About Guam

Guam's Apra Harbor, the largest natural deepwater port between Hawaii and Asia, formerly had served as a U.S. Navy ship repair facility and resupply depot. Today the Government of Guam operates the port for cargo , commercial fishing and as a tourist seaport. The Port of Guam is used as the transshipment and transportation hub of the Pacific Basin to the outlying islands. Saipan recently completed and expansion of their commercial port to help serve the growth of the tourism and manufacturing industries.

Guam's Antonio B. Won Pat International Air Terminal offers state-of-the-art services in the Western Pacific, thanks to a recent expansion and renovation that was driven by a need to accommodate the rapidly growing tourism industry, the mainstay of the island's economy. The tourism industry provides more that $500 million in annual revenues and more than 19,000 jobs. Two million visitors are expected by the year 2001, with the vast majority of tourists coming from Japan and Korea.

Guam has been an unincorporated U.S. territory since 1950, and federal law provides for self-government and U.S. citizenship for local residents. Voters elect a governor as well as representatives to the unicameral Legislature. Natives of the island are called Chamorros and constitute the majority of the population. Our Pacific neighbors have become just that, with a mix of Filipinos, Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, East Indians, Australians and many others joining our island community over the years to make it the dynamic melting pot it is today.