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.
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.
Though Guam is a United States territory, some U.S. long-distance plans and courier services list Guam as an international location. As a result of Guam's being added to the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) in 1997, calls made to the U.S., Canada, or other participating countries from Guam only require the caller to dial a 1 followed by the area code.
Midway Atoll is a 2.4-square-mile (6.2 km2) atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. Midway Atoll is an insular area of the United States and is an unorganized and unincorporated territory. The largest island is Sand Island, which has housing and an airstrip. Immediately to the east of Sand Island across the narrow Brooks Channel is Eastern Island, which is uninhabited and has no facilities. Forming a rough, incomplete circle around the two main islands and creating Midway Lagoon is Spit Island, a narrow reef.
Fort William and Mary was a colonial fortification in Britain's worldwide system of defenses, defended by soldiers of the Province of New Hampshire who reported directly to the royal governor. The fort, originally known as "The Castle," was situated on the island of New Castle, New Hampshire, at the mouth of the Piscataqua River estuary. It was renamed Fort William and Mary circa 1692, after the accession of the monarchs William III and Mary II to the British throne. It was captured by Patriot forces, recaptured, and later abandoned by the British in the Revolutionary War. The fort was renamed Fort Constitution in 1808 following rebuilding. The fort was further rebuilt and expanded through 1899 and served actively through World War II.
Typhoon Pongsona was the last typhoon of the 2002 Pacific typhoon season, and was the second costliest United States disaster in 2002, only behind Hurricane Lili. The name "Pongsona" was contributed by North Korea for the Pacific tropical cyclone list and is the Korean name for the garden balsam. Pongsona developed out of an area of disturbed weather on December 2, and steadily intensified to reach typhoon status on December 5. On December 8 it passed through Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands while near its peak winds of 175 km/h. It ultimately turned to the northeast, weakened, and became extratropical on December 11. Typhoon Pongsona produced strong wind gusts peaking at 290 km/h, which left the entire island of Guam without power and destroyed about 1,300 houses. With strong building standards and experience from repeated typhoon strikes, there were no fatalities directly related to Pongsona, although there was one indirect death from flying glass. Damage on the island totaled over $730 million, making Pongsona among the five costliest typhoons on the island. The typhoon also caused Extreme damage on Rota and elsewhere in the Northern Mariana Islands, and as a result of its impact the name was retired.
This is a list of the buildings, sites, districts, and objects listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Guam. There are currently 134 listed sites spread across 17 of the 19 villages of Guam. The villages of Agana Heights and Mongmong-Toto-Maite do not have any listings. Listed historic sites include Spanish colonial ruins, a few surviving pre-World War II ifil houses, Japanese fortifications, two massacre sites, and a historic district. Two other locations that were previously listed have been removed from the Register.
This is a list of properties and historic districts in Hawaii listed on the National Register of Historic Places. More than 340 listings appear on all but one of Hawaii's main islands and the Northwestern Islands, and in all of its five counties. Included are houses, schools, archeological sites, ships, shipwrecks and various other types of listings. These properties and districts are listed by island, beginning at the northwestern end of the chain.
Typhoon Karen was the most powerful tropical cyclone to strike the island of Guam, and has been regarded as one of the most destructive events in the island's history. It was first identified as a tropical disturbance on November 6, 1962, well to the southeast of Truk. Over the following two days, the system tracked generally northward and quickly intensified. Karen became a tropical storm late on November 7, and within two days it explosively intensified into a Category 5-equivalent super typhoon on the Saffir–Simpson scale. Turning westward, the typhoon maintained its intensity and struck Guam with winds of 280 km/h (175 mph) on November 11. Once clear of the island, it strengthened slightly and reached its peak intensity on November 13 with winds of 295 km/h (185 mph) and a barometric pressure of 894 mb. The storm then gradually turned northward as it weakened, brushing the Ryukyu Islands on November 15, before moving east-northeastward over the open waters of the Pacific. Karen continued to weaken and transitioned into an extratropical cyclone on November 17 before losing its identity the following day between Alaska and Hawaii.
