Guam

Guam is called by Chamorro speakers, from the word , meaning 'to have'. Its English gloss 'we have' references the island's providing everything needed to live. == History ==

Pre-Contact era Austronesian migrations into the islands of the Indo-Pacific|368x368px Guam and the other Mariana Islands were the first islands settled by humans in Remote Oceania. It was the first and the longest of the ocean-crossing voyages of the Austronesian peoples, and is separate from the later Polynesian settlement of the rest of Remote Oceania. They were first settled around 1500 to 1400 BC, by migrants departing from the Philippines. This was followed by a second migration from the Caroline Islands in the first millennium AD. A third migration wave took place from Island Southeast Asia, likely the Philippines or eastern Indonesia, by 900 AD. These original settlers of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands evolved into the Chamorro people, historically known as Chamorros after first contact with the Spaniards. The ancient Chamorro society had four classes: (chiefs), (upper class), (middle class), and (lower class). The island became a rest stop for whalers starting in 1823. After a smallpox epidemic killed 3,644 Guamanians in 1856, Carolinians and Japanese were permitted to settle in the Marianas. The US Navy assumed administrative control, with Captain Richard P. Leary appointed as the first naval governor in 1899. This era marked the introduction of American governance structures and cultural influences to the island. The naval administration prioritized the development of Guam's infrastructure to support its strategic military position in the Pacific. One notable project was the establishment of a coaling station to service naval vessels traveling between Hawaii and the Philippines. Additionally, efforts were made to improve the island's roads, sanitation systems, and public health facilities. Educational reforms were also introduced, including the establishment of public schools with English as the medium of instruction, aiming to assimilate the local Chamorro population into American culture. Despite these developments, the Chamorro people faced significant challenges under the naval administration. Civil liberties were limited, and the local population had minimal input in governmental decisions. Recognizing these constraints, Chamorro leaders petitioned for U.S. citizenship and greater political autonomy as early as 1901, though these efforts were largely unsuccessful during this period. World War I On December 10, 1914, the SMS Cormoran, a German armed merchant raider, was forced to seek port at Apra Harbor after running short on coal after pursued by the Japanese. The United States, which was neutral at the time refused to supply provisions sufficient for the Cormoran to reach a German port, so the ship and her crew were interned until 1917. On the morning of April 7, 1917, word reached Guam by telegraph cable that the U.S. Congress had declared war on Germany. The Naval Governor of Guam, Roy Campbell Smith, sent two officers to inform the Cormoran that a state of war existed between the two countries, that the crew were now prisoners of war, and that the ship must be surrendered. Meanwhile, the USS Supply blocked the entrance to Apra Harbor to prevent any attempt to flee. In a separate boat, the two officers were accompanied by a barge commanded by Lt. W.A. Hall, who was designated prize master, and had brought 18 sailors and 15 Marines from the barracks at Sumay. Seeing a launch from Cormoran hauling a barge of supplies back shore, Hall ordered shots fired across the bow of the launch until it hove to. Meanwhile, the two officers reached Cormoran and informed Captain Adalbert Zuckschwerdt of the situation. Zuckschwerdt agreed to surrender his crew but refused to turn over the ship. The U.S. officers informed Zuckschwerdt that the Cormoran would be treated as an enemy combatant and left to inform Governor Smith of the situation. Unbeknownst to the Americans, the Germans had secreted an explosive device in the ship's coal bunker. Minutes after the Americans left, an explosion aboard Cormoran hurled debris across the harbor and her crew began abandoning ship. The two American boats and USS Supply immediately began to recover German sailors from the water, saving all but seven of the roughly 370 Cormoran crew. This incident, including the warning shots against the launch, accounted for the first violent action of the United States in World War I, the first shots fired by the U.S. against Germany in World War I, the first German prisoners of war captured