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120-529: Guam ( / ˈ ɡ w ɑː m / GWAHM ; Chamorro : Guåhan [ˈɡʷɑhɑn] ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean . Guam's capital is Hagåtña , and the most populous village is Dededo . It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States, reckoned from the geographic center of

240-606: A U.S. territory following its exit from the TTPI pursuant to Security Council Resolution 683 . Although now both under U.S. control, the Northern Mariana Islands are separate from Guam . Efforts at reunification have failed in part due to residual post-war tensions resulting from the very different histories of Guam (occupied by Japan for only 31 months, in wartime) and the Northern Mariana Islands (more peacefully occupied by Japan, for about 30 years). Tourism in

360-605: A Guamanian Chamorro might consider the form used by NMI Chamorros to be archaic. Representatives from Guam have unsuccessfully lobbied the United States to take action to promote and protect the language. In 2013, "Guam will be instituting Public Law 31–45 , which increases the teaching of the Chamorro language and culture in Guam schools", extending instruction to include grades 7–10. Other efforts have been made in recent times, most notably Chamorro immersion schools. One example

480-535: A barge commanded by Lt. W.A. Hall, who was designated prize master, and had brought 18 sailors and 15 Marines from the barracks at Sumay . Seeing a launch from Cormoran hauling a barge of supplies back shore, Hall ordered shots fired across the bow of the launch until it hove to. Meanwhile, the two officers reached Cormoran and informed Captain Adalbert Zuckschwerdt of the situation. Zuckschwerdt agreed to surrender his crew but refused to turn over

600-427: A better experience for hotel guests. Tumon Bay has since been made into a preserve. A federal Guam National Wildlife Refuge in northern Guam protects the decimated sea turtle population in addition to a small colony of Mariana fruit bats . Harvest of sea turtle eggs was a common occurrence on Guam before World War II. The green sea turtle ( Chelonia mydas ) was harvested legally on Guam before August 1978, when it

720-550: A closed syllable ( *peResi → fokse "squeeze out", but afok "lime" → afuki "put lime on"). The phonemic split between / ɑ / and / æ / is still unexplained. Diphthongs *ay and *aw are still retained in Chamorro, while *uy has become i . If a word started with a vowel or *h (but not *q ), then prothesis with gw or g (before o or u ) occurred: *aku → gwahu "I (emphatic)", *enem → gunum "six". Additionally, *-iaC , *-ua(C) , and *-auC have become -iyaC , -ugwa(C) , and -agoC respectively. Chamorro

840-451: A considerable civilization. On the island of Tinian are some remains attributed to them, consisting of two rows of massive square stone columns , about 5 feet 4 inches (1.63 m) broad and 14 feet (4.3 m) high, with heavy, round capitals called latte stones . According to early Spanish accounts cinerary urns were found embedded in the capitals. When Spanish settlement started on 14 June 1668, they were subordinate to

960-681: A few of the islands. The island chain saw significant fighting during World War II. Guam , a possession of the United States since 1898, was captured by Japan in an attack from the Northern Mariana Islands that began on the day of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (December 8, 1941, the same time as the Pearl Harbor attack across the International Date Line). In 1944, the United States captured

1080-445: A half years before American forces recaptured it on July 21, 1944, which is commemorated there as Liberation Day . Since the 1960s, Guam's economy has been supported primarily by tourism and the U.S. military , for which Guam is a major strategic asset. Its future political status has been a matter of significant discussion, with public opinion polls indicating a strong preference for American statehood . Guam's de facto motto

1200-447: A high level of mutual intelligibility with Spanish. It is reported that even in the early 1920s, Spanish was reported to be a living language in Guam for commercial transactions, but the use of Spanish and Chamorro was rapidly declining as a result of English pressure. Spanish influences in Chamorro exist due to three centuries of Spanish colonial rule. Many words in the Chamorro lexicon are of Latin etymological origin via Spanish, but

1320-594: A maximum elevation of about 2,700 feet (820 m) is reached; there are craters showing signs of activity, and earthquakes are not uncommon. Coral reefs fringe the coasts of the southern isles, which are of slight elevation. The lowest point on the Earth's crust, the Mariana Trench , is near the islands and is named after them. The majority of islands in the Marianas still retain their indigenous names ending in

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1440-452: A plateau. The rugged south of the island is a result of more recent volcanic activity. Cocos Island off the southern tip of Guam is the largest of the many small islets along the coastline. Guam's highest point is Mount Lamlam at 1,334 feet (407 meters) above sea level. If its base is considered to be the nearby Challenger Deep , the deepest surveyed point in the Oceans , Mount Lamlam

1560-500: A remnant of pre-European culture. It is believed that " suruhånu " or " suruhåna " are the only ones who can safely harvest plants and other natural materials from their homes or " hålomtåno " without incurring the wrath of the " Taotao mo'na ." Their society was organized along matrilineal clans. The Chamorro people raised colonnades of megalithic capped pillars called latte stones upon which they built their homes. Latte stones are stone pillars that are found only in

1680-421: A resurgence of interest among the Chamorro to preserve the language and culture. Hispanic influences are manifested in the local language, music, dance, sea navigation, cuisine, fishing, games (such as batu , chonka , estuleks , and bayogu ), songs, and fashion. The island's original community are Chamorro natives, who have inhabited Guam for almost 4000 years. They had their own language related to

1800-521: A round-trip range of American B-29 bombers . In response, Japanese forces attacked the bases on Saipan and Tinian from November 1944 to February 1945. At the same time and afterwards, the United States Army Air Forces based on these islands conducted an intense strategic bombing campaign against the Japanese cities of military and industrial importance, including Tokyo , Nagoya , Osaka , Kobe , and others. Both US bombers

