What is Guam?

Guam is a United States territory in the western Pacific Ocean, a 210 square mile island located in Micronesia about 1,500 miles east of the Philippines, 1,500 miles south of Japan, and 3,800 miles west of Honolulu. Guam has a population of about 168,000, making it the most populous U.S. territory in the Pacific. The capital is Hagatna (formerly Agana), although the larger city of Dededo has more residents.

Guam has been a U.S. possession since 1898, when Spain ceded the island to the United States in the Treaty of Paris ending the Spanish-American War. Spain had ruled Guam since Ferdinand Magellan claimed it in 1521, and the island was a Spanish colony for nearly 380 years. The U.S. Navy administered Guam from 1898 until World War II, when Japan invaded on December 8, 1941 (just hours after the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7) and occupied the island for two and a half years.

American forces recaptured Guam between July 21 and August 10, 1944 in fierce fighting, with about 7,800 American casualties and roughly 18,500 Japanese deaths. About 1,170 Chamorros (the indigenous people of Guam) died during the Japanese occupation, and many more suffered torture, forced labor, and internment. The U.S. military commemorates the recapture each July 21 as Liberation Day, the largest holiday in Guam.

The Organic Act of Guam, signed August 1, 1950 by President Harry Truman, established a civil government and granted U.S. citizenship to Guamanians. Guam remains an unincorporated organized U.S. territory with a non-voting delegate in the House of Representatives. Residents cannot vote in presidential elections from the island. The island is administered by an elected Governor and a 15-member unicameral Guam Legislature.

Guam's economy is dominated by the U.S. military presence (about 30 percent of GDP) and tourism (mostly from Japan, Korea, and other Asian countries). Major military installations include Andersen Air Force Base on the northern end and Naval Base Guam on the southern end, which together host strategic bombers, submarines, fighter aircraft, and other forces critical to American Pacific defense.

The indigenous Chamorros make up about 37 percent of the population, with significant Filipino, white, Japanese, Korean, and other Asian and Pacific Islander communities. The Chamorro language, related to other Austronesian languages of the Philippines and Indonesia, is co-official with English. The island's geography includes coral reefs, limestone plateaus, and a hilly southern half. Guam's strategic position has made it a critical American military outpost in the Pacific for more than 125 years and a frequent target of geopolitical tensions, particularly during the Cold War and recent confrontations with North Korea.