What You Need To Know

Guam is an unincorporated and organized territory of the United States in Micronesiain the western Pacific Ocean.^[3][4] The capital city of Guam is Hagåtña and the most populous city is Dededo. The inhabitants of Guam are called Guamanians, and they are American citizens by birth. Indigenous Guamanians are the Chamorros, who are related to other Austronesian natives to the west in the Philippines and Taiwan. In 2016, 162,742 people resided on Guam. Guam has an area of 210 square miles (540 km²) and a population density of 775 per square mile (299/km²). In Oceania, it is the largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands and the largest island in Micronesia. Among its municipalities, Mongmong-Toto-Maite has the highest population density at 3,691 per square mile (1,425/km²), whereas Inarajan and Umatac have the lowest density at 119 per square mile (46/km²). The highest point is Mount Lamlam at 1,332 feet (406 m) above sea level. Since the 1960s, the economy has been supported by two industries: tourism and the United States Armed Forces. The indigenous Chamorros settled the island approximately 4,000 years ago. Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, while in the service of Spain, was the first European to visit the island on March 6, 1521. Guam was colonized by Spain in 1668 with settlers, including Diego Luis de San Vitores, a Catholic Jesuit missionary. Between the 16th century and the 18th century, Guam was an important stopover for the Spanish Manila Galleons. During the Spanish–American War, the United States captured Guam on June 21, 1898. Under the Treaty of Paris, Spain ceded Guam to the United States on December 10, 1898. Guam is among the seventeen non-self-governing territories listed by the United Nations. Before World War II, there were only five American jurisdictions in the Pacific Ocean, these being, Guam and Wake Island in Micronesia, American Samoa and Hawai’i in Polynesia, and the Philippines in the Malay Archipelago of Southeast Asia. On December 7, 1941, hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Guam was captured by the Japanese, who occupied the island for two and a half years. During the occupation, Guamanians were subjected to beheadings, forced labor, rape, and torture. American forces recaptured the island on July 21, 1944; Liberation Day commemorates the victory. An unofficial but frequently used territorial motto is “Where America’s Day Begins”, which refers to the island’s close proximity to the international date line.

Population: Estimate 167,202
Area: 543.9 km²

Currency

Guam United States Dollar

Economy

Guam’s economy depends primarily on tourism, Department of Defense installations and locally owned businesses. Despite paying no income or excise tax, it receives large transfer payments from the general revenues of the U.S. federal treasury. Under the provisions of a special law by Congress, it is Guam’s treasury rather than the U.S. treasury that receives the federal income taxes paid by local taxpayers (including military and civilian federal employees assigned to Guam). Lying in the western Pacific, Guam is a popular destination for Japanese tourists. Its tourist hub, Tumon, features over 20 large hotels, a Duty Free Shoppers Galleria, Pleasure Island district, indoor aquarium, Sandcastle Las Vegas–styled shows and other shopping and entertainment venues. It is a relatively short flight from Asia or Australia compared to Hawaii, with hotels and seven public golf courses accommodating over a million tourists per year. Although 75{140303a8ed3439f4cb17ae753210bb7b23bbc9f264bff76ae449e1bfcc994b01} of the tourists are Japanese, Guam receives a sizable number of tourists from South Korea, the U.S., the Philippines, and Taiwan. Significant sources of revenue include duty-free designer shopping outlets, and the American-style malls: Micronesia Mall, Guam Premier Outlets, the Agana Shopping Center, and the world’s largest Kmart. Terminal at Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport. The airport hosts a hub of United Airlines, Guam’s largest private-sector employer. The economy had been stable since 2000 due to increased tourism. It is expected to stabilize with the transfer of U.S. Marine Corps’ 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force, currently in Okinawa, Japan, (approximately 8,000 Marines, along with their 10,000 dependents), to Guam between 2010 and 2015. In 2003, Guam had a 14{140303a8ed3439f4cb17ae753210bb7b23bbc9f264bff76ae449e1bfcc994b01} unemployment rate, and the government suffered a $314 million shortfall. The Compacts of Free Association between the United States, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau accorded the former entities of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands a political status of “free association” with the United States. The Compacts give citizens of these island nations generally no restrictions to reside in the United States (also its territories), and many were attracted to Guam due to its proximity, environmental, and cultural familiarity. Over the years, it was claimed by some in Guam that the territory has had to bear the brunt of this agreement in the form of public assistance programs and public education for those from the regions involved, and the federal government should compensate the states and territories affected by this type of migration. Over the years, Congress had appropriated “Compact Impact” aids to Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and Hawaii, and eventually this appropriation was written into each renewed Compact. Some, however, continue to claim the compensation is not enough or that the distribution of actual compensation received is significantly disproportionate. As of 2008 Guam’s largest single private sector employer, with about 1,400 jobs, was Continental Micronesia, a subsidiary of Continental Airlines; it is now a part of United Airlines, a subsidiary of Chicago-based United Continental Holdings, Inc. As of 2008 the Continental Micronesia annual payroll in Guam was $90 million.

Ethnic groups

Based on a 2010 estimate, the largest ethnic group are the native Chamorros, accounting for 37.3{140303a8ed3439f4cb17ae753210bb7b23bbc9f264bff76ae449e1bfcc994b01} of the total population. Other significant ethnic groups include those of Filipino (26.3{140303a8ed3439f4cb17ae753210bb7b23bbc9f264bff76ae449e1bfcc994b01}), White (7.1{140303a8ed3439f4cb17ae753210bb7b23bbc9f264bff76ae449e1bfcc994b01}), and Chuukese (7{140303a8ed3439f4cb17ae753210bb7b23bbc9f264bff76ae449e1bfcc994b01}) ethnicities. The rest are from other Pacific Islands or of Asianancestry.

