Demographics of Guam

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Demographics of Guam
Guam single age population pyramid 2020.png
Population pyramid of Guam in 2020
Population169,086 (2022 est.)
Growth rate0.16% (2022 est.)
Birth rate18.56 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Death rate6.03 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Life expectancy77.5 years
  male75.07 years
  female80.08 years
Fertility rate2.78 children born/woman (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate11.46 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate-10.96 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years27.22%
65 and over9.54%
Sex ratio
Total1.06 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
At birth1.07 male(s)/female
Under 151.07 male(s)/female
65 and over0.71 male(s)/female
Nationality
NationalityGuamanian (US Citizens)

The demographics of Guam details an array of demographic statistics relating to the territory of Guam. This includes statistics on population, including the Indigenous population; religious affiliations; language; and immigration. The Demographics of Guam provides an overview of the history of Guam, as well as a depiction of the villages in the United States territory and its populace. The population of Guam, as of July 2021 was 168,801. [1]

Contents

The demographics of Guam include the demographic features of the population of Guam, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Population

While there are no large cities in Guam, the populace resides in villages. [2] The most populated village in Guam is Dededo, with a population of 44,943 in 2010. [1] The Indigenous people of Guam are known as the Chamorro people, and are the largest ethnic group in Guam. This group is categorised as a minority group in the United States territory. [3] The 2021 mean age in the territory of Guam was 31.4 years. [1] Guam is the largest and most populated of the territories in the Mariana Islands. [2]

The population density of Guam is approximately 310 people per square kilometer. The total land area is 544 km2. [1] 94.9% of Guam's population lives in urban regions. [1]

Historical population
CensusPop.Note
1910 11,806
1920 13,27512.4%
1930 18,50939.4%
1940 22,29020.4%
1950 59,498166.9%
1960 67,04412.7%
1970 84,99626.8%
1980 105,97924.7%
1990 133,15225.6%
2000 154,80516.3%
2010 159,3582.9%
2020 168,4855.7%

In the 2020 U.S. Census, Guam had a population of 153,836. This was a 3.5 percent decrease from the population of 159,358 in the 2010 census. [4]

Structure of the population

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2021) (Including armed forces stationed in the area.): [5]

Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal%
Total86 91081 891168 801100
0–48 0327 52515 5579.22
5–97 9737 46115 4349.14
10–147 6637 08814 7518.74
15–197 0876 29613 3837.93
20–247 3426 16513 5078.00
25–296 7405 91612 6567.50
30–345 7875 37611 1636.61
35–394 8664 6269 4925.62
40–444 4124 3728 7845.20
45–494 7354 6569 3915.56
50–545 2454 76710 0125.93
55–595 1494 7929 9415.89
60–644 1213 9818 1024.80
65–693 1213 1936 3143.74
70–742 3542 5584 9122.91
75–791 2011 4022 6031.54
80–847171 0271 7441.03
85–892795258040.48
90–94751402150.13
95–991023330.02
100+123<0.01
Age groupMaleFemaleTotalPercent
0–1423 66822 07445 74227.10
15–6455 48450 947106 43163.05
65+7 7588 87016 6289.85

Births and deaths

[6]

YearPopulationLive birthsDeathsNatural increaseCrude birth rateCrude death rateRate of natural increaseTFR
20093,3918352,55619.84.715.12.72
2010159,3583,4168572,55921.45.416.03.00
20113,2988422,45620.65.315.32.86
20123,5908832,70722.45.516.93.15
20133,2858732,41220.55.415.12.87
20143,3959392,45621.15.815.32.96
20153,3669852,38120.86.114.72.93
20163,4329982,43420.66.014.63.08
20173,2979902,31719.75.913.82.97
20183,1651,0352,13018.96.212.72.85
20193,0411,0022,03918.16.012.12.74
2020153,836 [7] 2,9351,1671,76817.46.910.52.41
20212,6231,2761,34715.57.67.92.36
20222,51814.92.26
20232,3901,1841,206

Ethnic groups

Guam is known to be the first island in the Pacific Ocean to be colonized by Europeans, discovered by the Spaniards in 1521. [2] After Guam was discovered by Ferdinand Magellan under the flag of Spain, the island was repeatedly invaded by alien military forces. [2] The island was officially claimed by Spain in 1565. It was the first island as well as the Mariana Islands, inhabited by humans in Remote Oceania. [2] Guam has since been occupied by outside entities for over 330 years. [2]

Magellan arrived on the shores of Guam with three ships, the Trinidad, the Conception and the Victoria. [2] The population of Guam in the mid 16th century was severely reduced, due to the bloodshed caused by the Spaniards, as well as the many diseases carried by the Europeans. [2] Guam was ceded to the United States after the Spanish–American War in 1898. [3] It was then taken by the Japanese in 1941 during World War II. It was retaken by the United States in 1944. [3]

While Guam merely covers 520 km squared of land area, the United States territory is considered to be of international significance, due to geopolitics, as well as the strategic importance of Guam's straits, islands and canals. [3] Guam is the largest landfall, for use of communications, military bases and shipping. [2] Guam was utilised as a military base in World War II against the Japanese. [2]

