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.
The history of Guam starts with the early arrival around 2000 BC of Austronesian people ent 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.
Apra Harbor, also called Port Apra, is a deep-water port on the western side of the United States territory of Guam. It is considered one of the best natural ports in the Pacific Ocean. The harbor is bounded by Cabras Island and the Glass Breakwater to the north and the Orote Peninsula in the south. Naval Base Guam and the Port of Guam are the two major users of the harbor. It is also a popular recreation area for boaters, surfers, scuba divers, and other recreationalists.
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.
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.
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.
The Battle of Guam was an engagement during the Pacific War in World War II, and took place from 8 December to 10 December 1941 on Guam in the Mariana Islands between Japan and the United States. The American garrison was defeated by Japanese forces on 10 December, which resulted in an occupation until the Second Battle of Guam in 1944.
Orote Field is a former air base in the United States territory of Guam built by the Empire of Japan with Chamorro forced labor during the Japanese occupation of Guam (1941-1944). It is separate from the Marine Corps amphibious airplane base at located at Sumay village that was operational from 1921 to 1931. Following the liberation of Guam in 1944, the U.S. military repaired the field for further use in the Pacific War.
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.
Joint Region Marianas' mission is to provide installation management support to all Department of Defense components and tenants through assigned regional installations on Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands in support of training in the Marianas; to act as the interface between the Department of Defense and the civilian community; to ensure compliance with all environmental laws and regulations, safety procedures, and equal opportunity policy; and perform other functions and tasks as may be assigned.
The Unai Obyan Latte Site is a prehistoric archaeological site on the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands. Located near Obyan Beach on the south coast of the island, it is the site of what was once a fairly extensive village, which was significantly disturbed by Japanese defensive preparations during World War II. The site includes the fragmentary remains of a single latte stone house site and a wide scattering of surface-level remains. Excavation of the latte house site in the 1940s by the pioneering archeologist Alexander Spoehr yielded evidence of a length period of occupation. The village at Obyan was documented in early Spanish accounts of the island, and was probably abandoned when the Spanish forcibly relocated the entire island population to Guam in 1698.
The Mahlac Pictograph Cave is a rock art site on the island of Guam. It is located high in the southern mountains of the island, and contains more than 40 images, rendered in paints that are white, red, brown, and black. The art was carefully analyzed in 2011, and a radiocarbon date of c. 600 CE was obtained from a paint sample. The meaning of the art is a subject of debate.
Gadao's Cave, also known as Liyang Gadao, is a rock art site on the United States island of Guam. Located near the village of Inarajan, the cave is the site of a panel of approximately 50 Chamorro pictographs, painted with a mixture of coral lime and tree sap. The most unusual images are of two human stick figures that appear to be carrying things. It is not known who painted them or when, and what their significance is. The legendary chief of Inarajan Gadao is believed to be the creator of the cave's images.
The Haputo Beach Site is a prehistoric village site in northwestern Guam. The site, located on Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Guam land near a sheltered cove, includes standing latte stones, as well as rock shelters and caves with evidence of human occupation. In addition to needing military permission for access to the site, the main trail leads through the Navy's Haputo Ecological Preserve.
The West Bona Site is an archaeological site near Santa Rita on the island of Guam. It encompasses a prehistoric village site consisting of at least seven latte stone house sites. Most of them are not in good condition, although the largest, with twelve stones, is in good condition. Radiocarbon dating places early occupation of the site to between 1285 and 1435, reaching its height around 1500. The site is on the grounds of Naval Station Guam.
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.
Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Guam is a United States Navy communications facility on the U.S. territory of Guam. It is located on the Naval Base Guam North Finegayan Telecommunications Site along Guam Highway 3 in Dededo, on the northwest coast of the island.
US Naval Base Marianas was number of United States Navy bases in the Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean's Micronesia. Most were built by the US Navy Seabees, Naval Construction Battalions, during World War II. Naval Base Guam was lost to the Empire of Japan during the Battle of Guam in December 1941. Guam was retaken by United States Armed Forces on July 21, 1944, now also known as Liberation Day. Naval Station Guam was founded on August 7, 1899, after Spain lost the Spanish–American War.
