Peleliu

Lore & Background

Peleliu was traditionally divided into five villages. Teliu is located on the southwest coast bordered on the north by Ngerkeiukl on the west coast, Ngesias in the central portion of the island, and Ngerdelolk on the east coast. Ngerchol occupies the northern part of the island on the west side of Bloody Nose Ridge. Most of the surface remains of the traditional villages have been obliterated. However, the locations of the villages and the locations of features within the villages, including odesongel, are known and preserved in the oral tradition. These traditional features are important symbols giving identity to families, clans and regions. The lagoon and adjacent rock islands are important resource areas, and probably were intensively exploited prehistorically. Important resources include many different species of trees and other plants and many different species of fish and shellfish. On the islands, traditional gardens would have been located in areas where sufficient soil had accumulated in low lying pockets and marshes. First sighting of Peleliu, Babeldaob, and Koror recorded by Westerners was by the Spanish expedition of Ruy López de Villalobos at the end of January 1543. They were then charted as Los Arrecifes ("The Reefs" in Spanish). In November and December 1710 these three islands were again visited and explored by the Spanish missionary expedition commanded by Sargento Mayor Francisco Padilla on board of the patache Santísima Trinidad. Two years later they were explored in detail by the expedition of Spanish naval officer Bernardo de Egoy. Following its defeat in the Spanish–American War, Spain sold Palau (including Peleliu) to Germany in 1899. Control passed to Japan in 1914. During World War II, the Battle of Peleliu was a major battle between units of the United States Marine Corps and United States Army against the Imperial Japanese Army in 1944. The battle for the island was particularly brutal because by this time the Japanese military had developed island defense tactics with strong fortifications in the island's caves and rock formations within the Umurbrogol Mountains (Bloody Nose Ridge), which enabled a defense in depth which maximized casualties on the attacking force. On both sides involved in the fighting, there were high losses with more than 2,000 Americans and 10,000 Japanese killed.

Reader's Guide

Peleliu is approximately 10 km northeast of the island of Angaur and 40 km southwest of the island of Koror. The state of Beliliou includes the islands of Beliliou, Ngedbus, Olngeuaol, Ngercheu, Belualasmau, Ruruid, Ngebad, Ngurungor, Ngesuall, and several islets. The total area for the state is approximately 19.52 km2. Beliliou Island, like Angaur, is a raised platform coralline island with an area of 16.98 km2. Located at the southern tip of the lagoon which encircles the main group of islands, Beliliou is surrounded by a thick fringe of mangrove forest comprising more than a quarter of its total area. On the island's west side is a steep spine named Bloody Nose Ridge during the Battle for Peleliu in World War II - rising to an elevation of 75 m. A second raised area, Rois ra Sang and Roischemiangel, rises to elevations of just over 50 m at the northern tip of the island. The rest of the island generally lies below 10 m in elevation. Along this ridge, jagged spires of coralline limestone jut skyward in a tangled maze. Much of Beliliou is covered by a limestone island forest with stands of Casuarina forest along sandy beach berms. With the exception of Ngercheu, the rest of the islands in the state are low, flat islands with large areas of sandy deposits covered by coconut or Casuarina forests. Ngercheu, located in the northern part of the state, has a typical rock island profile with steep cliffs of uplifted reef covered by a rock island forest. The geography of Beliliou has been dramatically reshaped by the events of World War II. In preparation for the anticipated American invasion, the Japanese defenders transformed Beliliou into a defensive fortress. The build up, which was underway by 1943, began with the evacuation of Palauans from Beliliou to Babeldaob. As many as 10,000 Japanese defenders dug into the natural caves and fissures of the coralline limestone formations, reinforcing these positions with concrete bunkers. So well established were the Japanese defenders that they withstood a massive naval bombardment and met the American invasion force at nearly full strength on September 5, 1944. The Battle of Peleliu dragged on for weeks of bitter fighting at a terrible cost of lives. Most of the land use in Beliliou today is for private gardens located in and around residential areas.

Did You Know?

• The Battle of Peleliu in 1944 resulted in more than 2,000 American and 10,000 Japanese killed.
• The last known Japanese holdout from Peleliu, Kiyoaki Kinoshita, died in 2019.
• The state of Peleliu has its own constitution, adopted in 1982.