Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States ; in Oceania, it is the largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands and the largest island in Micronesia. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, and the most populous village is Dededo.
The history of Guam starts with the early arrival around 2000 BC of Austronesian people known today as the CHamorus. The CHamorus then developed a "pre-contact" society, that was Spanish 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.
Guam is a U.S. territory in the western Pacific Ocean, at the boundary of the Philippine Sea. It is the southernmost and largest member of the Mariana Islands archipelago, which is itself the northernmost group of islands in Micronesia. The closest political entity is the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), another U.S. territory. Guam shares maritime boundaries with CNMI to the north and the Federated States of Micronesia to the south. It is located approximately one quarter of the way from the Philippines to Hawaii. Its location and size make it strategically important. It is the only island with both a protected harbor and land for multiple airports between Asia and Hawaii, on an east–west axis, and between Papua New Guinea and Japan, on a north–south axis.
Micronesia is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about two thousand small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: the Philippines to the west, Polynesia to the east, and Melanesia to the south—as well as with the wider community of Austronesian peoples.
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 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 Mariana Islands are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the western North 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.
Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions overseen by the U.S. federal government. The various U.S. territories differ from the U.S. states and Native American tribes in that they are not sovereign entities. In contrast, each state has a sovereignty separate from that of the federal government and each federally recognized Native American tribe possesses limited tribal sovereignty as a "dependent sovereign nation". Territories are classified by incorporation and whether they have an "organized" government through an organic act passed by the Congress. U.S. territories are under U.S. sovereignty and, consequently, may be treated as part of the United States proper in some ways and not others. Unincorporated territories in particular are not considered to be integral parts of the United States, and the Constitution of the United States applies only partially in those territories.
The Chamorro people are the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands, politically divided between the United States territories of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Micronesia. Today, significant Chamorro populations also exist in several U.S. states including Hawaii, California, Washington, Texas, Tennessee, Oregon, and Nevada, all of which together are designated as Pacific Islander Americans according to the U.S. Census. According to the 2000 Census, approximately 64,590 people of Chamorro ancestry live in Guam and another 19,000 live in the Northern Marianas. Another 93,000 live outside the Marianas in Hawaii and the West Coast of the United States. The Chamorros are primarily Austronesian, but many also have Spanish, Mexican or Filipino ancestry.
The Guam flying fox, also known as the little Marianas fruit bat, was a tiny megabat from Guam in the Marianas Islands in Micronesia that was confirmed extinct due to hunting or habitat changes. It was first recorded in 1931 and was observed roosting with the larger and much more common Mariana fruit bat. The last specimen was a female found roosting at Tarague cliff in March 1967, but it escaped capture. An unconfirmed sighting took place sometime during the 1970s and no other individuals have been sighted since then.
The Northern Mariana Islands national football team represents the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in international men's football. The team is controlled by the governing body for football in the Northern Mariana Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association, which is a member of the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) and since December 2020 a full member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The association is not a member of the world governing body FIFA, although it had applied for membership, and so while the national team is eligible to enter AFC and EAFF-run competitions, they are currently ineligible for global competitions such as the FIFA World Cup. As such, they do not have an official FIFA ranking. However, the team have been consistently ranked as one of the worst teams in the world on the Elo ratings and were in fact, in July 2016 rated as the worst men's senior international team in the world in a ratings system that also includes a number of other non-FIFA teams. Following the completion of the preliminary qualifying round for the 2017 EAFF East Asian Cup the team have won only one official competitive match against international opposition and have a goal difference of −78 in official matches. The team have never qualified for the finals of a major tournament and beyond friendlies and qualifying matches, their only official competition has been in an exhibition tournament in the regional Micronesian Games in 1998, which they won, to date their only tournament success.
This article details the fixtures and results of the Macau national football team.
The Northern Mariana Islands women's national football team is the international women's football team of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, controlled by the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association.
The Northern Mariana Islands National Guard is a proposed National Guard unit to be formed in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Currently, residents of the Northern Mariana Islands may serve in the Guam National Guard.
Artocarpus mariannensis, also known as the Marianas breadfruit or the seeded breadfruit, is a species of plant in the mulberry / fig family, Moraceae. It is endemic to the Mariana Islands and Guam. It has been utilised extensively by the Micronesian people, being one of the staple food crops that was introduced to other islands in Micronesia.
Cerbera dilatata is a species of tree in the family Apocynaceae endemic to the Mariana Islands.
Star Marianas Air, Inc. is a U.S. commuter airline headquartered at Tinian International Airport in Tinian Municipality, Northern Mariana Islands. It operates scheduled and charter passenger service in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam, both U.S. territories in the Pacific Ocean.
Eugenia palumbis is a shrub in the family Myrtaceae endemic to Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Gymnosporia thompsonii is a species of plant in the bittersweet family Celastraceae. It is endemic to the Mariana Islands and Guam, where it grows as a many-stemmed understory shrub or small tree in karst forests. Its wood is used for fuel and its leaves are used medicinally.
Claire Lynn Raulerson was an American plant biologist who worked in Guam and specialised in the study of Micronesian plants, especially those of Guam and the other Mariana Islands. She held her position in biology at the University of Guam for over forty years.
The Mariana Islands consist of 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. As of December 31, 2019, the LDS Church reported 2,550 members in one stake, five congregations, one mission, and one temple under construction in Guam. There are 865 members in a ward in the Northern Mariana Islands. There are two family history centers, one in Guam and one at the Saipan Ward building in the Northern Mariana Islands.
