1899, shortly after the Spanish-American War had given the United States control of the Philippines, Spain's major Pacific colony. With the help of compulsory labor for Palauans, copra production was increased, and phosphate deposits on Angaur were mined until exhausted in 1955. On 7 October 1914, during the First World War, Japanese forces occupied the important island of Koror, soon followed by other islands. On 17 December 1920, Palau became part of a League of Nations mandate administered by Japan. In 1922, Japan made Koror the administrative center for all Japanese possessions in the South Pacific, and many Japanese came to live there. In the late 1930s, the Japanese closed the islands to the rest of the world and, in violation of the League of Nations mandate, developed heavy fortifications on some islands. In July -September 1944, during the Second World War, U.S. forces overran Palau.

Palau became part of the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands under U.S. administration on 18 July 1947. The United States thought that Palau might become a single entity with the rest of Micronesia, but in 1978, Palauans voted in favor of a separate government. On 1 January 1981, Palau became self-governing, and on 10 October 1994, it became independent of the United States. The United States continues to provide considerable aid to Palau in exchange for maintaining military bases. The major source of employment is government service. Subsistence farming, the raising of pigs and poultry, and fishing are the mainstays of the economy in rural areas. The government is democratic.

Wars since 1500

First World War in the Pacific, 1914 (Germany against United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan); Second World War in the Pacific, 1942-1945 (Japan against United Kingdom, United States, China, Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands, and allies).

Convertibility

German colonies in the Pacific:

The First World War began in Europe on 1 August 1914. By November 1914, all German colonies in the Pacific had been captured by opposing forces. In the meantime, communications with Germany, including financial transactions, were blocked.

Japanese territories:

During the First World War, Japan forbade exports of silver starting on 6 September 1917. It forbade exports of gold from 12 September 1917 (five days after the United States prohibited exports of gold and silver) until Japan resumed the gold standard on 11 January 1930. The embargo by the United States closed Japan's major remaining outlet for buying and selling gold, since European countries had imposed gold embargos much earlier in the war. Exchange controls were again imposed by Japan, Capital Flight Prevention Act, 1 July 1932, and strengthened by Japan, Foreign Exchange Control Act of 1933, effective 1 May 1933.

[Material on the US dollar will be inserted here when the country table for the United States is ready.]

Other

Defaults on or restructurings of debt to the private sector (mainly from Purcell and Kaufman 1993 and Standard & Poor's 2004): None.

Banking crises (data since 1970s mainly from Caprio and Klingebiel 1999 and Frydl 1999): None.

Frankel and Rose (1996) list of currency crashes: Country not listed.

No exchange rate data in Reinhart and Rogoff (2003).

References

Primary sources:

--Laws and decrees:

German New Guinea. 1909-1914. Amtsblatt für das Schutzgebiet Deutsch-Neuguinea. Rabaul: Kaiserlichen Gouvernement in Rabaul. (Successor to Neu Guinea Compagnie gazette.)

Germany. Overseas gazette. 1890-1921. Deutsches Kolonialblatt. Issued by Kolonial-Abtheilung des Auswärtigen Amts (1890-1907); Reichs-Kolonialamt (1907-1919); Reichskolonialministerium (1919-1920); Kolonialzentralverwaltung, Reichsministerium für Wiederaufbau (1920-1921). Berlin: Ernst Siegfried Mittler und Sohn.

Germany. 1892-1910. Die deutsche Kolonialgesetzgebung. Sammlung der auf die deutschen Schutzgebiete bezüüglichen Gesetze, Verordnungen, Erlasse, und internationale Vereinbarungen mit Anmerkungen und Sachregister. Edited by various persons. Berlin: D. Reimer, later Ernst Siegfried Mittler und Sohn, later Alfred Zimmermann. (The first volume was published in 1898 but covers the period starting in 1892.)

Neu Guinea Compagnie. 1886-1897? Verordnungsblatt für das Schutzgebiet der Neu Guinea Compagnie. Berlin: Neu Guinea Compagnie. (Succeeded by German New Guinea gazette.)

United States. Gazette. 1936-present. Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration. Federal Register. Washington: Superintendent of Documents, United States Government Printing Office, distributor. More recent issues are also at <http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html>.

--Publications of monetary authorities:

Bank of Japan (Nihon Gink). Annual report. 1931-1940, 1949-present. Annual Report for the Year (Abridged) Presented to the General Meeting of Shareholders (1931-1940); Annual Report Submitted to the Diet ... [by the] Policy Board, the Bank of Japan (1949-1989); Annual Review (1990-present). Tokyo: Bank of Japan. (The Japanese version, Seisaku Iinkai,goes back to 1872 without gaps).

