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Guam ( /ˈɡwɑːm/ (help·info) ; Chamorro: Guåhån ) is an island in the western Pacific Ocean and is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. The island's capital is Hagåtña (formerly Agana). Guam is the largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands.

Guam is best known as the island “Where America’s Day Begins.” A popular tourist destination for travelers from Japan, South Korea, the United States, the Philippines and Taiwan, Guam brings in over 1 million visitors per year. Its idyllic ocean views, beautiful beaches, luscious green vegetation and world renowned diving set it apart from other Asia-Pacific destinations. Although rich in ancient culture and traditions, Guam is home to five-star accommodations at world-class hotels and resorts that accommodate its tourism industry.

The island hosts the world’s deepest ocean (the Marianas Trench) and the tallest mountain from below sea level (Mt. Lam Lam). A truly unique island escape, Guam is known throughout the world for its family-oriented culture and tradition of hospitality.

The Chamorros, Guam's indigenous people, first populated the island approximately 4,000 years ago. The island has a long history of European colonialism beginning on March 6, 1521 with the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan and again in 1668, when the first Spanish colony was established following the arrival of settlers including Padre San Vitores, a Catholic missionary. The island was controlled by Spain until 1898, when it was surrendered to the United States as part of the Treaty of Paris following Spanish-American War.

As the largest island in Micronesia and the only American-held island in the region before World War II, Guam was captured by the Japanese on December 8, 1941, hours after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and was occupied for two and a half years.

During the occupation, the people of Guam suffered terrible atrocities, including torture, beheadings, and rape, and were forced to adopt the Japanese culture. The Japanese Occupant also imposed a new name to the island’s name to Ō-miya Jima or Great Shrine Island for that same purpose. Guam was subject to fierce fighting when American troops recaptured the island on July 21, 1944, a date commemorated every year as Liberation Day, in a celebration that lasts all month. Today, Guam's economy is supported by its principal industry, tourism, which is primarily composed of visitors from Japan. Guam’s second-largest source of income is the United States military.

Main article: Politics of GuamSee also: List of Guam Governors and Political party strength in Guam

Guam is governed by a popularly elected governor and a unicameral 15-member legislature, whose members are known as senators. Guam elects one non-voting delegate, currently Madeleine Z. Bordallo, to the United States House of Representatives. U.S. citizens in Guam vote in a straw poll for their choice in the U.S. Presidential general election, but since Guam has no votes in the Electoral College, the poll has no real effect. However, in sending delegates to the Republican and Democratic national conventions, Guam does have influence in the national presidential race, though these convention delegates are elected by local party conventions rather than voters in primaries.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, there was a significant movement in favor of the territory becoming a commonwealth, which would give it a level of self-government similar to Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands. However, the federal government rejected the version of a commonwealth that the government of Guam proposed, due to it having clauses incompatible with the Territorial Clause (Art. IV, Sec. 3, cl. 2) of the U.S. Constitution. Contrasting movements are also in existence that advocate political independence from the United States, statehood, union with the Northern Mariana Islands as a single territory, or union with the current U.S. state of Hawaii.

Guam's citizens continue to have a real desire to be brought more fully into the American political system. Two political aspects that have not been realized include the inability of Guam's non-voting delegate to have a vote on the Floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. Islanders also desire to have a vote for the President of the United States. Both of these political rights are still not available to those U.S. citizens who choose to remain residents of Guam.

Villages and military bases

Main article: Villages of Guam

Guam is divided into 19 municipalities commonly called villages: Agana Heights, Agat, Asan‑Maina, Barrigada, Chalan‑Pago‑Ordot, Dededo, Hagåtña, Inarajan, Mangilao, Merizo, Mongmong‑Toto‑Maite, Piti, Santa Rita, Sinajana, Talofofo, Tamuning, Umatac, Yigo, Yona.

The U.S. military maintains jurisdiction over its bases, which cover approximately 39,000 acres (160 km ² ), or 29% of the island's total land area:

• U.S. Naval Base Guam, U.S. Navy – Sumay
• U.S. Coast Guard Sector Guam, – Sumay
• Andersen Air Force Base, U.S. Air Force – Yigo
• Apra Harbor, U.S. Navy – Orote peninsula
• Ordnance Annex, U.S. Navy – South Central Highlands (formerly known as Naval Magazine)
• Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station, U.S. Navy – Barrigada and Finegayan
• Joint Force Headquarters-Guam, Guam National Guard – Radio Barrigada and Fort Juan Muna

In addition to on-shore military installations, Guam, along with the rest of the Marianas Islands, is being prepared to be the Western most military training range for the U.S. Additional training will take place in conjunction with the proposed military build-up and separate from the military build-up. Guam is currently viewed as a key military hub that will further allow U.S. military power to be projected via air, land, sea and undersea.

With the proposed increased military presence stemming from the upcoming preparation efforts and relocation efforts of U.S. Marines from Okinawa, Japan to Guam slated to begin in 2010 and last for the next several years thereafter, the amounts of total land that the military will control or tenant may grow to or surpass 40% of the entire landmass of Guam.

Villagers and the military community are inter-connected in many ways. Many villagers serve in the military or are retired. Many active duty personnel and Defense Department civlians also live in the villages outside of the military installation areas. The military and village communities have "adoption" programs where Guam's population and military personnel stationed in Guam perform community service projects.

Economy

Guam's economy depends primarily on tourism, Department of Defense installations, and locally owned businesses. 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 U.S. treasury, receives federal income taxes paid by local taxpayers to include military and civilian federal employees assigned to Guam.

Education

Colleges and universities

The University of Guam and Guam Community College, both fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, offer courses in higher education. Pacific Islands University is a small Christian liberal arts institution nationally accredited by the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools. They offer courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Primary and secondary schools

See also: List of schools in Guam

The Guam Public School System serves the entire island of Guam. In 2000, 32,000 students attended Guam's public schools. Guam Public Schools have struggled with problems such as high dropout rates and poor test scores. Guam's educational system has always faced unique challenges as a small community located 6,000 miles (9,700 km) from the U.S. mainland with a very diverse student body including many students who come from backgrounds without traditional American education. An economic downturn in Guam since the mid-1990s has compounded the problems in schools.

Prior to September 1997, the U.S. Department of Defense partnered with Guam Board of Education. In September 1997 the DoDEA opened its own schools for children of military personnel. DoDEA schools, which also serve children of some federal civilian employees, had an attendance of 2,500 in 2000. DoDEA Guam operates three elementary/middle schools and one high school.

Public libraries

Guam Public Library System operates the Nieves M. Flores Memorial Library in Hagåtña and five branch libraries.

Health care

The Government of Guam maintains the island’s main health care facility, Guam Memorial Hospital i

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