The capital is Hagåtña, formerly Agana (pronounced Agaña). Guam's economy is mainly supported by tourism (particularly from Japan, Korea and China) and United States armed forces bases. The United Nations Committee on Decolonization includes Guam on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.

Geography

Guam is located at 13°26′31″N, 144°46′35″E and has an area of 210 square miles (544 km²). The northern part of the island is a forested coralline limestone plateau while the south contains volcanic peaks covered in forest and grassland. A coral reef surrounds most of the island.

The island's population is most dense in the northern and central regions. Guam is the southernmost island in the Mariana island chain and is the largest island in Micronesia. The Marianas Trench, a deep subduction zone, lies beside the island chain. The Challenger Deep, the deepest point on earth, is southwest of Guam at 35,797 feet (10,911 m) deep. The island experiences occasional earthquakes due to being on the edge of the Pacific Plate. In recent years, quakes with epicenters near Guam have had magnitudes ranging from 7.0 to 8.2. Unlike the Anatahan volcano in the northern Marianas, Guam is not volcanically active.

History

Guam's first contact with western civilization occurred when Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reached the island in 1521 during his circumnavigation of the globe. General Miguel López de Legazpi claimed Guam for Spain in 1565. Spanish colonization commenced in 1668 with the arrival of Padre San Vitores, who established the first Catholic mission. Between 1668 and 1815, Guam was an important resting stop on the Spanish trade route between Mexico and the Philippines. Guam, along with the rest of the Mariana and Caroline islands, was treated by Spain as part of their colony in the Philippines. While Guam's Chamorro culture is unique, the cultures of both Guam and the Northern Marianas were heavily influenced by Spanish culture and traditions.

The United States took control of the island in 1898 after the Battle of Guam of 1898 in the Spanish-American War. Guam came to serve as a way station for American ships traveling to and from the Philippines, while the northern Mariana islands passed to Germany then Japan.

During World War II, Guam was attacked and invaded by the Japanese armed forces on December 8, 1941. The Northern Mariana Islands had become a Japanese protectorate before the war. It was the Chamorros from the Northern Marianas who were brought to Guam to serve as interpreters and in other capacities for the occupying Japanese force. The Guam Chamorros were treated as an occupied enemy by the Japanese military. After the war, this would cause some resentment by the Guam Chamorros towards the Chamorros in the Northern Marianas. To this day, Guam remains the only U.S. soil, with a sizeable population, that suffered under foreign military power occupation. Guam's occupation lasted for approximately thirty-one months. During this period, the indigenous people of Guam were subjected to forced labor, family separation, incarceration, execution, concentration camps and prostitution. The United States returned and fought the Battle of Guam in July 21, 1944 to recapture the island from Japanese military occupation. The U.S. also captured and occupied the Northern Marianas. After the war, The Guam Organic Act of 1950, which established Guam as an unincorporated organized territory of the United States, provided for the structure of the island's government, and granted the people United States citizenship.

On March 23, 1983, the Apatosaurus was made the official state dinosaur of Guam.

Government and politics

Guam is governed by a popularly elected governor and a unicameral 15 member legislature. Additionally Guam elects one non-voting delegate to the US House of Representatives. During the U.S. Presidential election, citizens in Guam vote in a "straw poll" for their choice of president, but it doesn't count toward the general election results.

There is a significant movement in favor of the Territory becoming a commonwealth, which would give it a political status similar to Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands. Competing movements with less significant influence exist, which advocate political independence from the United States, statehood, or a combination with the Northern Mariana Islands as a single commonwealth. These proposals however, are not seen as favorable or realistic within the U.S. federal government, which argues Guam does not have the financial stability or self sufficiency to warrant such status. The same sources quickly provide evidence of Guam’s increasing reliance on Federal spending, and question how commonwealth status or statehood would benefit the United States as a greater whole.

Administrative divisions

Guam is divided into 19 villages. They include: Agana Heights, Agat, Asan, Barrigada, Chalan Pago-Ordot, Dededo, Hagatna, Inarajan, Mangilao, Merizo, Mongmong-Toto-Maite, Piti, Santa Rita, Sinajana, Talafofo, Tamuning, Umatac, Yigo, and Yona. The U.S. miliary maintains jurisdiction over bases comprising approximately one quarter of the island's area. These bases include:

• Andersen Air Force Base, Yigo
• Naval Air Station, Tiyan (Now administered by the government of Guam)
• Guam Naval Station, Orote peninsula
• Ordnance Annex, south central highlands (formerly known as Naval Magazine)
• Naval communications station Barrigada and Finegayan  

Economy

Guam's economy depends primarily on tourism, the United States military base presence, and other federal spending. Although Guam receives no foreign aid, it does receive large transfer payments from the general revenues of the U.S. Federal Treasury into which Guam pays no income or excise taxes; under the provisions of a special law of Congress, the Guam Treasury, rather than the US Treasury, receives federal income taxes paid by military and civilian Federal employees stationed in Guam.

