Editing Palau (section)

==Etymology==
The name for the islands in the [[Palauan language]], ''Belau'', derives from the Palauan word for "village", ''beluu'' (thus ultimately from [[Proto-Austronesian language|Proto-Austronesian]] *''banua''),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://acd.clld.org/cognatesets/25129#2/-60.8/162.8|title=*''banua'': inhabited land, territory supporting the life of a community|last1=Blust|first1=Robert|author-link1=Robert Blust|last2=Trussel|first2=Stephen|website=Austronesian Comparative Dictionary|year=2010|publisher=Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology|url-status=live|access-date=29 November 2022|archive-date=28 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128221618/https://acd.clld.org/cognatesets/25129#2/-60.8/162.8}}</ref> or from ''aibebelau'' ("indirect replies"), relating to a [[creation myth]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.underwatercolours.com/bai/bais.html |title=The Bais of Belau |website=Underwater Colours |access-date=25 May 2012 |archive-date=21 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160721152221/http://www.underwatercolours.com/bai/bais.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The name "Palau" originated in the Spanish ''Los Palaos'', eventually entering English via the German ''Palau''. An archaic name for the islands in English was the "Pelew Islands".<ref>{{Cite book
| year= 1994
| isbn =  9780963787507
|title=Palau – Portrait of Paradise
| chapter= About Palau
| last = Etpison | first = Mandy
| publisher= Neco Marine Corp.
|chapter-url=http://www.underwatercolors.com/neco.html|access-date=15 January 2023|archive-date=19 April 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010419154512/http://www.underwatercolors.com/neco.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The name of the country "Palau" is most likely not derived from the Malay word "''Pulau''," despite the similarity in its word form. In Malay, "''pulau''" means "island," which is also a geographical characteristic of Palau as an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean.<!--Circumstantial evidence: File:Txu-pclmaps-oclc-22834566 l-12c.jpg - a map including Pulau Tobi ([[Defense Mapping Agency|DMA]], 1977) [[Tobi (island)]]-->