Guam<table border=1 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0 align=right width=285px style="margin-left: 0.5em; margin-bottom:0.5em"> <caption><font size=+1>'''The Territory of Guam<br>Guahan<br>グアム準州'''</font></caption> <tr><td style=background:#efefef; align=center colspan=2> <table border=0 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0> <tr><td align=center width=140px>Image:Guam flag large.png|125px|Flag of Guam <td align=center width=140px>Image:Guam_COA.png|70px|Guam Coat of Arms <tr><td align=center width=140px><font size=-1>(Flag of Guam|In Detail)</font> <td align=center width=140px><font size=-1>(Coat of arms of Guam|In Detail)</font> </table> <tr><td align=center colspan=2 style=border-bottom:3px solid gray;><font size=-1>''Territorial motto: Where America's Day Begins''</font> <tr><td align=center colspan=2>Image:LocationGuam.png</td></tr> <tr><td>Official languages<td>English language|English, Chamorro language|Chamorro <tr><td>Unofficial languages<td>Japanese language|Japanese (used in business transactions), Filipino language|Tagalog (used in conversation) <tr><td>Capital<td>Hagåtña <tr><td>Chief of state<td>George W. Bush <tr><td>List of Guam Governors|Governor<td>Felix Perez Camacho <tr><td>Area<br> - Total <br> - % water<td>List of countries by area|Ranked 202nd <br>1 E8 m²|549 square kilometre|km² <br> Negligible <tr><td>Population <br> - Total (2003) <br> - Population density|Density <td>List of countries by population|Ranked N/A<br> 163,941 (July 2003 est.) <br>299/km² <tr><td>Independence<td> none (territory of the United States|USA) <tr><td>Currency<td>US dollar (USD) <tr><td>Time zone<td>UTC+10 (no DST) <tr><td>National anthem|Territorial anthem<td> ''Fanoghe Chamorro'' <tr><td>Top-level domain|Internet TLD<td>.gu <tr><td>List_of_country_calling_codes|Calling Code<td>1-671 </table> The '''Territory of Guam''' (''Guahan'' in Chamorro language|Chamorro) is an island in the Western Pacific Ocean and is an organized territory|organized unincorporated territory of the United States. Its indigenous people are the Chamorros, who first inhabited the island approximately 3,500 years ago. The capital is Hagåtña, formerly Agana (pronounced Agaña). Guam's economy is mainly supported by tourism (particularly from Japan) and its United States armed forces base. The latter takes up one-third of the entire land mass of the island. The United Nations Committee on Decolonization includes Guam on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories. Image:ApraHarbor.jpeg|right|framed|thumb|Apra Harbor from the air Image:GuamMap.png|thumb|right|Map of Guam ==History of Guam== {{main|History of Guam}} Guam's history of colonialism is the longest along the Pacific islands, starting with Ferdinand Magellan's visit in 1521 during his around the world voyage. The island became an important resting stop on the Spain|Spanish trade route between the Philippines and Mexico. The United States took control of the island in 1898 after the Battle of Guam (1898)|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. During World War II, Guam was attacked and invaded by the Japanese armed forces in 1941. The United States came back in the Battle of Guam in 1944 to recapture the island from Japanese military occupation. In the early 1960s, the United States eventually granted U.S. citizenship to the Chamorro people and gradually the island obtained Incorporated territory|semi-autonomous status through the Organized territory|Organic Act. == Politics of Guam == {{main|Politics of Guam}} While there is a movement for Guam's complete independence from the United States and a competing but limited movement for statehood, most people on Guam favor a modified version of the current territorial status, involving greater autonomy from Washington, D.C. and the mainland. ''See: List of Guam Governors'' == Transportation and Communications in Guam == :''Main articles: Communications in Guam, Transportation in Guam'' Guam is served by Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport. As travel restrictions eased and the Japanese economy grew, Guam became a favorite destination for Japanese tourists. Guam is a relatively short flight from Japan compared to Hawaii, and a series of tourist hotels and golf courses were built to cater to the tourists. Today, about 90 percent of tourists to Guam are Japanese. The main tourist beach, Tumon Bay has beautiful white sand, and Tumon Bay is now a marine preserve, teeming with fish. Recently completed infrastucture projects have brought underground fiber-optics and new roads to the busy Tumon area. ==Miscellaneous== Image:snake_browntree.jpg|thumb|left|Brown Tree Snake The island is also known as a prominent example for the disastrous effects of Invasive species|bioinvasion: A stowaway on U.S. military transport at the end of World War II, the slightly venomous, but rather harmless, brown tree snake (''Boiga irregularis'') came north to Guam and killed almost the entire native bird population on the previously snake-free island. This snake has no natural predators on the island; nowadays, Guam is one of the areas with the highest snake density in the world (an estimated 2,000 snakes/km²). Even so, residents rarely see these snakes. They curl up and hide during the day, and move about on trees and fences at night. As prodigious tree climbers, the snakes caused frequent blackouts in neigborhoods across the Island. Now all power poles have a slick metal sheath that prevent the snakes from climbing up. Guam lies along the Marianas Trench, a deep subduction zone at the edge of the Pacific plate. The Challenger Deep, the deepest point on earth, is just southwest of Guam at 35,838 ft (10,923 meters) deep. ==See also== ''From the CIA World Factbook 2000:'' * Geography of Guam * Demographics of Guam * Economy of Guam * List of radio stations in Guam ==External links== * [http://ns.gov.gu/ Official Guam Webpage] * [http://www.guampedia.com/ Guampedia] * [http://www.loc.gov/rr/international/hispanic/guam/guam.html US Library of Congress - Portals to the World] * [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/guam.html Maps - Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection] * [http://www.mapsouthpacific.com/micronesia/index.html Map of Micronesia] * [http://www.mymicronesia.com/guam/ myMicronesia/Guam section] * [http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage ''Pacific Daily News'', Guam's Primary Newspaper] * [http://ChamorroBible.org ChamorroBible.org] - Full text for ''Chamorro and English Scriptures'' (the rare 1908 Chamorro Bible), Chamorro language resources, maps, and related material. *[http://www.mesc.usgs.gov/resources/education/bts/bts_home.asp The Brown Tree Snake on Guam] How the arrival of one invasive species damaged the ecology, commerce, electrical systems, and human health on Guam: A comprehensive information source. {{Pacific_Islands}} {{United_States}} Category:Guam Category:Insular areas of the United States Category:Oceanic dependencies Category:Micronesia af:Guam da:Guam de:Guam et:Guam es:Guam eo:Gvamo fr:Guam gl:Guam io:Guam id:Guam it:Guam he:גואם lt:Guamas zh-min-nan:Guahan nl:Guam ja:グアム no:Guam oc:Guam pl:Guam pt:Guam ru:Гуам sk:Guam sl:Guam fi:Guam sv:Guam zh:關島 First page | Prev | Next | Last page |

This article on Guam is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Guam".

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