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The answer? Yes, Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States. But what exactly does that mean? Keep reading and we’ll explain everything you need to know about Guam, its political status, and how that impacts the citizens of Guam. How Did Guam Become a Part of the United States? The results of the Spanish-American War ...
- Geographic Basics
- U.S. Relationship
- Military History
- People and Government
The strip of land in the western Pacific Ocean is roughly the size of Chicago, and just 4 miles wide at its narrowest point. It is about 2,200 miles southeast of North Korea, much closer than it is to any of the United States. Hawaii is about 4,000 miles to the west. Its proximity to China, Japan, the Philippines and the Korean Peninsula has long m...
Guam was claimed by Spain in 1565 and became a U.S. territory in 1898 during the Spanish-American War. Japan seized it for about 2 1/2 years during World War II. In 1950, an act of Congress made it an unincorporated organized territory of the United States. It has limited self-government, with a popularly elected governor, small legislature, and no...
The U.S. keeps a Naval base and Coast Guard station in the south, and an Air Force base in the north that saw heavy use during the Vietnam War. While already taking up 30 percent of the island, the American military has been seeking to increase its presence by relocating to Guam thousands of Marines who are currently based in Okinawa, Japan. Protec...
The island was first populated about 4,000 years ago by the ancestors of the Chamorros, still the island's largest ethnic group. Now, about 160,000 people live on Guam. Its capital city is Hagatna and its largest city is Dededo. Its chief languages are English and Chamorro. It has seen various popular movements pushing for greater self-government o...
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Is Guam a part of the United States?
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Is Guam an unincorporated territory?
- Guam is part of the Mariana Islands. Sort of. Geologically, Guam is a member of the Mariana Island archipelago, a crescent-shaped line of islands in the Pacific Ocean that are all part of the same underwater mountain range.
- Guam’s original inhabitants came from Southeast Asia. The indigenous people of the Mariana Islands are called the Chamorros, and it’s believed they came to the islands around 2,000 BCE from Southeast Asia, likely Taiwan, Indonesia, or the Philippines.
- The Chamorros established a matrilineal society. The Chamorro people didn’t have a written language before European arrival. Additionally, during the era of Spanish rule, much of the original Chamorro culture was suppressed, and a number of people perished from war and disease.
- Magellan was the first European to arrive in Guam. The Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was leading a Spanish expedition for King Charles I of Spain when he arrived in Guam on March 6, 1521.
Aug 9, 2017 · The only reason America annexed Guam and its Chamorro inhabitants all those years ago was because the U.S. was at war with Spain. When the Spanish-American War broke out in April of 1898, Guam was ...
- Becky Little
The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the District of Columbia of the United States of America in central North America. [1] [2] The term excludes the only two non- contiguous states, which are Alaska and Hawaii (they are also the last two states to be admitted to ...
Aug 9, 2017 · The US Relationship With Guam, Explained. Mark Fritz. Wed, Aug 9, 2017, 12:37 PM. Guam, the United States territory that Japan invaded right after bombing Pearl Harbor, is almost as important to ...
Apr 3, 2023 · The answer is yes, Guam is indeed a US territory, specifically referred to as an unincorporated organized territory of the United States. To put it in layman's terms, it means that while Guam falls under the jurisdiction of the United States, it does not possess the same degree of self-governance as a US state.
