Religion in Palau

{{Pie chart

|thumb=right

|caption=Religion in Palau (estimation 2022).{{cite report|title=2020 Census of Population and Housing of the Republic of Palau|volume=I Basic Tables|date=August 2022|url=https://www.palaugov.pw/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2020-Census-of-Population-and-Housing.pdf|access-date=2023-06-21|publisher=Office of Planning and Statistics|location=Koror, Palau}}

|label1=Roman Catholicism

|value1=46.9

|color1=Blue

|label2=Protestantism

|value2=25.9

|color2=Orchid

|label3=Modekngei/Indigenous religion

|value3=5.1

|color3=DarkBlue

|label4=Seventh-day Adventist

|value4=5

|color4=Yellow

|label5=Islam/Muslims

|value5=4.9

|color5=Green

|label6=Others

|value6=12.3

|color6=Black

}}

According to the 2020 census, 46.9% of the population is Roman Catholic, 25.9% Protestant (primarily Evangelical), 5.0% Seventh-day Adventist, 5.1% Modekngei, 4.9% Muslim, 0.9% The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and 11.4% other religions.{{cite report|title=2020 Census of Population and Housing of the Republic of Palau|volume=I Basic Tables|date=August 2022|url=https://www.palaugov.pw/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2020-Census-of-Population-and-Housing.pdf|access-date=2023-06-21|publisher=Office of Planning and Statistics|location=Koror, Palau}}

In the 2015 census, of the population of 13,300 people over 18, 45.3% are members of the Roman Catholic Church.{{cite book |last1=Palau |title=2015 Census of Population, Housing and Agriculture Tables |date=2015 |page=53 |url=https://palaugov.pw/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2015-Census-of-Population-Housing-Agriculture-.pdf |access-date=5 May 2021}} Other Christian groups were Evangelicals at 26.4%; Seventh-day Adventists at 6.9%; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) at 1.5%; Assembly of God at 0.9%; and Baptists at 0.7%. Modekngei, which embraces both animist and Christian beliefs and is unique to the country, has 5.7% of the population. Muslims made up about 3.0% of the population. Other which includes everyone not in the religions above as well as the non-religious were about 11.2% of the population.

In 2020, about 0.85% of the population was estimated to be Buddhist, 0.7% practiced the Baháʼí Faith and 0.25% was reported to be practicing elements of Chinese folk religion, alongside 0.5% following other traditional religions, 2% following Islam, 0.1% practicing Hinduism, and almost 5% identifying as agnostic or atheist.{{cite web|url=https://www.thearda.com/world-religion/national-profiles?REGION=0&u=173c&u=158c |title=The Association of Religion Data Archives | National Profiles |publisher=Thearda.com |access-date=2023-06-03}}

In 2022, there is a primarily Filipino Catholic expatriate community of over 3,000 people.

Foreign missionaries were action since the arrival of Jesuit priests in the early 19th century, to the start of the 21st century.[https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90149.htm International Religious Freedom Report 2007: Palau]. United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (September 14, 2007). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. During the Japanese mandate, Japanese Christian missions were heavily subsidized; Japan's native Buddhists were given a comparative pittance.Willard Price. Japan's Islands of Mystery. p. 111. Japanese rule brought Mahayana Buddhism and Shinto to Palau, with the syncretism of the two being the majority religion among Japanese settlers. However, following Japan's World War II defeat, the remaining Japanese largely converted to Christianity, while the remainder continued to observe Buddhism, but stopped practicing Shinto rites.Brigham Young University-Hawaii Campus (1981), p. 36 In the early 2000s, the Seventh-day Adventist and Evangelical churches had missionaries teaching in their respective elementary and high schools. There are also approximately 400 Bengali Muslims in Palau, and recently a few Uyghurs detained in Guantanamo Bay were allowed to settle in the island nation.[https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h0PvMT3xGXLwI-2KwkOThMJToprwD9AK6D1O0 Lawyers: Uighurs agree to go to Palau]{{dead link|date=June 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} There are two mosques in Palau, one of which is located in Koror.{{cite web|url=http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/11-six-former-guantanamo-detainees-resettle-in-palau--il--07 |title=Six former Gitmo detainees resettle in Palau |date=Nov 1, 2009 |website=Dawn |language=en |access-date=23 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091103141250/http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/11-six-former-guantanamo-detainees-resettle-in-palau--il--07 |archive-date=November 3, 2009 }}

The constitution of Palau establishes the freedom of religion and prohibits the government from taking any action to infringe upon it. It also states that the country has no state religion.

Religious groups can obtain charters as (NGOs) from the registrar of corporations at the Office of the Attorney General; this involves a filing fee of $250, but registered groups are exempt from paying tax.

Religious instruction is prohibited in public schools, but religious groups are allowed to request government funds to run private schools.

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Caroline Islands
• History of the Jews in Palau
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Palau

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{{Oceania topic|Religion in}}

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