1920-448: A skiff which was fastened to the poop of the captain's ship. At which he, being very angry, went ashore with forty armed men. And burning some forty or fifty houses with several boats and killing seven men of the said island, they recovered their skiff. Pigafetta also described the boats the inhabitants used, including the sail shaped like a "lateen sail" (actually the crab claw sail ), hence the name Islas de las Velas Latinas (Islands of

2040-461: A stopover for Spanish galleons en route from Acapulco , Mexico to Manila , Philippines in a convoy known as the Galeon de Manila . Following the 1872 Cavite mutiny , several Filipinos were exiled to Guam, including the father of Pedro Paterno , Maximo Paterno, Dr. Antonio M. Regidor y Jurado and Jose Maria Basa. The islands were a popular port of call for British and American whaling ships in

2160-411: A total land area of 1,008 km (389 sq mi). They are composed of two administrative units: The island chain geographically consists of two subgroups, a northern group of ten volcanic main islands, all are currently uninhabited; and a southern group of five coralline limestone islands (Rota, Guam, Aguijan , Tinian and Saipan ), all inhabited except Aguijan. In the northern volcanic group

2280-549: A tradition of raised buildings with capstones. The word haligi ("pillar") is also used in various languages throughout the Philippines; while the Chamorro word guma ("house") closely resembles the Sumba word uma . The first Europeans to see the island group were a Spanish expedition, who on March 6, 1521, observed a string of islands and sailed between two of them during a Spanish expedition of world circumnavigation under

2400-660: Is "Where America's Day Begins", which refers to the island's proximity to the International Date Line . Guam is among the 17 non-self-governing territories listed by the United Nations , and has been a member of the Pacific Community since 1983. Guam is called Guåhan by Chamorro speakers, from the word guaha , meaning 'to have'; its English gloss 'we have' references the island's providing everything needed to live. Guam, along with

2520-460: Is 86 °F or 30 °C. The mean low is 76 °F (24.4 °C). 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 highest temperature ever recorded in Guam was 96 °F (35.6 °C) on April 18, 1971, and April 1, 1990. A record low of 69 °F (21 °C)

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2640-458: Is Huråo Guåhan Academy at Chamorro Village in downtown Hagåtña. This program is led by Ann Marie Arceo and her husband, Ray. According to the academy's official YouTube page, "Huråo Academy is one if not the first Chamoru Immersion Schools that focus on the teaching of Chamoru language and Self-identity on Guam. Huråo was founded as a non-profit in June 2005." The academy has been praised by many for

2760-473: Is a VSO or verb–subject–object language. However, the word order can be very flexible and change to SVO ( subject-verb-object ), like English, if necessary to convey different types of relative clauses depending on context and to stress parts of what someone is trying to say or convey. Again, that is subject to debate as those on Guam believe the Chamorro word order is flexible, but those in the NMI do not. Chamorro

2880-590: Is a chart of Chamorro consonants; all are unaspirated. Words containing *-VC_CV- in Proto-Malayo-Polynesian were often syncopated to *-VCCV- . This is most regular for words containing middle *ə ( schwa ), e.g. *qaləjaw → atdaw "sun", but sometimes also with other vowels, e.g. * qanitu → anti "soul, spirit, ghost". Then after this syncope, older *ə merged with u . Later, *i and *u were lowered to e and o in closed syllables ( *demdem → homhom "dark"), or finally but preceded by

3000-470: Is a non-voting member. They do, however, vote for party delegates in presidential primaries. In 1969, a referendum on unification with the Northern Mariana Islands was held and rejected. During the 1970s, Maryly Van Leer Peck started an engineering program, expanded University of Guam , and founded Guam Community College . In the same period, Alby Mangels , Australian adventurer and filmmaker of World Safari visited Guam during his six-year escapade on

3120-430: Is also an agglutinative language , whose grammar allows root words to be modified by a number of affixes . For example, masanganenñaihon 'talked a while (with/to)', passive marking prefix ma- , root verb sangan , referential suffix i 'to' (forced morphophonemically to change to e ) with excrescent consonant n , and suffix ñaihon 'a short amount of time'. Thus Masanganenñaihon guiʼ 'He/she

3240-523: Is an Austronesian language spoken by about 58,000 people, numbering about 25,800 on Guam and about 32,200 in the Northern Mariana Islands and elsewhere. It is the historic native language of the Chamorro people , who are indigenous to the Mariana Islands , although it is less commonly spoken today than in the past. Chamorro has three distinct dialects : Guamanian, Rotanese, and that in

3360-482: Is generally hot and humid throughout the year with little seasonal temperature variation. Guam is known to have equable temperatures year-round. Trade winds are fairly constant throughout the year. There is often a weak westerly monsoon influence in the summer months. Guam has two distinct seasons: Wet and dry season. The dry season runs from January through May. June is the transitional period. The wet season runs from July through November. Guam's average annual rainfall

3480-474: Is likely to have been the first island in Oceania to have been settled by humans. Spanish expeditions, beginning with one by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in the early 16th century, were the first Europeans to arrive; eventually, Spain annexed and colonized the archipelago, establishing their capital on the largest island, Guam. The Marianas were the first islands Magellan encountered after traversing

3600-507: Is located on the micro Mariana Plate between the two. Guam is the closest land mass to the Mariana Trench , the deep subduction zone that runs east of the Marianas. Volcanic eruptions established the base of the island in the Eocene , roughly 56 to 33.9 million years ago. The north of Guam is a result of this base being covered with layers of coral reef , turning into limestone , and then being thrust upward by tectonic activity to create

