Guam (/ˈɡwɑːm/ ⓘ GWAHM; Chamorro: Guåhan [ˈɡʷɑhɑn]) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean.

On December 8, 1941, hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Guam was captured by the Japanese, who occupied the island for two and a half years before American forces recaptured it on July 21, 1944, which is commemorated there as Liberation Day.

[10] Its future political status has been a matter of significant discussion, with public opinion polls indicating a strong preference for American statehood.

[15] Guam is called Guåhan by Chamorro speakers, from the word guaha, meaning 'to have'; its English gloss 'we have' references the island's providing everything needed to live.

[20]: 28 The first European to travel to Guam was Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, sailing for the King of Spain, when he sighted the island on March 6, 1521, during his fleet's circumnavigation of the globe.

[20]: 51 Spanish colonization commenced on June 15, 1668, with the arrival of a mission led by Diego Luis de San Vitores, who established the first Catholic church.

[22]: 15 On December 10, 1914, the SMS Cormoran, a German armed merchant raider, was forced to seek port at Apra Harbor on the U.S. territory of Guam after running short on coal.

The United States, which was neutral at the time refused to supply provisions sufficient for the Cormoran to make a German port so the ship and her crew were interned until 1917.

The two American boats and USS Supply immediately began to recover German sailors from the water, saving all but seven of the roughly 370 Cormoran crew.

During this period, the indigenous people of Guam were subjected to beatings, forced labor, family separation, concentration camps, massacres, beheadings and rape.

[22]: 17  In the same period, Alby Mangels, Australian adventurer and filmmaker of World Safari visited Guam during his six-year escapade on the leg of his voyage through the Pacific aboard the Klaraborg.

Economic recovery was further hampered by devastation from super typhoons Paka in 1997 and Pongsona in 2002, as well as the effects of the September 11 terrorist attacks and the crash of Korean Air Flight 801 on tourism.

The north of Guam is a result of this base being covered with layers of coral reef, turning into limestone, and then being thrust upward by tectonic activity to create a plateau.

[38] If its base is considered to be the nearby Challenger Deep, the deepest surveyed point in the Oceans, Mount Lamlam is the world's tallest mountain at 37,820 feet (11,530 m).

The majority of the population lives on the coralline limestone plateaus of the north, with political and economic activity centered in the central and northern regions.

After the local Government enforced stricter construction codes, many home and business owners have built their structures out of reinforced concrete with installed typhoon shutters.

During the rainy season, sediment is carried by the heavy rains into the Fena Lake Reservoir and Ugum River, leading to water quality problems for southern Guam.

[67]Efforts have been made to protect Guam's coral reef habitats from pollution, eroded silt and overfishing, problems that have led to decreased fish populations.

[68] In recent years, the Department of Agriculture, Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources has established several new marine preserves where fish populations are monitored by biologists.

In an effort to ensure the protection of sea turtles on Guam, routine sightings are counted during aerial surveys and nest sites are recorded and monitored for hatchlings.

[78][79] Hispanic influences are manifested in the local language, music, dance, sea navigation, cuisine, fishing, games (such as batu, chonka, estuleks, and bayogu), songs, and fashion.

[83] Historically, the diet of the native inhabitants of Guam consisted of fish, fowl, rice, breadfruit, taro, yams, bananas, and coconuts used in a variety of dishes.

[84] Post-contact Chamorro cuisine is largely based on corn, and includes tortillas, tamales, atole, and chilaquiles, which are a clear influence from Mesoamerica, principally Mexico, from Spanish trade with Asia.

Some scholars have traveled throughout the Pacific Islands, conducting research to study what the original Chamorro cultural practices such as dance, language, and canoe building may have been like.

Its tourist hub, Tumon, features over 20 large hotels, a Duty Free Shoppers Galleria, Pleasure Island district, indoor aquarium, Sandcastle Las Vegas–styled shows and other shopping and entertainment venues.

In a February 2010 letter, the United States Environmental Protection Agency sharply criticized these plans because of a water shortfall, sewage problems and the impact on coral reefs.

[10] In the 1980s and early 1990s, there was a significant movement in favor of this U.S. territory becoming a commonwealth, which would give it a level of self-government similar to Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands.

In early December 2016, the Commission scheduled a series of education sessions in various villages about the current status of Guam's relationship with the U.S. and the self-determination options that might be considered.

[116] This removed the barrier of high-cost international long-distance calls to the continental U.S. Guam is a major hub for submarine communications cables between the Western U.S., Hawaii, Australia and Asia.

The Guam Regional Transit Authority provides fixed route bus and paratransit services, and some commercial companies operate buses between tourist-frequented locations.