Government and society

Guam is an unincorporated territory of the United States governed under the Organic Act of Guam, passed by the U.S. Congress and approved by the president on August 1, 1950. The Organic Act made all Chamorros U.S. citizens. Although they do not have the right to vote in national elections, voters do caucus during the presidential primary season and send delegates to the Democratic and Republican national party conventions.

A 1968 amendment to the Organic Act provides for the popular election of a governor and lieutenant governor to four-year terms. All persons age 18 years or older are permitted to vote. The legislature is a unicameral body with 15 senators directly elected at large for a term of two years. Guam also elects a delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives for a term of two years; that delegate has limited voting rights that exclude the ability to vote on the final passage of legislation.

The people of Guam voted in 1982 in favour of pursuing a commonwealth relationship similar to that established in the Northern Marianas. A draft Commonwealth Act was approved in 1987, and negotiations with the U.S. Congress were initiated.

The highest appellate court is the Guam Supreme Court. There is also a District Court of Guam, whose judge is appointed by the U.S. president for a term of eight years. There are two levels of local trial courts: the Superior Court of Guam, for criminal and civil cases, and the traffic, juvenile, and small-claims courts. Judges are appointed by the governor with consent of the legislature and are reconfirmed by majority public vote every four years. Appeals may be made to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Each of the island’s villages is headed by a popularly elected mayor. The mayors and vice mayors form the Mayors’ Council of Guam, which makes recommendations regarding administrative and fiscal policies and acts as a liaison between the three branches of government, the military communities, and U.S. federal agencies.

Education is free and compulsory between ages 6 and 16. The University of Guam, which opened in 1952, is a four-year institution that also provides graduate programs at the master’s degree level. Health conditions are relatively advanced. Facilities include public, private, and military hospitals and local clinics. Life expectancies for men and women are roughly comparable to those of the United States. The main causes of death include heart disease, cancers, cerebrovascular diseases, and accidents.

Cultural life

Guam is culturally diverse, with Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, and other Asian communities of significant size in addition to its indigenous population and people from the mainland United States. As a centre of transportation and communication for the region, it also attracts many islanders from various parts of Micronesia. A large American-style shopping mall in Dededo, the Micronesia Mall, is the largest shopping centre on the island and also serves as a cultural and recreational venue, with movie theatres and an indoor amusement park.

Before World War II the villages were the main social and economic units, preserving customs and traditions similar to those of 19th-century Spain. Fiestas held in commemoration of patron saints were great social and religious events of the year for each village and brought together people from many parts of the island. Fiesta customs are still observed in Guam. However, changes in the social life and institutions of Guamanians have come about with economic development and increasing international contacts. The extended family is the main social unit for most groups on Guam, although many of the younger members travel and live in the United States.

The folk arts and handicrafts of Guam have enjoyed a revival since the late 20th century. Various public and private groups have been created to promote music, dance, and other traditional cultural arts for the benefit of both the local community and tourists. The Guam Museum, in Hagåtña, features works by visual artists from around the Pacific Islands. The University of Guam also promotes regional arts and culture.

U.S. national holidays are celebrated on the island, as are several significant local dates such as Discovery Day, March 6, which commemorates the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in 1521.

There are daily and semiweekly newspapers and quarterly and monthly magazines published on Guam, and several radio and television stations broadcast local and international news and features daily.

History

Guam, like the other Mariana Islands, was settled by the second quarter of the 2nd millennium bce by an Indonesian-Filipino people. Archaeological research shows that by 800 ce they had developed a complex society that erected elaborate stone pillars (halege), which served as supports for communal houses (latte).

Ferdinand Magellan probably landed on Guam in 1521. Spain officially claimed the island in 1565 but did not attempt to conquer it until the latter part of the 17th century. After an uprising in 1670 and 25 years of intermittent warfare, the Spanish subdued the population with considerable bloodshed. Diseases introduced by the Europeans, particularly smallpox and influenza, also played an important role in the decimation of the population. Typhoons in 1671 and 1693 caused further destruction and loss of life. Guam remained a Spanish possession until 1898, when, in the course of the Spanish-American War, the U.S. warship Charleston steamed into Apra Harbor and bombarded the old fort. Guam was ceded to the United States, and Spain sold the other islands of the Marianas to Germany in 1899. From that time until 1950 (except for the period of its occupation by the Japanese during World War II) the governor of the island was a naval officer appointed by the president of the United States.

During World War II the Japanese landed on Guam just after the Pearl Harbor attack and occupied the island by December 12, 1941. Allied forces retook Guam by August 10, 1944. It was a major air and naval base for the squadrons of bombers that attacked Japan near the end of the war. Under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Navy, it was made a territory (1950) that was administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior. Various offices within that department have administered Guam; the Office of Insular Affairs has had responsibility since 1995. Guam remains the site of major U.S. naval and air bases; about one-third of the land in Guam is owned by the U.S. armed forces.

In the 1970s Guam gradually began to move toward representative self-government. The first popularly elected governor ran for office in 1970, and in 1972 Guam was given the right to send one nonvoting delegate (entitled to vote in committees, however) to the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1978 the U.S. Senate accorded Guam the right to adopt a territorial constitution. In 1982, in a referendum offering six options, the option of commonwealth status won a plurality of votes. A draft Commonwealth Act was approved in 1987, and negotiations regarding its status continued into the 21st century. Anderson Air Force Base was expanded in the 1990s, and in 2000 it became the first U.S. Air Force installation outside the continental United States to store conventional air-launched cruise missiles. In 2002 another typhoon struck Guam; it caused devastation across the island and left thousands homeless.

In 2006 the United States and Japan settled on a framework agreement that would transfer some 8,000 U.S. Marines and their dependents from Okinawa to Guam. The multibillion-dollar plan was to be completed by 2014, but it quickly stalled amid questions about the environmental impact of the move as well as Department of Defense considerations regarding the U.S. force posture in the Pacific. A revised plan was released in 2015 that reduced the number of relocated Marines to 5,000 and had a projected completion date in the mid-2020s.

Also in 2015 a federal judge struck down a law that prohibited same-sex marriage on the island. Guam thus became the first U.S. territory to recognize same-sex marriage.