3720-465: Is the 32nd largest island of the United States . It is the southernmost and largest island in the Mariana Islands , as well as the largest in Micronesia . Guam's Point Udall is the westernmost point of the U.S. , as measured from the geographic center of the United States . The Mariana chain of which Guam is a part, was created by collision of the Pacific and Philippine Sea tectonic plates . Guam

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3840-404: Is the world's tallest mountain at 37,820 feet (11,530 m). Politically, Guam is divided into 19 villages . The majority of the population lives on the coralline limestone plateaus of the north, with political and economic activity centered in the central and northern regions. The rugged geography of the south largely limits settlement to rural coastal areas. The western coast is leeward of

3960-409: Is unique in the pre-contact Pacific Islands . The reasons for these changes is still unclear, but it is believed that it may have resulted from a third wave of migrants from Island Southeast Asia . Comparisons with other architectural traditions makes it likely that this third migration wave were again from the Philippines, or from eastern Indonesia (either Sulawesi or Sumba ), all of which have

4080-504: The kareta. car Ha faʼgåsi si Juan i kareta. 3sSA wash PND Juan the car 'Juan washed the car.' Håyi who? fumaʼgåsi Mariana Islands The indigenous inhabitants are the Chamorro people . Archaeologists in 2013 reported findings which indicated that the people who first settled the Marianas arrived there after making what may have been at the time the longest uninterrupted ocean voyage in human history. They further reported findings which suggested that Tinian

4200-583: The Enola Gay and the Bockscar (which dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki , respectively) flew their missions from Tinian's North Field . According to Werner Gruhl: "Mariana Island historians estimate that 10 percent of Guam's approximately 20,000 population were killed by violence, most by the Japanese Imperial Army and Navy ." The direct result of World War II on

4320-555: The SMS Cormoran (or SMS Cormoran II ), a German armed merchant raider , was forced to seek port at Apra Harbor on the U.S. territory of Guam after running short on coal. The United States, which was neutral at the time refused to supply provisions sufficient for the Cormoran to make a German port so the ship and her crew were interned until 1917. On the morning of April 7, 1917, word reached Guam by telegraph cable that

4440-561: The Bismarck Archipelago , New Guinea , and eastern Indonesia . The Lapita culture itself (the ancestral branch of the Polynesian migrations) is younger than the first settlement of the Marianas (the earliest Lapita artifacts are dated to around 1350 to 1300 BCE), indicating that they originated from separate migration voyages. Nevertheless, DNA analyses also show close genetic relationships between ancient settlers of

4560-615: The Caroline Islands at around the first millennium CE. This brought new pottery styles, languages, genes, and the hybrid Polynesian breadfruit . The period 900 to 1700 CE of the Marianas, immediately before and during the Spanish colonization, is known as the Latte period . It is characterized by rapid cultural change, most notably by the massive megalithic latte stones (also spelled latde or latti ). These were composed of

4680-597: The Caroline Islands in the first millennium AD. A third migration wave took place from Island Southeast Asia , likely the Philippines or eastern Indonesia , by 900 AD. These original settlers of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands evolved into the Chamorro people , historically known as Chamorros after first contact with the Spaniards. The ancient Chamorro society had four classes: chamorri (chiefs), matua (upper class), achaot (middle class), and mana'chang (lower class). The matua were located in

4800-461: The Caroline Islands , victims of a resultant tsunami . This earthquake was much more powerful than the 8.2 one that occurred on August 8, 1993. After a smallpox epidemic killed 3,644 Guamanians in 1856, Carolinians and Japanese were permitted to settle in the Marianas. After almost four centuries as part of the Kingdom of Spain , the United States occupied the island following Spain's defeat in

4920-541: The Carolines and certain species are indigenous to both island groups. The climate though damp is healthy, while the heat, being tempered by the trade winds , is milder than that of the Philippines; the variations of temperature are not great. The islands are part of a geologic structure known as the Izu–Bonin–Mariana Arc system and range in age from 5 million years old in the north to 30 million years old in

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5040-660: The Chamorro , who are related to the Austronesian peoples of the Malay Archipelago , the Philippines , Taiwan , and Polynesia . But unlike most of its neighbors, the Chamorro language is not classified as a Micronesian or Polynesian language. Rather, like Palauan , it possibly constitutes an independent branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language family . The Chamorro people settled Guam and

5160-604: The Chamorro language is most closely related to the Philippine subfamily of the Austronesian languages , instead of the Oceanic subfamily of the languages found in the rest of Remote Oceania. Mitochondrial DNA and whole genome sequencing of the Chamorro people strongly support an ancestry from the Philippines. Genetic analysis of pre- Latte period skeletons in Guam also show that they do not have Australo-Melanesian ("Papuan") ancestry, which rules out origins from

5280-484: The Empire of Japan attacked and invaded in the 1941 Battle of Guam on December 8, at the same time as the attack on Pearl Harbor . The Japanese renamed Guam Ōmiya-jima (Great Shrine Island). The Japanese occupation of Guam lasted about 31 months. During this period, the indigenous people of Guam were subjected to beatings, forced labor, family separation, concentration camps, massacres, beheadings and rape. During

5400-545: The German-Spanish Treaty of February 12, 1899 to sell the Northern Marianas and its other remaining islands to Germany for 837,500 German gold marks (about US$ 4,100,000 at the time ). The Northern Marianas and other island groups were incorporated by Germany as a small part of the larger German Protectorate of New Guinea . The total population in the Northern Marianas portion of these islands

