Ngerulmud

Ngerulmud () is the seat of government of the Republic of Palau, an island nation in the Pacific Ocean. It replaced Koror City as a capital in October 2006. The settlement is located in the state of Melekeok on Babeldaob, the country's largest island, located northeast of Koror City and northwest of Melekeok City. With no permanent fixed population, it is the least-populous capital city of a sovereign nation in the world.

AI overview

Ngerulmud is the capital and government seat of Palau, an island nation in the Pacific, having replaced the former capital of Koror City in 2006. It is notable for being the world's least-populous capital of a sovereign nation, as it has no permanent fixed population.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

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Place details

Locality: Ngerulmud
Region: Melekeok
Country: Belau
Timezone: Pacific/Palau

via OpenStreetMap · GeoNames

Key facts

Settlement.official_name: Ngerulmud
Settlement.settlement_type: Capital
Settlement.image_skyline: Capitol, Melekeok, Palau.jpg
Settlement.image_caption: Capitol of Palau
Settlement.image_map: State of Melekeok.png
Settlement.map_caption: Location within Melekeok State
Settlement.pushpin_map: Palau#Oceania
Settlement.pushpin_label: Ngerulmud
Settlement.pushpin_map_caption: Location in Palau
Settlement.pushpin_relief: yes
Settlement.subdivision_type: Country
Settlement.subdivision_type1: State
Settlement.area_land_km2: 0.45
Settlement.area_land_sq_mi: 0.17
Settlement.population_as_of: 2024
Settlement.population_total: 0 Melekeok State: 318 (2020 census)
Settlement.population_density_km2: auto
Settlement.timezone: PWT

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Official name: Ngerulmud
Population: 0

Show 5 more facts

inception: 2006-00-00
native label: Ngerulmud
Commons category: Ngerulmud
postal code: 96939
P8168: periodontal disease

Sources (4)

via Wikidata · CC0

Travel guide

Understand

Babeldaob is one of the most underdeveloped populated islands in the Pacific Ocean. The village of Ngerulmud on the island has served as Palau's capital city since 2006, despite there being only about 320 people (2020) in the state. It is the smallest national capital in the world by population.

The island has fresh water in Lakes Ngardok and other watersheds which provide the country with drinking water. Ngardok Nature Reserve was established to protect the water quality.

Unlike most of the islands of Palau, Babeldaob is mountainous. It contains Palau's highest point, the 242-m-tall (794 ft) Mount Ngerchelchuus. Babeldaob's eastern coast has many sandy beaches, in particular north from Melekeok to Ngaraard, and the island's western coast has a shoreline with many mangrove forests.

Get in

From Koror you can cross over the Koror-Babeldaob (or Japan-Palau Friendship) bridge by car, bus or taxi.

Get around

Driving is the best option for getting around this sparsely populated area. The roads here tend to be in very good condition and the traffic very light.

Travel guide from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA 4.0)

~4 min read

Article

8 sections

Contents

Etymology
History
Geography
Climate
Population
See also
References
External links

==Etymology== Ngerulmud is derived from a Palauan phrase meaning "place of fermented angelfish", referring to the hill overlooking the ocean that dominates the site. The last syllable, mud, is the Palauan word for Centropyge tibicen, also known as the keyhole angelfish. In the past, under a local tradition, women gathered on the hill to offer fermented angelfish to the gods.