Guam summary

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Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Guam.

Guam , Island, largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands, Micronesia, North Pacific Ocean. Guam is an unincorporated U.S. territory. Area: 217 sq mi (561 sq km). Population: (2022 est.) 152,600. Capital: Hagåtña (Agana). Guam is divided into a northern plateau and a southern chain of volcanic hills. The indigenous population is Chamorro, Malayo-Indonesian with a considerable admixture of Spanish, Filipino, and Mexican ancestry. Chamorro and English are both official languages. Possibly visited by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521, Guam was formally claimed by Spain in 1565 and remained Spanish until it was ceded to the U.S. in 1898 after the Spanish-American War. During World War II the Japanese occupied the island (1941–44). It subsequently became a major U.S. air and naval base. In 1950 it was made a U.S. territory and placed under the Department of the Interior. The military bases and tourism are the island’s economic mainstays.

The Pacific Ocean, with depth contours and submarine features

Pacific Ocean Summary

Pacific Ocean, body of salt water extending from the 60° S parallel in the south to the Arctic in the north and lying between the continents of Asia and Australia on the west and North America and South America on the east. Of the three major oceans, the Pacific is by far the largest, occupying