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (United States). Bulletin. 1915-present. Federal Reserve Bulletin.Washington: Government Printing Office.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (United States). Annual report. 1915-present. Annual Report for the Federal Reserve System Covering Operations for the Year... (1915-1965); Annual Report (1966-present). Washington: Government Printing Office.

Neu Guinea Compagnie. 1979. German New Guinea: The Annual Reports. Edited and translated by Peter Sack and Dymphna Clark. Canberra: Australian National University Press. (The name of this company was sometimes spelled with hyphens between the first two words or between all three words, and the last word was sometimes spelled as beginning with a K.)

--Web site of the current monetary authority (viewed January 2005):

<http://www.federalreserve.gov>

--Other publications or Web sites:

Japan. Gaimush. 1999. Nihon Teikoku inin tchi chiiki gysei nenp, 5 v. Tky-to: Kuresu Shuppan. (Reprint of 1920-1938 reports.)

Japan. South Seas Bureau. 1919-1938 Annual Report to the League of Nations on the Administration of the South Sea Islands under Japanese Mandate for the Year. Paris: Imprimerie Labor, 1919-1938.

Pacific Islands (Trust Territory). High Commissioner. Annual report. 1951/1952-1992? The High Commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands to the Secretary of the Interior, Annual Report (1951/1952-1965); Annual Report of the High Commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands to the Secretary of the Interior, Fiscal Year Ended ...(1966-1992?). Washington: Government Printing Office.

United Nations. Trusteeship Council. Visiting Mission to Trust Territories in the Pacific (name may vary) 1950-1990? (irregular). Report on the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, together with the Relevant Resolution of the Trusteeship Council (1950-1956); Report on the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. (later). New York: United Nations.

United States. Department of State. Report on the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. 1947/1948?-1986? Information on the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands Transmitted by the United States to the Secretary-General of the United Nations Pursuant to Article 88 of the Charter (1947/1948-1948/1949); Report on the Administration of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands for the Period ... : Transmitted by the United States to the United Nations Pursuant to Article 88 of the Charter of the United Nations (1949/1950-1951/1952); Annual Report on the Administration of the Territory of the Pacific Islands (1952/1953-1955/1956); Annual Report to the United Nations on the Administration of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (1956/1957-1963/1964); Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (1964/1965-1986?). Washington: Government Printing Office.

Main secondary sources:

Deeken, Matthias. 1913. Das Geldwesen der deutschen Kolonien. Münster in Westfalen, Germany: Druck der Westfälischen Vereinsdruckerei.

IMF ARER. 1950-present. International Monetary Fund. Annual Report on Exchange Restrictions (1950-1978), Annual Report on Exchange Arrangements and Exchange Restrictions (1979-1988), Exchange Arrangements and Exchange Restrictions: Annual Report (1989-present). Washington: International Monetary Fund. (Contains information on IMF member countries and some of their dependencies.)

United States. Office of Naval Operations. 1957-1963. United States Naval Administration of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, 3 v. By Dorothy E[lizabeth] Richard. Washington: Naval Historical Center.

Monetary authorities: Palau

Dates	Type	Name	Source	Remarks
20 September 1900 -October? 1914	private monopoly issue (as part of a currency union)	Neu Guinea Compagnie (headquarters Berlin, Germany)	New Guinea, German governor's decree, 20 September 1900, inDeutsche Kolonialgesetzgebung,v. 5: 147, cited in Deeken (1913: 16)	Germany bought Palau from Spain in 1899. Legislation of the German colony of New Guinea applied in Palau.
October? 1914 -31 January 1945	central bank (as part of a currency union)	Nippon Ginko [Bank of Japan], headquarters Tokyo, Japan	starting date inferred from general histories; no specific information on monetary history	Japanese forces took islands from Germany during First World War.
1 February 1945 -present (2005)	dollarization	US dollar (issued by central bank US Federal Reserve System, headquarters Washington, DC, United States)	United States, Military Governor of the Mariana Islands (Admiral Chester W. Nimitz), Proclamation No. 4, posted in Ulithi 7 October 1944; Proclamation No. 6, posted in Ulithi 15 January 1945, reprinted in United States Office of Naval Operations (1957, v. 1: 680-1); also United States Office of Naval Operations (1957, v. 1: 629, 645-6); United Nations Visiting Mission report 1951: 9	US forces took islands from Japan during Second World War. Initially, the paper money in circulation was U.S. notes overstamped "Hawaii." The first bank was the Bank of Hawaii (headquarters Honolulu, Hawaii), in Koror, Babelthuap, in 1961. The second bank was apparently the Bank of America (headquarters San Francisco, California), in Koror, Babelthuap, by 1984. Palau issued its first coins in 1992; they are aimed at collectors. Palau joined the IMF on 16 December 1997.

Exchange rate arrangements: Palau