5520-640: The Guam Organic Act of 1950 established Guam as an unincorporated organized territory of the United States , provided for the structure of the island's civilian government, and granted the people U.S. citizenship. The Governor of Guam was federally appointed until 1968 when the Guam Elective Governor Act provided for the office's popular election. Since Guam is not a U.S. state, U.S. citizens residing on Guam are not allowed to vote for president and their congressional representative

5640-509: The Lateen Sails ), the name used as Magellan claimed them for the Spanish crown. San Lazarus archipelago, Jardines ('gardens') and Prazeres are among the names applied to them by later navigators. In 1667, Spain formally claimed them, established a regular colony there and in 1668 gave the islands the official title of Las Marianas , in honor of Spanish Queen Mariana of Austria , widow of King Philip IV of Spain and Queen Regent of

5760-471: The Mariana Islands , were the first islands settled by humans in Remote Oceania . It was also the first and the longest of the ocean-crossing voyages of the Austronesian peoples , and is separate from the later Polynesian settlement of the rest of Remote Oceania. They were first settled around 1500 to 1400 BC, by migrants departing from the Philippines which was followed by a second migration from

5880-523: The Northern Marianas is split mainly between Filipino , Japanese, American, Korean , Taiwanese and Chinese tourists. There are several large tour operators in Saipan that cater to Asian tourists coming into the island. By far, the majority of tourism in the Northern Marianas is in Guam. Several flights a day land in Guam, mostly in the early hours between 1:00 AM and 3:30 AM. With the close of

6000-559: The Northern Marianas since this time. Following the Philippine–American War , Apolinario Mabini and other Filipino leaders were exiled to Guam in 1901. Weakened from its defeat in the Spanish–American War, Spain could no longer effectively control and protect the nearly 6,000 islands it retained throughout Micronesia , including the Northern Marianas, Carolines and Pelew Islands . Therefore, Spain entered into

6120-529: The Pacific Plate moving westward and plunging downward below the Mariana plate , a region which is the most volcanically active convergent plate boundary on Earth. This subduction region, just east of the island chain, forms the noted Mariana Trench , the deepest part of the Earth's oceans and lowest part of the surface of the Earth's crust. In this region, according to geologic theory, water trapped in

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6240-601: The Spanish Empire ruling during the minority of her son King Charles II . They then had a population of more than 50,000 inhabitants. With the arrival of passengers and settlers aboard the Manila Galleons from the Americas, new diseases were introduced in the islands, which caused many deaths in the native Chamorro population. The native population, who referred to themselves as Taotao Tano (people of

6360-493: The U.S. Congress had declared war on Germany . The Naval Governor of Guam , Roy Campbell Smith , sent two officers to inform the Cormoran that a state of war existed between the two countries, that the crew were now prisoners of war , and that the ship must be surrendered. Meanwhile, the USS Supply blocked the entrance to Apra Harbor to prevent any attempt to flee. In a separate boat, the two officers were accompanied by

6480-575: The Viceroyalty of New Spain , based in Mexico City . The Spanish-Chamorro Wars on Guam began in 1670 over growing tensions with the Jesuit mission, with the last large-scale uprising in 1683. Intermittent warfare, plus the typhoons of 1671 and 1693, and in particular the smallpox epidemic of 1688, reduced the Chamorro population from 50,000 to 10,000, and finally to less than 5,000. Up until

6600-422: The haligi pillars capped with another stone called tasa (which prevented rodents from climbing the posts). These served as supports for the rest of the structure which was made of wood. Remains of structures made with similar wooden posts have also been found. Human graves have also been found in front of latte structures, The Latte period was also characterized by the introduction of rice agriculture, which

6720-456: The trade winds and is the location of Apra Harbor , the capital Hagåtña , and the tourist center of Tumon . The U.S. Defense Department owns about 29% of the island, under the management of Joint Region Marianas . Guam has a tropical rainforest climate on the Köppen scale (Köppen Af ). Its driest month of March almost qualifies as a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen Am ). The weather

6840-402: The 17th century and ended in the early 20th century, meant a profound change from the old Chamorro (paleo-Chamorro) to modern Chamorro (neo-Chamorro) in its grammar , phonology , and vocabulary . The Chamorro language is threatened, with a precipitous drop in language fluency over the past century. It is estimated that 75% of the population of Guam was literate in the Chamorro language around

6960-624: The 1898 Spanish–American War , as part of the Treaty of Paris of 1898 . Guam was transferred to the United States Navy control on December 23, 1898, by Executive Order 108-A from 25th President William McKinley . Guam was a station for American merchants and warships traveling to and from the Philippines , which was another American acquisition from Spain, while the Northern Mariana Islands were sold by Spain to Germany for part of its rapidly expanding German Empire . A U.S. Navy yard

7080-651: The 1898 Treaty of Paris , Spain ceded Guam to the U.S. effective April 11, 1899. Before World War II , Guam was one of five American jurisdictions in the Pacific Ocean, along with Wake Island in Micronesia, American Samoa and Hawaii in Polynesia, and the Philippines. On December 8, 1941, hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor , Guam was captured by the Japanese , who occupied the island for two and

7200-485: The 1990s also disrupted the island's economy. Economic recovery was further hampered by devastation from super typhoons Paka in 1997 and Pongsona in 2002, as well as the effects of the September 11 terrorist attacks and the crash of Korean Air Flight 801 on tourism. Guam is 30.17 miles (48.55 kilometers) long and 4 to 12 miles (6 to 19 kilometers) wide. It has an area of 212 square miles (549 square kilometers). It

7320-716: The 19th century. The first such visit on record was that of the Resource to Guam in October 1799. The last known visit was made by the American whaler Charles W. Morgan in February 1904. The Marianas remained a Spanish colony under the general government of the Philippines until 1898, when, as a result of its loss in the Spanish–American War , Spain ceded Guam to the United States. Guam has been separate from

