Guam

Guam

an island in the N Pacific, the largest and southernmost of the Marianas: belonged to Spain from the 17th century until 1898, when it was ceded to the US; site of naval and air force bases. Capital: Aga?a. Pop.: 165 000 (2004 est.). Area: 541 sq. km (209 sq. miles)

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Guam Parks

• US National Parks

  War in the Pacific National Historical Park

• National Wildlife Refuges

  Guam National Wildlife Refuge

Parks Directory of the United States, 5th Edition. © 2007 by Omnigraphics, Inc.

Guam

Guam has been a territory of the U.S. since 1898, but has been allowed autonomy in local affairs since 1950; native inhabitants are citizens of the U.S. but cannot vote in U.S. elections.

Capital: Hagatna (Agana)

Nicknames: Tano I’ManChanorro (Land of the Chamorros); Where America’s Day Begins; America’s Paradise in the Pacific

Bird: Totot (also known as the Mariana fruit dove or love bird; Ptilinopus roseicapilla) Flower: Puti tai nobio or bougainvillea (bougainvillea spectabilis)

Hymn: “Guam Hymn” (“Fanohge Chamorro”)
Languages: Chamorro; English
Tree: Ifil or Ifit (Intsia bijuga)

GOVERNMENT OFFICES:

Government web site:
www.guam.gov

Office of the Governor
Ufisinan Maga’lahi
Executive Chambers
PO Box 2950

Hagatna, Guam 96932 011-671-472-8931 fax: 011-671-477-4826 www.guamgovernor.net governor@mail.gov.gu

Lieutenant Governor PO Box 2950 Hagatna, Guam 96932 011-671-475-9380 fax: 011-671-47-2007 www.guamltgovernor.org ltgov@mail.gov.gu

Public Library System Nieves M. Flores Memorial Library 254 Martyr St Hagatna, Guam 96910 011-671-475-4573 fax: 011-671-477-9777 gpls.guam.gov gpls@gpls.guam.gov

Legal Holidays:

. Our Lady of Camarin Day	Dec 8
All Souls Day	Nov 2
Liberation Day	Jul 21

Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations of the World Dictionary, Fourth Edition. © 2010 by Omnigraphics, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Guam

 

an island in the western Pacific, the largest in the Mariana Islands; US possession. Area, 533.5 sq km. Principal city, A gaña.

The southern portion of the island, with higher elevation (up to 405 m), is of volcanic origin and composed of andesites, whereas the north is low lying with a structure of coral limestone. The coast is for the most part precipitous and fringed with coral reefs. Earthquakes are frequent. The island has a tropical, trade-wind climate, with an average temperature every month of the year of about 26° C and annual precipitation of about 3,000 mm. There are tropical rain forests on the southern and eastern mountain slopes; in the north there are xerophytic grassy savannas.

Guam was discovered in 1571 by Ferdinand Magellan. At the end of the 17th century it was seized by the Spaniards; in 1898, as an outcome of the Spanish-American War, it became a possession of the USA. In the course of World War II it was occupied from December 1941 to July-August 1944 by Japanese forces, and after the war it became one of the largest US naval and air bases in the Pacific.

Approximately one-half of the island’s population consists of indigenous Chamorros (about 50,000; 1969 estimate). Some 40,000 are Americans, primarily military people and personnel servicing the naval base. The inhabitants also include Filipinos, mainly Ilocanos (about 10,000), and Ha-waiians. English is the official language. Catholicism is the religion of most (about 95 percent) of the people. Economic activities include the growing of corn, coffee, bananas, sugarcane, taro, and other tropical crops, as well as fishing and logging.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.