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Guam - History and Overview
Home » Guam » Guam - History and Overview » Guam - History and OverviewThe original settlers and primary inhabitants of Guam – the Chamorros – called the island Guåhån. Guam is part of the Mariana Islands, the largest and the furthest south of these; and it is supported economically by tourism (particularly by the Japanese) and United States military bases.
The island is located in the Western Pacific Ocean, is a territory of the United States (unincorporated) and is included on the United Nation’s list of Non-Self-Governing Territories, though the island has gone through quite a history to get to that place. With a history of colonization longer than all of the other Mariana Islands, Guam has been conquered by the Spanish, the Japanese, and eventually the Americans – under whose power they now have their own system of government and status as a territory. Still, they would like to change their relationship with the United States to a more equitable arrangement, perhaps with the status of Commonwealth, as the Northern Marianas enjoy.
Guam’s population is made up of a variety of ethnicities and individuals from different backgrounds. The Chamorros are still the majority in culture, with Asians (including Filipinos, Japanese, Chinese, and Koreas) forming the largest minority. Chamorro and English are the primary languages, and Roman Catholicism is the dominant religion.
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