CINCPAC Fleet Headquarters, also known as Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet Headquarters or COMPACFLT Headquarters, is a historic military building on Makalapa Drive in Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, on the island of Oahu in the US state of Hawaii. Built during World War II in 1942, it served as the headquarters of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz from 1942 through 1945, while he was Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet and Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas, during World War II. Commanding land, sea, and air forces, Admiral Nimitz had major responsibility for campaigns such as the Battle of Midway, the liberation of Guam, and the seizure of Saipan and Tinian in the Marianas. It was designated a National Historic Landmark for this role in 1987.
The following is an alphabetical list of articles related to the United States Territory of Guam.
Naval Station Pearl Harbor is a United States naval base adjacent to Honolulu, in the U.S. state of Hawaii. In 2010, along with the United States Air Force's Hickam Air Force Base, the facility was merged to form Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam.
Cape Air Force Base also known as Fort Glenn Army Air Base, is a site significant for its role in World War II fighting, operating alongside Naval Air Facility Otter Point.
The Pacific Cable Station was built in 1902 in Southport, Gold Coast City, Queensland, Australia, continuing to operate for sixty years, finally closing in 1962. While most of the site has been dismantled, the Southport Cable Hut remains and has been listed on the Queensland Heritage Register and the Gold Coast Local Heritage Register.
The Guam Congress Building, also known as the Guam Legislature Building, is the seat of the Legislature of Guam and is located in Chalan Santo Papa in Hagåtña, Guam. It was built in 1949 by Pacific Island Buildings and of Brown & Root Pacific Bridge & Maxon. It has served as a capitol and as a courthouse building. It is a Modern Movement-style building that was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
The Mesa House, or Dr. Mesa House, is a historic house on Maxwell St. in Hagåtña, Guam.
Aratama Maru (Kanji:新玉丸) was a merchant ship of the Empire of Japan. Launched in 1938, she was pressed into service as a munitions transport in World War II. She was struck by a torpedo fired from USS Seahorse on April 8, 1944, while approaching Guam as part of a Japanese ammunition resupply convoy. Engulfed in flames, her crew abandoned her and were picked up by an escort vessel. After drifting for three days, the abandoned hull came to rest just inside the reef fringing Talofofo Bay on Guam's southeastern coast. While resting on the reef she split in half with the stern of the ship drifting off of the reef toward the Mariana Trench. The wreck was partially salvaged shortly afterward and was further salvaged in the 1960s, leaving only the hull remnants, the anchor with chain, and some elements of its superstructure. It has also been the subject of souvenir diving, and its position and condition have been affected by several typhoons. Seahorse damaged Kizugawa Maru in the same attack, which was towed into Apra Harbor for repairs and during a second American bombing attack was sank where she remains today.
Fort San Jose is a former Spanish fortification on the island of Guam, now a United States territory. It is located north of the village of Umatac, on a hill over looking both Fouha Bay and Umatac Bay, the place were Spanish galleons traveling between Manila in the Spanish Philippines and Acapulco, Mexico stopped for water and supplies.
Sumay, also Sumai, was a village on the United States territory of Guam. It was located on the north coast of the Orote Peninsula along Apra Harbor. It was inhabited by Chamorro people before contact with Europeans. Sumay became a prosperous port town serving whalers and other sailors in the 1800s and the second most populous settlement on Guam after Hagåtña, the capital of the Spanish Mariana Islands. Following the Capture of Guam by the United States in 1898, the village was the site of Marine Barracks Guam. In the early 1900s, it was a link for two firsts connecting the United States and Asia: the first submarine communications cable for telegraph and the China Clipper, the first air service. After the Japanese invasion of Guam in 1941, the residents were evicted and the village turned into a Japanese military garrison. Sumay was leveled during the U.S. liberation of the island in 1944. The U.S. military prohibited the residents from returning, relocating them to the hills of nearby Sånta Rita-Sumai. In 1948, the U.S. military exercised eminent domain and took all private and commercial property at Sumay. Its former location is now on Naval Base Guam.