Health care

The Government of Guam maintains the island’s main health care facility, Guam Memorial Hospital, in Tamuning. U.S. board certified doctors and dentists practice in all specialties. In addition, the U.S. Naval Hospital in Agana Heights serves active-duty members and dependents of the military community. There is one subscriber-based air ambulance located on the island, CareJet, which provides emergency patient transportation across Guam and surrounding islands. A private hospital, the Guam Regional Medical City opened its doors in early 2016.

Language

Transport

Most of the island has state-of-the-art mobile phone services and high-speed internet widely available through either cable or DSL. Guam was added to the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) in 1997 (country code 671 became NANP area code 671), removing the barrier of high-cost international long-distance calls to the U.S. mainland. Guam is also a major hub for submarine cables between the Western U.S., Hawaii, Australia and Asia. Guam currently serves twelve submarine cables, with most continuing to China. Cover carried both directions on the first commercial flights between Guam and the United States, October 5–24, 1935. In 1899, the local postage stamps were overprinted “Guam” as was done for the other former Spanish colonies, but this was discontinued shortly thereafter and regular U.S. postage stamps have been used ever since. Because Guam is also part of the U.S. Postal System (postal abbreviation: GU, ZIP code range: 96910–96932), mail to Guam from the U.S. mainland is considered domestic and no additional charges are required. Private shipping companies, such as FedEx, UPS, and DHL, however, have no obligation to do so, and do not regard Guam as domestic. The speed of mail traveling between Guam and the states varies depending on size and time of year. Light, first-class items generally take less than a week to or from the mainland, but larger first-class or Priority items can take a week or two. Fourth-class mail, such as magazines, are transported by sea after reaching Hawaii. Most residents use post office boxes or private mail boxes, although residential delivery is becoming increasingly available. Incoming mail not from the Americas should be addressed to “Guam” instead of “USA” to avoid being routed the long way through the U.S. mainland and possibly charged a higher rate (especially from Asia). The Commercial Port of Guam is the island’s lifeline because most products must be shipped into Guam for consumers. It receives the weekly calls of the Hawaii-based shipping line Matson, Inc. whose container ships connect Guam with Honolulu, Hawaii, Los Angeles, California, Oakland, California and Seattle, Washington. The port is also the regional transhipment hub for over 500,000 customers throughout the Micronesian region. The port is the shipping and receiving point for containers designated for the island’s U.S. Department of Defense installations, Andersen Air Force Base and Commander, Naval Forces Marianas and eventually the Third Marine Expeditionary Force. Guam is served by the Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport, which is a hub for United Airlines. The island is outside the United States customs zone so Guam is responsible for establishing and operating its own customs and quarantine agency and jurisdiction. Therefore, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection only carries immigration (but not customs) functions. Since Guam is under federal immigration jurisdiction, passengers arriving directly from the United States skip immigration and proceed directly to Guam Customs and Quarantine. However, due to the Guam and CNMI visa waiver program for certain countries, an eligibility pre-clearance check is carried on Guam for flights to the States. For travel from the Northern Mariana Islands to Guam, a pre-flight passport and visa check is performed before boarding the flight to Guam. On flights from Guam to the Northern Mariana Islands, no immigration check is performed. Traveling between Guam and the States through a foreign point, however, does require a passport. Most residents travel within Guam using personally owned vehicles. The local government currently outsources the only public bus system (Guam Regional Transit Authority), and some commercial companies operate buses between tourist-frequented locations

Weather

Guam experiences a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen Af) – though its driest month of March almost averages dry enough to qualify as a tropical monsoon climate – moderated by seasonal easterly trade winds. The weather is generally very warm with little seasonal temperature variation. The mean high temperature is 86 °F or 30 °C and mean low is 76 °F (24.4 °C) with an average annual rainfall between 1981 and 2010 of around 98 inches or 2,490 millimetres. Temperatures rarely exceed 90 °F (32.2 °C) or fall below 70 °F (21.1 °C). The relative humidity commonly exceeds 84 percent at night throughout the year, but the average monthly humidity hovers near 66 percent. The dry season runs from December to June. The remaining months (July to November) constitute the wet season. The months of January and February are considered the coolest months of the year with overnight low temperatures of 70 to 75 °F (21.1 to 23.9 °C) and generally less oppressive humidity levels. The highest temperature ever recorded in Guam was 96 °F (35.6 °C) on April 18, 1971, and April 1, 1990, and the lowest temperature ever recorded was 65 °F (18.3 °C) on February 8, 1973. Guam is located in Typhoon Alleyand it is common for the island to be threatened by tropical storms and possible typhoons during the wet season. The highest risk of typhoons is during August through October. They can, however, occur year-round. The most intense typhoon to pass over Guam recently was Super Typhoon Pongsona, with sustained winds of 144 miles per hour (232 km/h), gusts to 173 miles per hour (278 km/h), which slammed Guam on December 8, 2002, leaving massive destruction. The wettest month on recruit at Guam Airport has been August 1997 with 38.49 inches (977.6 mm) and the driest February 2015 with 0.15 inches (3.8 mm). The wettest calendar year has been 1976 with 131.70 inches (3,345.2 mm) and the driest 1998 with 57.88 inches (1,470.2 mm). The most rainfall in a single day occurred on 15 October 1953 when 15.48 inches or 393.2 millimetres fell. Since Super Typhoon Pamela in 1976, wooden structures have been largely replaced by concrete structures. During the 1980s wooden utility poles began to be replaced by typhoon-resistant concrete and steel poles. After the local Government enforced stricter construction codes, many home and business owners built their structures out of reinforced concrete with installed typhoon shutters.