Overview

Guam, or Guahan, (translated as "we have") as it was known in the ancient Chamorro language, is the southernmost and largest island of the Mariana Islands, in the west central Pacific. Located about 1,400 miles east of the Philippines, it is approximately 30 miles long, and varies in width from four miles to 12 miles. The island has a total landmass of 212 square miles, without calculating reef formations, and was formed when two volcanoes joined. In fact, Guam is the peak of a submerged mountain that rises 37,820 feet above the bottom of the Marianas Trench, the greatest ocean depth in the world. Guam has been a territory of the United States since 1898, and is the furthest west of all U.S. territories in the Pacific. Lying west of the International Dateline, it is one day ahead in time than the rest of the United States. (The International Dateline...