Guam is a multi-ethnic island, with settlers from the Philippines, Korea, Japan and China forming part of its populace. [8] Guam was first settled by migrants from the Philippines in 1,500 to 1,400 BCE. [8]

The Chamorro people

The Mariana Islands is an ethnic and cultural heritage of the Chamorro people. [3]   Despite the invasion attempts from leading military countries, such as Spain, The United States of America and Japan, the Chamorro people have maintained their traditions. [8] The cultural endurance of the Chamorro people was evident, as the Indigenous peoples of the Mariana Islands maintained their language, tradition and integrity, in spite of the dominance of imperialism. [9] While Guam has remained a colony in the postmodern world, the Chamorro people of Guam have gained an amount of local political control of the island traditions. [8]

In pre-Spanish times, Chamorro clans were divided into two distinct, ranked social castes. Social castes are different from social classes in that individuals are born into a particular caste and their status, therefore, could not be changed. Social classes, on the other hand, are more fluid and members can move between classes. The upper caste was known as chamorri, and the lower caste was known as manachang. Movement in between these castes, such as through marriage, was prohibited. [10] Concubines or other relationships could be maintained only within one's social class. In addition, the chamorri caste was divided into an upper noble class called matao and a middle, or demi-noble class, known as acha’ot.

Languages

Religion

According to the Pew Research Center, 2010: [11]

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) reported 2,550 members in the LDS Church in Guam [12] in 5 congregations [13] as of 31 December 2019. [14] On 4 May 2019, the church broke ground for a temple in Yigo.

In 2020, the Vatican noted that 87.72% of the population is Catholic, with 54 priests and 64 nuns across 27 parishes. [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guam</span> U.S. territory in the Pacific Ocean

Guam 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 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 and has a population density of 775 per square mile (299/km2).

The history of Guam starts with the early arrival around 2000 BC of Austronesian people known today as the Chamorro Peoples. The Chamorus then developed a "pre-contact" society, that was colonized by the Spanish in the 17th century. The present American rule of the island began with the 1898 Spanish–American War. Guam's history of colonialism is the longest among the Pacific islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Micronesia</span> Subregion of Oceania

Micronesia is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of approximately 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Polynesia to the east, and Melanesia to the south—as well as with the wider community of Austronesian peoples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Mariana Islands</span> Unincorporated territory of the US located in the Pacific

The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), is an unincorporated territory and commonwealth of the United States consisting of 14 islands in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The CNMI includes the 14 northernmost islands in the Mariana Archipelago; the southernmost island, Guam, is a separate U.S. territory. The Northern Mariana Islands were listed by the United Nations as a non-self-governing territory until 1990.

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Saipan is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 estimates by the United States Census Bureau, the population of Saipan was 43,385. Its people have been United States citizens since the 1980s. Saipan is one of the main homes of the Chamorro, the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands</span> Political division of the Northern Mariana Islands

Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguiguan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of the four constituent municipalities of the Northern Marianas. Tinian's largest village is San Jose. Tinian is just south of the Northern Marianas' most inhabited island, Saipan, but north of the populated Rota to the south. The island has many World War II historical sites, cattle ranches, and beaches. There was a 5-star casino that operated from 1998 to 2015; the remaining are other hotels/resorts and a golf course. The main Saipan access is a short airplane ride from the international airport or a charter boat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Islander</span> Person from the Pacific Islands

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hagåtña, Guam</span> Capital city of Guam

Hagåtña, formerly Agana or Agaña, is a coastal village and the capital of the United States territory of Guam. From the 18th through mid-20th century, it was Guam's population center, but today, it is the second smallest of the island's 19 villages in both area and population. However, it remains one of the island's major commercial districts in addition to being the seat of government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariana Islands</span> Archipelago in the Pacific Ocean

The Mariana Islands, also simply the Marianas, are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east. They lie south-southeast of Japan, west-southwest of Hawaii, north of New Guinea, and east of the Philippines, demarcating the Philippine Sea's eastern limit. They are found in the northern part of the western Oceanic sub-region of Micronesia, and are politically divided into two jurisdictions of the United States: the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and, at the southern end of the chain, the territory of Guam. The islands were named after the influential Spanish queen Mariana of Austria following their colonization in the 17th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chamorro people</span> Indigenous people of the Mariana Islands

The Chamorro people are the Indigenous people of the Mariana Islands, politically divided between the United States territory of Guam and the encompassing Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Micronesia, a commonwealth of the US. Today, significant Chamorro populations also exist in several US states, including Hawaii, California, Washington, Texas, Tennessee, Oregon, and Nevada, all of which together are designated as Pacific Islander Americans according to the US census. According to the 2000 census, about 64,590 people of Chamorro ancestry live in Guam and another 19,000 live in the Northern Marianas.

