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Palau
Also Known As Palauan
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Palau, an archipelago of some 340 islands at the western edge of Micronesia, carries a more religiously mixed profile than most of its Pacific neighbors. Roman Catholicism, brought by Spanish and later German and Japanese colonial administrations, holds a plurality at roughly 47 per cent of the 2020 census, a third of those adherents foreign-born Filipino workers rather than ethnic Palauans. Evangelical Protestant churches account for about a quarter of the population, and Seventh-day Adventists a further twentieth, but the distinctive feature of Palauan religion is Modekngei, an indigenous movement founded in the early twentieth century under Japanese rule that fuses traditional Palauan animism and ancestor veneration with Christian elements, still practiced by roughly one in twenty Palauans and recognized by the government alongside the imported faiths. A small Bangladeshi-majority Muslim community, also about one in twenty residents, rounds out the picture. The constitution protects freedom of religion and bars the government from compelling, prohibiting or hindering religious practice, though public schools may not teach religious instruction; foreign missionaries need an ordinary immigration permit rather than any religion-specific approval to work in the country. Formerly part of the US-administered Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, Palau became fully independent on 1 October 1994 under a Compact of Free Association with the United States, the last of the trust territory's successor states to do so.
Facts
Government
Government Typepresidential republic in free association with the United States 2 Sovereignty StatusSovereign UN member state 2 Established Year Law and State
Establishment Status State Funding MechanismThe government earmarks funds for nonreligious purposes to recognized private schools operated by Modekngei, Catholic, evangelical and Seventh-day Adventist groups, the same secular-purpose basis on which any recognized private school qualifies. 3 Demographics
Religious CompositionAbout 47 per cent Roman Catholic, roughly 25 per cent evangelical Christian, 5 per cent Seventh-day Adventist, 5 per cent Modekngei (an indigenous movement blending animist and Christian belief), and about 5 per cent Muslim, mostly Bangladeshi nationals (Pew Research Center, Religious Composition of the World, 2010-2020). 1 Status
Legal StatusThe constitution provides for freedom of religion and prohibits the government from taking any action to compel, prohibit or hinder religious practice. Public schools may not provide religious instruction. Foreign missionaries operate under an ordinary immigration permit rather than any religion-specific licensing requirement. 3 Location
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Religion and History in Palau
This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.
Palau, an archipelago of some 340 islands at the western edge of Micronesia, carries a more religiously mixed profile than most of its Pacific neighbors. Roman Catholicism, brought by Spanish and later German and Japanese colonial administrations, holds a plurality at roughly 47 per cent of the 2020 census, a third of those adherents foreign-born Filipino workers rather than ethnic Palauans. Evangelical Protestant churches account for about a quarter of the population, and Seventh-day Adventists a further twentieth.
The distinctive feature of Palauan religion is Modekngei, an indigenous movement founded in the early twentieth century under Japanese rule that fuses traditional Palauan animism and ancestor veneration with Christian elements, still practiced by roughly one in twenty Palauans and recognized by the government alongside the imported faiths. A small Bangladeshi-majority Muslim community, also about one in twenty residents, rounds out the picture. Palau was the last of the US Trust Territory's successor states to gain full independence, on 1 October 1994.
Freedom of Religion and an Indigenous Recognized Faith in Palau
This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.
The constitution provides for freedom of religion and bars the government from compelling, prohibiting or hindering religious practice, though public schools may not teach religious instruction; foreign missionaries need only an ordinary immigration permit rather than any religion-specific approval to work in the country. The government earmarks funds for nonreligious purposes to recognized private schools operated by Modekngei, Catholic, evangelical and Seventh-day Adventist groups, the same secular-purpose basis on which any recognized private school qualifies, regardless of whether it is run by an imported faith or by Palau's own indigenous religious movement.
That even-handed treatment of Modekngei alongside the Christian denominations is itself notable: few Pacific states extend the same legal and funding standing to a home-grown syncretic movement that they extend to churches with foreign missionary origins, and Palau's constitution draws no such distinction.
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