shing and
agriculture
Agriculture:
subsistence-level production of coconut, copra, cassava, sweet
potatoes
Economic aid:
recipient:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $2.56 billion; Western
(non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $92
million
Currency:
1 United States dollar (US$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates:
US currency is used
Fiscal year:
1 October - 30 September

@Pacific Islands (Palau), Trust Territory of the, Communications

Highways:
total:
61 km
paved:
36 km
unpaved:
gravel 25 km
Ports:
Koror
Airports:
total:
3
usable:
3
with permanent-surface runways:
1
with runways over 3,659 m:
0
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
0
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
3
Telecommunications:
broadcast stations - 1 AM, 1 FM, 2 TV; 1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT earth
station

@Pacific Islands (Palau), Trust Territory of the, Defense Forces

Note:
defense is the responsibility of the US and that will not change when
the UN trusteeship terminates if the Compact of Free Association with
the US goes into effect

@Pacific Ocean, Geography

Location:
body of water between the Western Hemisphere, Asia, and Australia
Map references:
Asia, North America, Oceania, South America, Standard Time Zones of
the World
Area:
total area:
165.384 million sq km
comparative area:
about 18 times the size of the US; the largest ocean (followed by the
Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean); covers about
one-third of the global surface; larger than the total land area of
the world
note:
includes Bali Sea, Bellingshausen Sea, Bering Sea, Bering Strait,
Coral Sea, East China Sea, Gulf of Alaska, Gulf of Tonkin, Java Sea,
Philippine Sea, Ross Sea, Savu Sea, Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk,
South China Sea, Tasman Sea, Timor Sea, and other tributary water
bodies
Coastline:
135,663 km
International disputes:
some maritime disputes (see littoral states)
Climate:
the western Pacific is monsoonal - a rainy season occurs during the
summer months, when moisture-laden winds blow from the ocean over the
land, and a dry season during the winter months, when dry winds blow
from the Asian land mass back to the ocean
Terrain:
surface currents in the northern Pacific are dominated by a clockwise,
warm-water gyre (broad circular system of currents) and in the
southern Pacific by a counterclockwise, cool-wate