The Micronesians or Micronesian peoples are various closely related ethnic groups native to Micronesia, a region of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. They are a part of the Austronesian ethnolinguistic group, which has an Urheimat in Taiwan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diego Luis de San Vitores</span> Spanish missionary (1627–1672)

Diego Luis de San Vitores, SJ was a Spanish Jesuit missionary who founded the first Catholic church on the island of Guam. He is responsible for establishing the Christian presence in the Mariana Islands. He is a controversial figure in some circles due to his role in the Spanish–Chamorro Wars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spanish East Indies</span> Spanish colony from 1565 to 1901

The Spanish East Indies were the colonies of the Spanish Empire in Asia and Oceania from 1565 to 1901, governed through the captaincy general in Manila for the Spanish Crown, initially reporting to Mexico City, then later directly reporting to Madrid after the Spanish American Wars of Independence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of Guam</span> Overview of and topical guide to Guam

Guam The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Guam:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolinian people</span> Micronesian ethnic group

The Carolinian people are a Micronesian ethnic group who originated in Oceania, in the Caroline Islands, with a total population of over 8,500 people in the Northern Mariana Islands. They are also known as Remathau in the Yap's outer islands. Refaluwasch means "People of the Deep Sea." It is thought that their ancestors may have originally immigrated from Asia and Melanesia to Micronesia around 2,000 years ago. Their primary language is Carolinian, called Refaluwasch by native speakers, which has a total of about 5,700 speakers. The Refaluwasch have a matriarchal society in which respect is a very important factor in their daily lives, especially toward the matriarchs. Most Refaluwasch are of the Roman Catholic faith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of Guam</span>

The culture of Guam reflects traditional Chamorro customs in a combination of indigenous pre-Hispanic forms, as well as American and Spanish traditions. Post-European-contact CHamoru Guamanian culture is a combination of American, Spanish, Filipino and other Micronesian Islander traditions. Few indigenous pre-Hispanic customs remained following Spanish contact, but include plaiting and pottery, and there has been a resurgence of interest among the CHamoru to preserve the language and culture. Hispanic influences are manifested in the local language, music, dance, sea navigation, cuisine, fishing, games, songs and fashion.

The Spanish–Chamorro Wars, also known as the Chamorro Wars and the Spanish–Chamorro War, refer to the late seventeenth century unrest among the Chamorros of the Mariana Islands in the western Pacific Ocean against the colonial effort of Habsburg Spain. Anger at proselytizing by the first permanent mission to Guam, which was led by Diego Luis de San Vitores, and a series of cultural misunderstandings led to increasing unrest on Guam and a Chamorro siege of the Hagåtña presidio incited by maga'låhi (Chief) Hurao in 1670. Maga'låhi Matå'pang killed San Vitores in 1672, resulting in a campaign of Spanish reprisal burnings of villages through 1676. Local anger at the attacks against villages resulted in another open rebellion led by Agualin and a second siege of Hagåtña. Governor Juan Antonio de Salas conducted a counter-insurgency campaign that successfully created a system of collaboration in which Guamanians turned in rebels and murderers and transferred most of the people from about 180 villages to seven towns, a policy known as reducción. By the early 1680s, Guam was largely "reduced," or pacified.

An epidemic of smallpox in 1856 on the west Pacific island of Guam, then under the control of Spain, resulted in the death of over half of the population, or about 4,500 people. The population collapse led Spanish authorities to transfer the population of Pago to Hagåtña, ending a settlement dating back before colonization. It also led the Governor of the Spanish Mariana Islands to encourage immigration to Guam.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Guam – The World Factbook". cia.gov. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Rogers, Robert F. (30 June 2011), "Guam A Neocolonial Anachronism", Destiny's Landfall, University of Hawai'i Press, pp. 286–288, doi:10.21313/hawaii/9780824833343.003.0017, ISBN   978-0-8248-3334-3 , retrieved 19 May 2021
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Perez, Michael P. (1 September 2005). "Colonialism, Americanization, and Indigenous Identity: A Research Note on Chamorro Identity in Guam". Sociological Spectrum. 25 (5): 571–591. doi:10.1080/02732170500176138. ISSN   0273-2173. S2CID   145393169.
  4. "Population of Guam: 2010 and 2020" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. 28 October 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  5. "UNSD – Demographic and Social Statistics".
  6. "National Vital Statistics Reports". 4 March 2024.
  7. "Population of Guam: 2010 and 2020" (PDF).
  8. 1 2 3 4 Hung, H., Carson, M., Bellwood, P., Campos, F., Piper, P., Dizon, E., & Chi, Z. (2011). The first settlement of Remote Oceania: The Philippines to the Marianas. Antiquity, 85(329), 909-926. doi : 10.1017/S0003598X00068393
  9. Clampitt-Dunlap, Sharon (2018). Language matters : a sociolinguistic analysis of language and nationalism in Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico. Academica Press. ISBN   978-1-68053-068-1. OCLC   1030608805.
  10. Social Classes in Traditional Chamoru Society – https://www.guampedia.com/social-classes-in-traditional-chamorro-society/
  11. "Religions in Guam – PEW-GRF". Globalreligiousfutures.org. Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  12. This number includes all baptized members including those no longer attending.
  13. LDS Meetinghouse Locator.Nearby Congregations (Wards and Branches).
  14. "Facts and Statistics: Statistics by Country: Northern Mariana Islands", Newsroom, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, retrieved 15 January 2021
  15. Catholics And Culture website, retrieved 2023-08-03