Guam was one of the first islands in thePacific Ocean to be visited by the Europeans. In 1521, while leading the Spanish expedition,Ferdinand Magellan became one of the first Europeans to set foot on Guam. From then on, Guam became an important part of the trade route followed by the Spanish trading ships calledManila Galleon, which sailed betweenMexico and thePhilippines every year. And in 1668,Spain took over Guam as one of its territories. During this time, the natives assimilated the Spanish culture to a large extent.
In the 1898,Spanish–American War,Spain lost most of its territories to theUnited States under the Treaty of Paris, including Guam,Cuba, thePhilippines, andPuerto Rico. Guam continued to be important due to its strategic location for shipping, and later for air travel in the Pacific. DuringWorld War II, Japan occupied Guam in 1941 for 31 months, but lost the territory to theUnited States soon after. TheChamorro people are spread across Guam andNorthern Mariana Islands- which is also aUnited States territory. However, theChamorro people fromNorthern Mariana Islands have not integrated well into the territory as they were under Japanese occupation for about 30 years.
In 1950, theUnited States Congress passed a law to incorporate the people of Guam as American citizens.
In August 2017,North Korea warned that it might launch mid-rangeballistic missiles into waters within 18 to 24 miles (29 to 38 kilometers) of Guam, following anexchange of threats[3][4] between the governments of North Korea and theUnited States.
Thecurrency of Guam is theUnited States dollar. Guam gets most of itsmoney from theUnited States government. Much of that money is spent on the military bases, but there are alsofederal grants given to the Guam government for various programs. Because it is only a territory, federalincome taxes paid by Guam residents are given to the Guam government for its operations.
Guam is a sought after travel destination. Almost all of these visitors are from Japan. Japanese tourists like Guam because it is closer to Japan than other American places. Guam has lots of hotels and other fun places for people to visit. Tumon Bay is Guam's biggestbeach. It has lots of pretty white sand, and the water has lots of fish. Tumon is becoming a busy city.
The number of visitors to Guam has decreased significantly mainly because of economic slowdown in most parts of Asia, which is also the cause forlost jobs in Guam.
Guam is 212 squaremiles (549square kilometers) large. In the north part, it has a flat area ofcoral andlimestone rock. The south part has mountains. Around the island is acoral reef.
Guam is next to theMarianas Trench, which is the deepest part of the Earth and underwater. It sometimes hasearthquakes, some of which have been very strong.
Guam is atropical island. It is usually quite warm and wet and the temperature does not change very much. From February to July it is dry, but the rest of the year it is rainy. Sometimes Guam has very strong and dangerous storms in October and November.