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7440-651: The American period include the Typhoon of 1900 , Karen (1962), Pamela (1976), Paka (1997), Pongsona (2002), and Mawar (2023). Since 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 have built their structures out of reinforced concrete with installed typhoon shutters . Guam has experienced severe effects of invasive species upon

7560-489: The Chamorro language even during the Spanish colonial era, but this was all to change with the advent of American imperialism and enforcement of the English language. In Guam, the language suffered additional suppression when the U.S. government banned the Chamorro language in schools and workplaces in 1922, destroying all Chamorro dictionaries. Similar policies were undertaken by the Japanese government when they controlled

7680-583: The Chamorro language, and island culture into an entertaining program. On TV, Nihi! Kids is a first-of-its-kind show, because it is targeted "for Guam's nenis that aims to perpetuate Chamoru language and culture while encouraging environmental stewardship, healthy choices and character development." In 2019, local news station KUAM News began a series of videos on their YouTube channel, featuring University of Guam's Dr. Michael Bevacqua . Chamorro has 24 phonemes : 18 are consonants and six are vowels . Chamorro has at least 6 vowels, which include: Below

7800-520: The Chamorro lexicon comes from Spanish, whose contribution goes far beyond loanwords. Rodríguez-Ponga (1995) considers Chamorro to be either Spanish-Austronesian or a Spanish-Austronesian mixed language, or at least a language that has emerged from a process of contact and creolization on the island of Guam since modern Chamorro is influenced in vocabulary and has in its grammar many elements of Spanish origin: verbs , articles, prepositions , numerals , conjunctions , etc. The process, which began in

7920-464: The Department of Agriculture, Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources has established several new marine preserves where fish populations are monitored by biologists. These are located at Pati Point , Piti Bomb Holes , Sasa Bay , Achang Reef Flat, and Tumon Bay . Before adopting U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards, portions of Tumon Bay were dredged by the hotel chains to provide

8040-594: The Mariana Islands chain from Japan : the Northern Mariana Islands were desired by the U.S. as bombing bases to reach the Japanese mainland , with the invasion of Saipan being launched for that reason in June before the U.S. even moved to recapture Guam; a month later the U.S. recaptured Guam and captured Tinian . Once captured, Saipan and Tinian 's islands were used extensively by the United States military as they finally put mainland Japan within

8160-499: The Mariana Islands was that, after the war, the Northern Mariana Islands came under the control of the United States in the same way they had earlier come under the control of Japan after World War I. However, this time they became part of the U.S.-administered Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) established pursuant to Security Council Resolution 21 . The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands later became

8280-550: The Mariana Islands. They are a recent development in Pre-Contact Chamorro society. The latte-stone was used as a foundation on which thatched huts were built. Latte stones consist of a base shaped from limestone called the haligi and with a capstone, or tåsa , made either from a large brain coral or limestone, placed on top. A possible source for these stones, the Rota Latte Stone Quarry ,

8400-486: The Mariana islands approximately 3,500 years ago. Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan , while in the service of Spain, was the first European to visit and claim the island on March 6, 1521. Guam was fully colonized by Spain in 1668. Between the 16th and 18th centuries, Guam was an important stopover for Spanish Manila galleons . During the Spanish–American War , the United States captured Guam on June 21, 1898. Under

8520-509: The Marianas and early Lapita settlers in the Bismarck Archipelago . This may indicate that both the Lapita culture and the Marianas were settled from direct migrations from the Philippines, or that early settlers from the Marianas voyaged further southwards into the Bismarcks and reconnected with the Lapita people. The Marianas also later established contact with and received migrations from

8640-596: The Mexican colony (soon viceroyalty) of New Spain , until 1817, when they became subordinated to the Philippines , as part of the Spanish East Indies . Research in the archipelago was carried out by Commodore Anson , who in August 1742 landed upon the island of Tinian. The Ladrones were visited by Byron in 1765, Wallis in 1767 and Crozet in 1772. The Marianas and specifically the island of Guam were

8760-631: The Northern Mariana Islands (NMI), younger Chamorros speak the language fluently but prefer English when speaking to their children. Chamorro is common in Chamorro households in the Northern Marianas, but fluency has greatly decreased among Guamanian Chamorros during the years of American rule in favor of the American English commonplace throughout the Marianas. Today, NMI Chamorros and Guamanian Chamorros disagree strongly on each other's linguistic fluency. An NMI Chamorro would say Guamanian Chamorros speak "broken" Chamorro (i.e., incorrect), whereas

8880-481: The Pacific from the southern tip of South America. The fruits found there saved the survivors from scurvy , which had already killed dozens of crewmembers. The Mariana Islands are the southern part of a submerged mountain range that extends 1,565 miles (2,519 km) from Guam to near Japan. Geographically, the Marianas are part of a larger region called Micronesia , situated between 13° and 21°N latitude and 144° and 146°E longitude. The Mariana Islands have

9000-579: The Spanish.... There was wholesale borrowing of Spanish words and phrases into Chamorro, and there was even some borrowing from the Spanish sound system. But this borrowing was linguistically superficial. The bones of the Chamorro language remained intact.... In virtually all cases of borrowing, Spanish words were forced to conform to the Chamorro sound system.... While Spanish may have left a lasting mark on Chamorro vocabulary, as it did on many Philippine and South American languages, it had virtually no effect on Chamorro grammar.... The Japanese influence on Chamorro

9120-404: The U.S. In Oceania , Guam is the largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands and the largest island in Micronesia . As of 2022, its population was 168,801. Chamorros are its largest ethnic group, but a minority on the multiethnic island. The territory spans 210 square miles (540 km; 130,000 acres) and has a population density of 775 per square mile (299/km). Indigenous Guamanians are

