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.
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.
The Battle of Guam was the American recapture of the Japanese-held island of Guam, a U.S. territory in the Mariana Islands captured by the Japanese from the United States in the First Battle of Guam in 1941 during the Pacific campaign of World War II. The battle was a critical component of Operation Forager. The recapture of Guam and the broader Mariana and Palau Islands campaign resulted in the destruction of much of Japan's naval air power and allowed the United States to establish large airbases from which it could bomb the Japanese home islands with its new strategic bomber, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress.
Hågat is a village in the United States territory of Guam. It is located south of Apra Harbor on the island's western shore. The village's population has decreased since the island's 2010 census.
Asan-Maina is a village located on the western shore of the United States territory of Guam. The municipality combines the names of the coastal community of Asan with Maina, a community along the slopes of the Fonte River valley to the east. Asan was the northern landing site for United States Marines during Guam's liberation from the Japanese during World War II. Asan Beach Park is part of the War in the Pacific National Historic Park. The third community comprising Asan-Maina is Nimitz Hill Annex in the hills above Asan and Maina, which is the location of the Joint Region Marianas headquarters. Asan-Maina is located in the Luchan (Western) District.
Piti is a village located on the central west coast of the United States territory of Guam. It contains northern and eastern coastlines of Apra Harbor, including Cabras Island, which has the commercial Port of Guam and the island's largest power plants. Piti was a pre-Spanish CHamoru village and, after Spanish colonization, became the primary port town on Guam. The town was largely destroyed during the 1944 liberation of Guam and the population relocated during the wartime construction of Apra Harbor.
The War in the Pacific National Historical Park is a multi-unit protected area in the United States territory of Guam, which was established in 1978 in honor of those who participated in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Uniquely among the National Park System, it honors the bravery and sacrifices of all those who participated in the Pacific Theater.
Guam Highway 1 (GH-1), also known as Marine Corps Drive, is one of the primary automobile routes in the United States territory of Guam. It runs in a southwest-to-northeast direction, from the main gate of Naval Base Guam in the southwestern village of Santa Rita in a northeasterly direction to the main gate of Andersen Air Force Base in the village of Yigo. It passes through Guam's capital, Hagåtña, as well as intersecting other territorial highways. The highway runs through tropical forest, urbanized commercial areas, and residential neighborhoods. The US military upgraded and extended the road starting in 1941. Construction ceased with the Japanese invasion in December 1941 and resumed after the Second Battle of Guam in 1944. The highway was formally dedicated to the U.S. Marine Corps by the governor in 2004.
Mount Lamlam is a peak on the United States island of Guam. It is located near the village of Agat, in the south-west of the island.
Fena Lake (Reservoir) is the largest lake in the United States territory of Guam and it is a man made reservoir. It is located in the south of the island on the Ordnance Annex military installation, and is overlooked by the nearby peaks of Mounts Lamlam, Alifan and Jumullong Manglo. The lake's outflow is to the north-west, its waters eventually reaching the Pacific Ocean at Talofofo Bay.
The Japanese occupation of Guam was the period in the history of Guam between 1941 and 1944 when Imperial Japanese forces occupied Guam during World War II. The island was renamed Ōmiya-Jima.
The Orote Peninsula is a four kilometer-long peninsula jutting from the west coast of the United States territory of Guam. A major geologic feature of the island, it forms the southern coast of Apra Harbor and the northern coast of Agat Bay. Its tip, Point Udall, is Guam's westernmost point and also the United States' westernmost point by travel, not longitude. The peninsula historically was the site of the important Chamorro village of Sumay, as well as Fort Santiago of the Spanish colonial period. In modern times, the peninsula is politically in the village of Santa Rita, but it is controlled in its entirety by Naval Base Guam.
Agat Bay is a bay on the west coast of Guam. Its northern boundary is the Orote Peninsula, occupied entirely by Naval Base Guam, which itself lies within the village of Sånta Rita-Sumai. The bay stretches south along the coast of the village of Hågat to Facpi Point. With a length of some seven kilometers, the bay stretches for nearly one fifth of the west coast of Guam. The Asan Invasion Beach of the 1944 Battle of Guam is commemorated by the Agat Unit of War in the Pacific National Historical Park, which spans surce and subsurface areas from Apaca Point to Bangi Point. The NRHP-listed Agat World War II Amtrac is submerged off Agat Cemetery.
The Agat Invasion Beach is a historic site in the village of Agat, Guam. The beaches of Agat were one of the landing sites of American forces in the 1944 Battle of Guam, in which the island was retaken from occupying Japanese forces. The designated historic site includes the beaches and inland areas extending between Bangi Point and Togcha Beach. Surviving remnants of the Japanese defenses on this stretch of coast include trenches and rifle pits located a short way inland, and a fortified bunker and 40mm gun emplacements at Ga'an Point. Remnants of pillboxes that had lined the beach also survive, with one at Gangi Point in relatively good condition.
The Agat World War II Amtrac is an underwater relic of World War II, located off Ga'an Point in Agat Bay on the west side of the island of Guam. It is the remains of an LVT 4, an amphibious tracked landing vehicle. It is located about 500 yards (460 m) off Agat Invasion Beach in 45 feet (14 m) of water, and was described as being in good condition when it was discovered and surveyed in 1985. These vehicles were used during the 1944 Battle of Guam, in which American forces recaptured the island from occupying Japanese forces. This particular vehicle does not appear to exhibit significant war damage. This is the most intact of the three Amtracks remaining on Guam from the 850 that participated in the battle. It was re-surveyed by maritime archaeological field schools conducted from 2009 to 2012.
The Asan Invasion Beach is a historic site in the village of Asan, Guam. The beaches of Asan were one of the landing sites of American forces in the 1944 Battle of Guam, in which the island was retaken from occupying Japanese forces. The designated historic site includes the beaches extending between Asan Point and Adelup Point, and extends inland roughly to Guam Highway 1. It also includes the water area extending from the beach to the reef, about 100 metres (330 ft) out, an area that includes at least one abandoned Allied landing vehicle.
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.
Liberation Day on the U.S. territory of Guam is an annual commemoration of the invasion by U.S. military forces on July 21, 1944, which ended the Japanese occupation that had begun in 1941. Begun in 1945, it is Guam's largest celebration. Festivities include a queen contest, summer carnival, fireworks display, and mile-long parade on Marine Corps Drive in Hagåtña from Adelup to Paseo de Susana, as well as solemn memorials and visits to massacre sites. It is organized by the Guam Island Fair Committee.