by the U.S., and the first Germans killed in action by the U.S. in World War I. During the nearly three years of occupation approximately 1,100 Chamorros were killed, according to later US Congressional committee testimony in 2004. Some historians estimate that war violence killed 10% of Guam's 20,000 population. The Governor of Guam was federally appointed until 1968 when the Guam Elective Governor Act provided for the office's popular election. Since Guam is not a U.S. state, U.S. citizens residing on Guam are not allowed to vote for president and their only representation in the U.S. Congress is a non-voting member in the House of Representatives. spent 28 years in a self-dug cave in the jungle of Guam, where he hid to avoid capture by US forces in World War II. In 1969, a referendum on unification with the Northern Mariana Islands was held and rejected. In the 1970s, Maryly Van Leer Peck started an engineering program, expanded University of Guam, and founded Guam Community College. In the late 1970s, Alby Mangels, Australian adventurer and filmmaker of World Safari visited Guam during his six-year escapade on the Pacific leg of his voyage aboard the Klaraborg. In 1963, the removal of Guam's security clearance by President John F. Kennedy allowed for the development of a tourism industry. In the early 1990s, when the United States closed U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay and Clark Air Base bases in the Philippines after the expiration of their leases, many of the forces stationed there were relocated to Guam. The 1997 Asian financial crisis, which hit Japan particularly hard, severely affected Guam's tourism industry. Military cutbacks in the 1990s also disrupted the island's economy. Economic recovery was further hampered by devastation from super typhoons Paka in 1997 and Pongsona in 2002, as well as the effects of the September 11 terrorist attacks and the crash of Korean Air Flight 801 on tourism. == Geography and environment ==

's now decommissioned Earth observation satellite, Earth Observing-1 (EO-1), December 2011. Guam is long and wide. It has an area of . It is the 32nd largest island of the United States. It is the southernmost and largest island in the Mariana Islands, as well as the largest in Micronesia. Guam's Point Udall is the westernmost point of the U.S., as measured from the geographic center of the United States. The Mariana chain, of which Guam is a part, was created by collision of the Pacific and Philippine Sea tectonic plates. Guam is located on the micro Mariana Plate between the two. Guam is the closest land mass to the Mariana Trench, the deep subduction zone that runs east of the Marianas. Volcanic eruptions established the base of the island in the Eocene, roughly 56 to 33.9 million years ago. The north of Guam is a result of this base being covered with layers of coral reef, turning into limestone, and then being thrust upward by tectonic activity to create a plateau. If its base is considered to be the nearby Challenger Deep, the deepest surveyed point in the Oceans, Mount Lamlam is the world's tallest mountain at . Politically, Guam is divided into 19 villages. The majority of the population lives on the coralline limestone plateaus of the north, with political and economic activity concentrated in the central and northern regions. The rugged geography of the south largely limits settlement to rural coastal areas. The western coast is leeward of the trade winds and is the location of Apra Harbor, the capital Hagåtña, and the tourist center of Tumon. The U.S. Defense Department owns about 29% of the island, under the management of Joint Region Marianas. Climate beach at Ritidian Point Guam has a tropical rainforest climate on the Köppen scale (Köppen Af). Its driest month of March almost qualifies as a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen Am). The weather is generally hot and humid throughout the year, with little seasonal temperature variation. Guam is known to have equable temperatures year-round. Trade winds are fairly constant throughout the year. There is often a weak westerly monsoon influence in the summer months. Guam has two distinct seasons: Wet season, and dry season. The dry season runs from December to May. June is the transitional period. The wet season runs from July to November. Guam's average annual rainfall was between 1981 and 2010. The wettest month on record at Guam Airport is August 1997, with . The driest was February 2015 with . The wettest calendar year was 1976 with . The driest year was in 1998 with . The most rainfall in a single day occurred on October 15, 1953, when