9240-554: The coastal villages, which meant they had the best access to fishing grounds. The mana'chang were located in the island's interior. Matua and mana'chang rarely communicated with each other. The matua often used achaot as intermediaries. There were also " makåhna " or " kakahna ", shamans with magical powers and "' suruhånu " or " suruhåna ", healers who used different kinds of plants and natural materials to make medicine. Belief in spirits of ancient Chamorros called " Taotao mo'na " still persists as

9360-536: The command of Ferdinand Magellan . Historically, the southern village of Umatac, Guam has been credited as the site of the Spanish landing. As confirmation, a scholarly study of the navigator's diary, now kept in preservation in the Philippines , revealed a drawing of the islands with a tiny island to the south of a much larger island above it. The described placement of the islands confirms that Magellan had actually sailed between Guam and Cocos Island , and not Guam and Rota , as some originally thought, especially since

9480-585: The continuity of the Chamoru language. Other creative ways to incorporate and promote the Chamorro language have been found in the use of applications for smartphones, internet videos and television. From Chamorro dictionaries, to the most recent "Speak Chamorro" app, efforts are growing and expanding in ways to preserve and protect the Chamorro language and identity. On YouTube, a popular Chamorro soap opera Siha has received mostly positive feedback from native Chamorro speakers on its ability to weave dramatics,

9600-496: The extensive faulting of the Pacific Plate as serpentinite , is heated by the higher temperatures of depth during its subduction, the pressure from the expanding steam results in the hydrothermal activity in the area and the volcanic activity which formed the Mariana Islands. All the islands, except Farallon de Medinilla and Uracas or Farallon de Pajaros (in the northern group), are more or less densely forested , and

9720-414: The first islands settled by humans in Remote Oceania . Incidentally it is also the first and the longest of the ocean-crossing voyages of the Austronesian peoples into Remote Oceania, and is separate from the later Polynesian settlement of the rest of Remote Oceania. They were first settled around 1500 to 1400 BCE by migrants departing from the Philippines . Archeological studies of human activity on

9840-483: The first syllable of root). Chamorro is a predicate -initial head-marking language. It has a rich agreement system in the nominal and in the verbal domains. Chamorro is also known for its wh-agreement in the verb. The agreement morphemes agree with features (roughly the grammatical case feature) of the question phrase and replace the regular subject–verb agreement in transitive realis clauses: Ha 3sSA faʼgåsi wash si PND Juan Juan i

9960-481: The island. The estimated interracial marriage rate is over 40%. The official languages of the island are English and Chamorro . Unlike most of its neighboring languages, Chamorro is not classified as Micronesian or Polynesian . Rather, like Palauan , it possibly constitutes an independent branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language family . Filipino is also commonly spoken across the island. Other Pacific and Asian languages are spoken in Guam as well. Spanish , which

10080-486: The islands have revealed pottery with red-slipped, circle-stamped and punctate-stamped designs found in the Mariana Islands dating from between 1500 and 1400 BC. These artifacts show similar aesthetics to pottery found in Northern and Central Philippines, particularly Nagsabaran ( Cagayan Valley ) pottery, which flourished during the period between 2000 and 1300 BC. Comparative and historical linguistics also indicate that

10200-405: The islands of Ladrones." Pigafetta writes, And the captain-general wished to approach the largest of these three islands to replenish his provisions. But it was not possible, for the people of those islands entered the ships and robbed us so that we could not protect ourselves from them. And when we wished to strike and take in the sails so as to land, they stole very quickly the small boat called

10320-537: The land) but were known to the early Spanish colonists as Chamurres or HachaMori , eventually died out as a distinct people, though their descendants intermarried. At the Spanish occupation in 1668 , the Chamorros were estimated at 50,000, but a century later only 1,800 natives remained, as the majority of the population was of mixed Spanish-Chamorro blood or mestizo . They were characteristic Micronesians , with

10440-437: The languages of Indonesia and southeast Asia. The Spanish later called them Chamorros. A derivative of the word, Chamorri, means "noble race". They began to grow rice on the island. Historically, the native people of Guam venerated the bones of their ancestors. They kept the skulls in their houses in small baskets, and practiced incantations before them when it was desired to attain certain objects. During Spanish rule (1668–1898)

10560-453: The late 19th century, Guam was encountered by adventurers and pirates, including Thomas Cavendish , Olivier van Noort , John Eaton , William Dampier , Woodes Rogers , John Clipperton , George Shelvocke and William "Bully" Hayes . The island became a rest stop for whalers starting in 1823. A devastating typhoon struck the island on August 10, 1848, followed by a severe earthquake on January 25, 1849, which resulted in many refugees from

10680-612: The leg of his voyage through the Pacific aboard the Klaraborg . The removal of Guam's security clearance by President John F. Kennedy in 1963 allowed for the development of a tourism industry. When the United States closed U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay and Clark Air Base bases in the Philippines after the expiration of their leases in the early 1990s, many of the forces stationed there were relocated to Guam. The 1997 Asian financial crisis , which hit Japan particularly hard, severely affected Guam's tourism industry. Military cutbacks in

10800-404: The letters -an; for example, Guahan (the indigenous name of Guam), Agrigan , Agrihan , Aguihan /Aguigan, Pagan , Sarigan, Saipan , and Tinian . The islands are part of a geologic structure known as the Izu–Bonin–Mariana Arc system, and range in age from 5 million years old in the north to 30 million years old in the south (Guam). The island chain arose as a result of the western edge of

