Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United Nations. The island's capital is Hagåtña . Guam is the largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands. The Chamorros, Guam's indigenous people, first populated the island approximately 4,000 years ago. The island has a long history of European colonialism. Discovered by Ferdinand Magellan... during a Spanish expedition on March 6, 1521, the first colony was established in 1668 by Spain with the arrival of settlers including Padre San Vitores, a Catholic missionary. For more than two centuries Guam was an important stopover for the Spanish Manila Galleons that crossed the Pacific annually. The island was controlled by Spain until 1898, when it was surrendered to the United States during the Spanish-American War and later formally ceded as part of the Treaty of Paris. As the largest island in Micronesia and the only U.S.
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| Capital: | Hagåtña |
| Population: | 147,481 |
| Official language: | Chamorro Language, English Language |
| Currency: | US$ |
| GDP: | $3,200,000,000 |
| Form of government: | Representative democracy, Presidential system |