fell. The mean high temperature is . The mean low is . Temperatures rarely exceed or fall below . The relative humidity commonly exceeds 84 percent at night throughout the year, but the average monthly humidity hovers near 66 percent. The highest temperature ever recorded in Guam was on April 18, 1971, and April 1, 1990. The lowest recorded temperature was 65 °F (18.3 °C), set on February 8, 1973. Guam lies in the path of typhoons and it is common for the island to be threatened by tropical storms and possible typhoons in the wet season. The highest risk of typhoons is from August to November, where typhoons and tropical storms are most probable in the western Pacific. They can, however, occur year-round. Typhoons that have caused major damage on Guam in the American period include the Typhoon of 1900, Karen (1962), Pamela (1976), Paka (1997), Pongsona (2002), and Mawar (2023). Since Typhoon Pamela in 1976, wooden structures have been largely replaced by concrete structures. In the 1980s, wooden utility poles began to be replaced by typhoon-resistant concrete and steel poles. After the local Government enforced stricter construction codes, many home and business owners have built their structures out of reinforced concrete, with installed typhoon shutters. including coral reefs, deep seas, sea grasses, beach strand, mangroves, a variety of different limestone forest types, volcanic forests and grasslands, riparian systems, and caves. There are approximately 17 species of plant that are endemic only to the island of Guam, and many more that are endemic to the Mariana Islands. Numerous endemic insects have been described. There are approximately 29 land snails listed as endemic to the island of Guam, although many are now endangered or presumed extinct. Guam once hosted 14 kinds of terrestrial birds, 7 of which were endemic to Guam on the species or subspecies level, although all but one of the 14 are now extinct, extirpated, or endangered. Three locations on Guam (Guam National Wildlife Refuge, Cocos Island, and Mahlac Caves) have been identified as Important Bird Areas (IBA) by BirdLife International because they support populations of Micronesian starlings, Mariana swiftlets, Mariana crows, and Guam rails. The Guam rail became the second bird species to ever be downlisted from Extinct in the wild after a population was established on Cocos Island. Guam was home to three native bat species: the little Mariana fruit bat (Pteropus tokudae), now extinct; the endangered Pacific sheath-tailed bat (Emballonura semicaudata rotensis); and the endangered Mariana fruit bat (Pteropus mariannus mariannus). nearly eradicated the native bird population. Guam has experienced severe effects of invasive species upon the natural biodiversity of the island. These include the local extinction of endemic bird species after the introduction of the brown tree snake, an infestation of the coconut rhinoceros beetle destroying coconut palms, and the effect of introduced feral mammals and amphibians. Wildfires plague the forested areas of Guam every dry season despite the island's humid climate. Most fires are caused by humans with 80% resulting from arson. Poachers often start fires to attract deer to the new growth. Invasive grass species that rely on fire as part of their natural life cycle grow in many regularly burned areas. Grasslands and "barrens" have replaced previously forested areas leading to greater soil erosion. Clearing of habitat for military bases also threatens native wildlife, as the US military presence on the island grows. During the rainy season, sediment is carried by the heavy rains into the Fena Lake Reservoir and Ugum River, leading to water quality problems for southern Guam. Eroded silt also destroys the marine life in reefs around the island. Soil stabilization efforts by volunteers and forestry workers planting trees have had little success in preserving natural habitats. In recent years, the Department of Agriculture, Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources has established several new marine preserves where fish populations are monitored by biologists. These are located at Pati Point, Piti Bomb Holes, Sasa Bay, Achang Reef Flat, and Tumon Bay. Before adopting U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards, portions of Tumon Bay were dredged by the hotel chains to provide a better experience for hotel guests. Tumon Bay has since been made into a preserve. A federal Guam National Wildlife Refuge in northern Guam protects the decimated sea turtle population in addition to a small colony of Mariana fruit bats. Harvest of sea turtle eggs was a common occurrence on Guam before World War II. The green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) was harvested legally on Guam before August 1978, when it was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) has been on the endangered list since 1970. In an effort to ensure the protection of sea turtles on Guam, routine sightings are counted during aerial surveys and nest sites are recorded and monitored for hatchlings. ==Demographics==

