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Palau

PW

Oceania

Palau is home to 3 documented ethnic groups in Oceania — led by Palauan (~73%), Filipino Palauan (~17%), Palau Other (~11%). This page blends their phenotype and demographic data into one weighted reference: skin tone, facial features, hair texture and build, drawn from published census and ancestry sources.

Demographic Composition

Composition weights are derived from self-identification in published census and demographic surveys. Each row links to the source ethnic-group atlas page.

Ethnic groupWeightSource
PalauanPalauan73.0%Palau 2020 Census; Palauan (~73%, ~13,000+ of ~17,800+ total). Micronesian-Melanesian admixed source population, Palauan language. Palau is one of the linguistically distinctive Pacific Island nations as Palauan is a separate Austronesian branch from broader Micronesian languages
Filipino PalauanFilipino Palauan16.5%Palau 2020 Census; Filipino-Palauan (~16.5%); substantial labor migration from the Philippines since the 1990s
Palau OtherPalau Other10.5%Palau 2020 Census residual; includes Chinese-Palauan, Bangladeshi-Palauan, Japanese-Palauan (the historic Japanese-Palauan community from the 1914-1945 Japanese mandate period), American-Palauan, plus other smaller groups

Palau Phenotype Profile

Palau has a Palauan-majority demographic structure (~73%) with substantial Filipino-Palauan (~16.5%) and other (~10.5%) communities.

A descriptive view, not a claim about individuals

This page shows a weighted aggregate of phenotype observations across the Palau population, based on demographic composition from published census and ancestry sources. Phenotypes within any country are far more varied than the aggregate suggests; this is a descriptive reference, not a deterministic claim about any individual. For source-level detail on individual ethnic groups, see the constituent atlas pages linked below.

Methodology Notes

Composition weights derived from Palau 2020 Census.

See full project methodology →

Primary Sources

  1. 1.Palau Office of Planning and Statistics. Census of Population and Housing 2020. Koror: OPS; 2021.
  2. 2.Hezel FX. Strangers in their Own Land: A Century of Colonial Rule in the Caroline and Marshall Islands. University of Hawaii Press; 1995.
  3. 3.Smith DR. Palauan Social Structure. Rutgers University Press; 1983.
  4. 4.Skoglund P, Posth C, Sirak K, et al. Genomic insights into the peopling of the Southwest Pacific. Nature. 2016;538(7626):510-513.
  5. 5.Shuster DR. Palau's Compact of Free Association: Sufficient Self-Determination? International Studies Notes. 1986;13(2):72-76.

Other countries in Oceania

Aggregate phenotype references for neighbouring Oceania nations, weighted by demographic composition.