Online Encyclopedia
Guam
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Territorial motto: Where America's Day Begins | |||||
Official languages | English, Chamorro | ||||
Unofficial languages | Japanese (used in business transactions), Tagalog (used in conversation) | ||||
Capital | Hagåtņa | ||||
Chief of state | George W. Bush | ||||
Governor | Felix Perez Camacho | ||||
Area - Total - % water |
Ranked 202nd 549 kmē Negligible |
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Population - Total (2003) - Density |
Ranked N/A 163,941 (July 2003 est.) 299/kmē |
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Independence | none (territory of the USA) | ||||
Currency | US dollar (USD) | ||||
Time zone | UTC+10 (no DST) | ||||
National anthem | Fanoghe Chamorro | ||||
Internet TLD | .gu | ||||
Calling Code | 1-671 |
The Territory of Guam (Guahan in Chamorro) is an island in the Western Pacific Ocean and is an organized unincorporated territory of the United States. The capital is Hagåtņa, formerly Agana (pronounced Agaņa). Guam's economy is mainly supported by tourism (90% of all visitors come from Japan) and United States armed forces bases. One of the closest American territories to the International Date Line, Guam is referred to by many as "where America's day begins", and as such, has become the territorial motto for the island.
The island is also known as a prominent example for the disastrous effects of bioinvasion: A stowaway on US troop transport ships at the end of World War II, the slightly venomous, but rather harmless, brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis) came from the Philippines to Guam and killed almost the entire native bird population on the previously snake-free island. This snake has no natural predators on the island; nowadays, Guam is one of the areas with the highest snake density in the world (an estimated 2,000 snakes/kmē).
Guam is served by Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport.
From the CIA World Factbook 2000:
- Politics of Guam
- Economy of Guam
- Communications in Guam
- Transportation in Guam
- List of radio stations in Guam
External links
- Official Guam Webpage http://ns.gov.gu/
- Guampedia http://www.guampedia.com/
- US Library of Congress - Portals to the World http://www.loc.gov/rr/international/hispanic/guam/guam.html
- Maps - Perry-Castaņeda Library Map Collection http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/guam.html
- Map of Micronesia http://www.mapsouthpacific.com/micronesia/index.html
- myMicroneia/Guam section http://www.mymicronesia.com/guam/
- Jane's Guam Home Page http://www.janeresture.com/guam/guam.htm
Countries in Oceania |
Australia | East Timor | Fiji | Kiribati | Marshall Islands | Federated States of Micronesia | Nauru | New Zealand | Palau | Papua New Guinea | Samoa | Solomon Islands | Tonga | Tuvalu | Vanuatu |
Other political units: American Samoa | Cook Islands | Easter Island | French Polynesia | Guam | Hawaii | Maluku Islands | Midway Atoll | New Caledonia | Niue | Norfolk Island | Northern Mariana Islands | Papua (Indonesia) | Pitcairn Islands | Tokelau | Wake Island | Wallis and Futuna | West Timor |
Political divisions of the United States | |||||||
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