BABELTHUAP

also called Palau, Baberudaobu, or Arrecifos, largest of the Caroline Islands and largest island within Palau (a sovereign state since 1994). It has an area of 143 square miles (370 square km) and lies in the western Pacific, 550 miles (885 km) east of the Philippines. Partly elevated limestone and partly volcanic in origin, Babelthuap measures 27 miles by 8 miles (43 km by 13 km); it is fertile and wooded and rises to an elevation of 713 feet (217 m). Sighted (1543) by the Spanish navigator Ruy Lpez de Villalobos, it possesses stone ruins and sculptures of an ancient culture in addition to decaying remnants of the Japanese occupation during World War II. Subsistence agriculture is the main activity, but there have been attempts to cultivate cacao for export. The island has unexploited deposits of manganese and iron ore, bauxite, and low-grade coal. Pop. (1990) 3,594.