10920-677: The majority of the population was converted to Catholicism and religious festivities such as Easter and Christmas became widespread. Many Chamorros have Spanish surnames , although few of the inhabitants are themselves descended from the Spaniards. Instead, Spanish names and surnames became commonplace after their conversion to Catholicism and the imposition of the Catálogo alfabético de apellidos in Guam. Chamorro language Chamorro ( English: / tʃ ə ˈ m ɔːr oʊ / chə- MOR -oh ; endonym : Finuʼ Chamorro [Northern Mariana Islands] or Finoʼ CHamoru [Guam] /t​͡saˈmoɾu/ )

11040-532: The marine life in reefs around the island. Soil stabilization efforts by volunteers and forestry workers (planting trees) have had little success in preserving natural habitats. Efforts have been made to protect Guam's coral reef habitats from pollution, eroded silt and overfishing, problems that have led to decreased fish populations. This has both ecological and economic value, as Guam is a significant vacation spot for scuba divers , and one study found that Guam's reefs are worth $ 127 million per year. In recent years,

11160-509: The natural biodiversity of the island. These include the local extinction of endemic bird species after the introduction of the brown tree snake , an infestation of the coconut rhinoceros beetle destroying coconut palms, and the effect of introduced feral mammals and amphibians . Wildfires plague the forested areas of Guam every dry season despite the island's humid climate. Most fires are caused by humans with 80% resulting from arson . Poachers often start fires to attract deer to

11280-430: The nearly three years of occupation approximately 1,100 Chamorros were killed, according to later US Congressional committee testimony in 2004. Some historians estimate that war violence killed 10% of Guam's then 20,000 population. The United States returned and fought the 1944 Battle of Guam from July 21 to August 10, to recapture the island. July 21 is now a territorial holiday, Liberation Day . After World War II,

11400-491: The new growth. Invasive grass species that rely on fire as part of their natural life cycle grow in many regularly burned areas. Grasslands and "barrens" have replaced previously forested areas leading to greater soil erosion. During the rainy season, sediment is carried by the heavy rains into the Fena Lake Reservoir and Ugum River , leading to water quality problems for southern Guam. Eroded silt also destroys

11520-402: The northern areas of Guam do not have safe coves or harbors to anchor. Moreover, the waters of Northern Guam are often rougher and the currents are even more treacherous in comparison to the safer coves and currents seen by the southwestern side of Guam. Regardless of where they landed, the Spanish ships arrived in Guam and were unable to get fresh food as the inhabitants, Chamorros , "entered

11640-404: The oldest family members were fluent. Lack of exposure made it increasingly difficult to pick up Chamorro as a second language. Within a few generations, English replaced Chamorro as the language of daily life. There is a difference in the rate of Chamorro language fluency between Guam and the rest of the Marianas. On Guam the number of native Chamorro speakers has dwindled since the mid-1990s. In

11760-478: The only Spanish outposts in the Pacific Ocean east of the Philippines, were reprovisioning stops for the Manila galleons , a fleet that covered the Pacific trade route between Acapulco and Manila . Spanish colonization commenced on June 15, 1668, with the arrival of a mission led by Diego Luis de San Vitores , who established the first Catholic church. The islands were part of the Spanish East Indies , and part of

11880-452: The other Northern Mariana Islands (NMI). Unlike most of its neighbors, Chamorro is not classified as a Micronesian or Polynesian language. Rather, like Palauan , it possibly constitutes an independent branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language family . At the time the Spanish rule over Guam ended, it was thought that Chamorro was a semi- creole language , with a substantial amount of the vocabulary of Spanish origin and beginning to have

12000-483: The population was Catholic, with 54 priests and 64 nuns across 27 parishes. The culture of Guam is a reflection of traditional Chamorro customs, in combination with American, Spanish and Mexican traditions. Post-European-contact Chamorro Guamanian culture is a combination of American, Spanish, Filipino, other Micronesian Islander and Mexican traditions. Few indigenous pre-Hispanic customs remained following Spanish contact, but include plaiting and pottery. There has been

12120-482: The population. Asians , including Filipinos, Koreans, Chinese, and Japanese, accounted for 35.5% of the population. Other ethnic groups of Micronesia , including those of Chuukese , Palauan , and Pohnpeians , accounted for 13.2%. 10% of the population were multiracial , (two or more races). European Americans made up 6.8% of the population; 1% are African Americans , and 3% are Hispanic ; there are 1,740 Mexicans in Guam, and there are other Hispanic ethnicities on

12240-420: The pronunciation of these loanwords has been nativized to the phonology of Chamorro, and their use conforms to indigenous grammatical structures. Some authors consider Chamorro a mixed language under a historical point of view, even though it remains independent and unique. In his Chamorro Reference Grammar , Donald M. Topping states: "The most notable influence on Chamorro language and culture came from

12360-465: The region during World War II. After the war, when Guam was recaptured by the United States, American administrators of the island continued to impose "no Chamorro" restrictions in local schools, teaching only English and disciplining students for speaking their indigenous tongue. While these oppressive language policies were progressively lifted, Chamorro usage had substantially decreased. Subsequent generations were often raised in households where only

12480-596: The ship. The U.S. officers informed Zuckschwerdt that the Cormoran would be treated as an enemy combatant and left to inform Governor Smith of the situation. Unbeknownst to the Americans, the Germans had secreted an explosive device in the ship's coal bunker. Minutes after the Americans left, an explosion aboard Cormoran hurled debris across the harbor and her crew began abandoning ship. The two American boats and USS Supply immediately began to recover German sailors from

