Palau

An archipelago of more than 300 islands in the western Pacific Ocean, the country has an area of 188 square miles and a population of 20,000. An estimated 70 percent live in Koror State. Approximately 65 percent of the population is Roman Catholic. Estimates of other religious groups with a sizable membership include the Evangelical Church, 2,000; Seventh-day Adventists, 1,000; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), 300; and Jehovah's Witnesses, 90. Modekngei, which embraces both animist and Christian beliefs and is unique to the country, has approximately 1,800 adherents. There is a primarily Catholic Filipino expatriate community of 6,800, as well as a small group of Bangladeshi Muslims.
Since the arrival of Jesuit priests in the early nineteenth century, foreign missionaries have been active; some have been in the country for many years. The Seventh-day Adventists and the Evangelical Church have missionaries teaching in their respective elementary and high schools.