Description : Ngerulmud is the seat of government of the Republic of Palau, an island nation in the Pacific Ocean. It replaced Koror City, Palau's largest city, as capital in 2006. The settlement is located in the state of Melekeok on Babeldaob, the country's largest island, located 20 kilometres (12 miles) northeast of Koror City and 2 km (1 mile) northwest of Melekeok City. It is the least-populous capital city in the world. The previous capital of Palau was located provisionally in Koror. The country's constitution, ratified in 1979, directed the Palau National Congress to establish a permanent capital in Babeldaob within ten years of the constitution's effective date. The new capital's planning began in 1986, when a contract for the construction of the capitol complex was assigned to a Hawaii-based architecture firm, Architects Hawaii Ltd. (AHL), which had previously designed the capitol complex of the Federated States of Micronesia, located at Palikir. Progress was slow, as Palau lacked engineers and architects, and most of the construction materials had to be imported. Further work was not begun until the early 2000s when Palau secured a $20 million loan from Taiwan as part of efforts to enhance relations between the two countries and secure Palau's diplomatic recognition of Taiwan. Containing separate buildings for the Olbiil era Kelulau (the country's legislature), and also the judicial and executive branches, connected via a central open plaza, the complex cost over US$45 million, and was officially opened on 7 October 2006, with over 5,000 people in attendance. Government officials moved their offices from Koror to Ngerulmud shortly after.
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