12600-493: The ships and stole whatever they could lay their hands on", including "the small boat that was fastened to the poop of the flagship", according to Spanish crewman Antonio Pigafetta. The Spanish crew, in retaliation, attacked the Chamorros and dubbed the islands Islas de los Ladrones (Islands of the Thieves). Wrote Pigafetta, "Those people are poor, but ingenious and very thievish, on account of which we called those three islands

12720-441: The south (Guam). The islands are formed as the highly dense and very old western edge of the Pacific Plate plunges downward to form the floor of the Mariana Trench and carries trapped water under the Mariana plate as it does so. This water is super-heated as the plate is carried farther downward and results in the volcanic activity which has formed the arc of Mariana Islands above this subduction region. The Mariana Islands were

12840-448: The steep, post-World War II decline of Chamorro language fluency. There is a long history of colonization of the Marianas, beginning with the Spanish colonization in 1668 and, eventually, the American acquisition of Guam in 1898 (whose hegemony continues to this day). This imposed power structures privileging the language of the region's colonizers. According to estimates, a large majority, as stated above (75%), maintained active knowledge of

12960-420: The time the United States captured the island during the Spanish–American War (there are no similar language fluency estimates for other areas of the Mariana Islands during this time). A century later, the 2000 U.S. Census showed that fewer than 20% of Chamorros living in Guam speak their heritage language fluently, and the vast majority of those were over the age of 55. A number of forces have contributed to

13080-405: The vegetation is dense, much resembling that of the Carolines and also of the Philippines, from where species of plants have been introduced. Owing to the moistness of the soil cryptogams are numerous, as are also most kinds of grasses. On most of the islands there is a plentiful supply of water. The fauna of the Marianas, though inferior in number and variety, is similar in character to that of

13200-475: The water, saving all but seven of the roughly 370 Cormoran crew. This incident, including the warning shots against the launch, accounted for the first violent action of the United States in World War I , first shots fired by the U.S. against Germany in World War I, the first German prisoners of war captured by the U.S., and the first Germans killed in action by the U.S. in World War I. During World War II ,

13320-495: Was 98 inches or 2,490 millimeters between 1981 and 2010. The wettest month on record at Guam Airport has been August 1997 with 38.49 inches (977.6 mm). The driest was February 2015 with 0.15 inches (3.8 mm). The wettest calendar year was 1976 with 131.70 inches (3,345.2 mm). The driest year was in 1998 with 57.88 inches (1,470.2 mm). The most rainfall in a single day occurred on October 15, 1953, when 15.48 inches or 393.2 millimeters fell. The mean high temperature

13440-476: Was discovered in 1925 on Rota . The first European to travel to Guam was Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan , sailing for the King of Spain , when he sighted the island on March 6, 1521, during his fleet's circumnavigation of the globe. Despite Magellan's visit, Guam was not officially claimed by Spain until January 26, 1565, by Miguel López de Legazpi . From 1565 to 1815, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands,

13560-540: Was established at Piti in 1899. A United States Marine Corps barracks was established at Sumay in 1901. A marine seaplane unit was stationed in Sumay from 1921 to 1930, the first in the Pacific. The Commercial Pacific Cable Company built a telegraph/telephone station in 1903 for the first trans-Pacific communications cable, followed by Pan American World Airways establishing a seaplane base at Sumay for its trans-Pacific China Clipper route. On December 10, 1914,

13680-519: Was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The hawksbill sea turtle ( Eretmochelys imbricata ) has been on the endangered list since 1970. In an effort to ensure the protection of sea turtles on Guam, routine sightings are counted during aerial surveys and nest sites are recorded and monitored for hatchlings. In the 2020 United States Census , the largest ethnic group were the native Chamorros , accounting for 32.8% of

13800-503: Was much greater than that of German but much less than Spanish. Once again, the linguistic influence was restricted exclusively to vocabulary items, many of which refer to manufactured objects...." In contrast, in the essays found in Del español al chamorro. Lenguas en contacto en el Pacífico (2009), Rafael Rodríguez-Ponga refers to modern Chamorro as a "mixed language" of "Hispanic-Austronesian" origins and estimates that approximately 50% of

13920-538: Was only 2,646 inhabitants around this time, with the ten most northerly islands being actively volcanic and thus mostly uninhabited. Japan, allied with the Entente Powers during World War I , seized all of Germany's colonial possessions in East Asia and Micronesia, including the Northern Mariana Islands, and held them through the end of the war. Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, Germany

14040-493: Was set on February 1, 2021. The lowest recorded temperature was 65 °F (18.3 °C), set on February 8, 1973. Guam lies in the path of typhoons and 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 from August through November, where typhoons and tropical storms are most probable in the western Pacific. They can, however, occur year-round. Typhoons that have caused major damage on Guam in

14160-509: Was stripped of all her colonies worldwide, including the Palau, Caroline, Northern Mariana and Marshall Islands. By international agreement, these were all placed into trusteeship under the management of League of Nations which assigned them to Japan as the Class C South Seas Mandate . During this time, Japan used some of the islands for sugarcane production, modestly increasing the population of

14280-528: Was the language of administration for 300 years, influenced the Chamorro language . The predominant religion of Guam is Christianity . Three-quarters of the population adheres to Catholicism , while most of the remainder belong to Protestant churches. According to the Pew Research Center , the religious demography of Guam in 2010 was as follows: In 2020, the Vatican claimed that 87.72% of

14400-454: Was told (something) for a while'. Chamorro has many Spanish loanwords and other words have Spanish etymological roots (such as tenda 'shop/store' from Spanish tienda ), which may lead some to mistakenly conclude that the language is a Spanish creole , but Chamorro very much uses its loanwords in an Austronesian way ( bumobola 'playing ball ' from bola 'ball, play ball' with verbalizing infix -um- and reduplication of

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