Sometimes called "America in Asia," Guam is a popular destination for Japanese, Korean, and Chinese tourists, and with over 20 large hotels, a DFS Galleria, Pleasure Island aquarium, SandCastle Las Vegas shows and other shopping and entertainment features in its chief tourism city of Tumon, the island's economy has grown dramatically. It is a relatively short flight from Asia compared to Hawaii, and a series of hotels and golf courses were built to cater to tourists. Today, about 90 percent of tourists to Guam are Japanese. Significant sources of revenue include duty-free designer shopping outlets, and the American-style malls: Micronesia Mall, Guam Premium Outlets, and the Agana Shopping Center and various businesses catering to tourists in Tumon.

The economy had been stable since 2000 due to increased tourism, mainly from Japan, but took a more recent downturn along with the rest of Asia. It is expected to stabilize with the recent news that all US Marine personnel and operations currently in Okinawa (appr.5000) will transfer to Guam sometime in 2007-2008. Guam has a 14% unemployment rate, and the government suffered a $314 million shortfall in 2003.

Transportation and communications     

Most of the island has mobile phone service and high speed internet is increasing in availability. Though Guam is part of the United States, some U.S. long distance plans and courier services list Guam as an international location. As a result of Guam being added to the North American Numbering Plan (NANP)in 1997, calls made to the U.S., Canada, or other participating countries from Guam only require the caller to dial a 1 followed by the area code. In this way, only domestic charges are incurred. Before Guam's inclusion, calling the U.S. required dialing the international 011 first, thus resulting in higher long distance rates and less frequent calls to the U.S. by relatives in Guam. Because of Guam's inclusion in NANP, prices of long distance calls to these destinations has dropped significantly to the point where now calling the U.S. from Guam or calling Guam from the U.S. costs the same.

Some companies in the US mainland still treat Guam as a foreign country and refuse to sell and ship items to Guam. However, if an item is shipped via USPS, shipping costs to Guam are the same as shipping costs to any of the states. Many others will ship to Guam but will charge the shipping as an international destination. This is mainly due to the fact that the company is using a private shipping company like UPS, FedEx, or DHL for its shipping. According to the local (Guam) offices of UPS, FedEx, and DHL, Guam isn't regarded as international, so there isn't supposed to be an international charge, but in many cases, there still is. This results in a higher cost for the product compared to the states.

Mail will take approximately 2 weeks to travel between Guam and California. Express mail and Fedex takes a minimum of three to four days to reach the U.S. Like the rest of the U.S., Guam's mail service is handled by the United States Postal Service (USPS). Most of the residents use "post office boxes" to receive their mail and as their mailing addresses, though home delivery is becoming increasingly available. Much of the mail to and from Guam routes through Hawaii and awaits cargo space on Continental Airlines which is contracted to deliver mail between Hawaii and Guam. Continental Airlines has slightly improved their service between Hawaii and Guam by buying newer airplanes and finally replacing their aging fleet in recent years.

Guam is served by Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport. Most residents travel in Guam using personally owned cars, however, a limited bus system for residents exists. There are no direct flights to Guam from the U.S. Mainland. Flights to Guam go through Hawaii, Japan, or Korea first and generally requires a layover and a plane transfer. A flight from Hawaii to Guam takes approximately 7.5 hours (depending on trade winds). A flight to Hawaii, either from San Francisco or Los Angeles takes approximately 5 hours. A flight to Japan or Korea takes 10-12 hours with another 3-4 hour flight to reach Guam.  

Climate

The climate is characterized as tropical marine. The weather is generally warm and humid with little seasonal temperature variation. The mean high temperature is 86°F (30 °C) and mean low is 76°F (24 °C) with an average annual rainfall of 86 inches (2,180 mm). The dry season runs from December through June. The remaining months constitute the rainy season. The highest risk of typhoons is during October and November.

An average of three tropical storms and one typhoon pass within 180 nautical miles (330 km) of Guam each year. The most intense typhoon to pass over Guam recently was Super Typhoon Pongsona, with sustained winds of 180 miles per hour, which slammed Guam leaving massive destruction on December 8, 2002.After Super Typhoon Pamela in 1976 wooden structures began to be replaced by concrete. By the 1980s many homes were concrete and "Typhoon proof". Since the 1980s wooden utility poles were slowly replaced by typhoon resistant concrete and steel poles. In the 1990s many home and bussiness owners installed typhoon shutters.

Education

The Guam Public School System  serves the entire island of Guam. In 2000, 32,000 students attended Guam's public schools. Guam's public school system has been criticized for having poor management and inadequate facilities. Lack of funding and corruption are often cited as the causes. Recent losses in federal funding may lead to further problems. Private schools had a total attendance of 6,000 in 2000, though attendance has increased in recent years. In 1998 the U.S. Department of Defense opened schools for children of American military personnel. DODEA schools had an attendance of 2,500 in 2000. The University of Guam and Guam Community College offer courses in higher education.