{{US Census population In the 2020 United States census, the largest ethnic group were the native Chamorros, accounting for 32.8% of the population. Asians, including Filipinos, Koreans, Chinese, and Japanese, accounted for 35.5% of the population. Other ethnic groups of Micronesia, including those of Chuukese, Palauan, and Pohnpeians, accounted for 13.2%. 10% of the population were multiracial, (two or more races). European Americans made up 6.8% of the population. 1% are African Americans. 3% are Hispanic; there are 1,740 Mexicans in Guam, and there are other Hispanic ethnicities on the island. The estimated interracial marriage rate is over 40%. The predominant religion of Guam is Christianity. Three-quarters of the population adheres to Catholicism, while most of the remainder belong to Protestant churches. According to the Pew Research Center, the religious demography of Guam in 2010 was as follows: • Catholicism: 75% • Protestantism: 17.7% • Other religions: 1.6% • Folk religions: 1.5% • Other Christianity: 1.4% • Buddhism: 1.1% • Eastern Orthodoxy: <1% • Hinduism: <1% • Islam: <1% • Judaism: <1% In 2020, the Vatican claimed that 87.72% of the population was Catholic, with 54 priests and 64 nuns across 27 parishes. ==Culture==

in Hagåtña opened in 2016 The culture of Guam is a reflection of traditional Chamorro customs, in combination with American, Spanish and Mexican traditions. Post-European-contact Chamorro Guamanian culture is a combination of American, Spanish, Filipino, other Micronesian Islander and Mexican traditions. Few indigenous pre-Hispanic customs remained following Spanish contact, but include plaiting and pottery. There has been a resurgence of interest among the Chamorro to preserve the language and culture. Hispanic influences are manifested in the local language, music, dance, sea navigation, cuisine, fishing, games (such as , , , and ), songs, and fashion. Historically, the diet of the native inhabitants of Guam consisted of fish, fowl, rice, breadfruit, taro, yams, bananas, and coconuts used in a variety of dishes. Post-contact Chamorro cuisine is largely based on corn, and includes tortillas, tamales, atole, and chilaquiles, which are a clear influence from Mesoamerica, principally Mexico, from Spanish trade with Asia. Due to foreign cultural influence from Spain, most aspects of the early indigenous culture have been lost, though there has been a resurgence in preserving any remaining pre-Hispanic culture in the last few decades. Some scholars have traveled throughout the Pacific Islands, conducting research to study what the original Chamorro cultural practices such as dance, language, and canoe building may have been like. Sports team at Tumon Guam's most popular sport is American football, followed by basketball and baseball respectively. Soccer, jiu-jitsu, and rugby are also somewhat popular. Guam hosted the Pacific Games in 1975 and 1999. At the 2007 Games, Guam finished 7th of 22 countries in the medal count, and 14th at the 2011 Games. Guam men's national basketball team and the women's team are traditionally strong competitors in the Oceania region, behind the Australia men's national basketball team and the New Zealand national basketball team. , the men's team is the reigning champion of the Pacific Games Basketball Tournament. Guam is home to various basketball organizations, including the Guam Basketball Association. The Guam national football team was founded in 1975 and joined FIFA in 1996. It was once considered one of FIFA's weakest teams, and experienced their first victory over a FIFA-registered side in 2009. Guam hosted qualifying games on the island for the first time in 2015 and, in 2018, gained their first FIFA World Cup-qualifying win. The Guam national rugby union team played its first match in 2005 and has never qualified for a Rugby World Cup. As an aspect of cultural revival, sling competitions are also being organized on Guam. As a national pastime of cultural import, the ovoid shape on Guamanian flag is that of a sling stone. ==Economy==

Guam's economy depends primarily on tourism, Department of Defense installations and locally owned businesses. Under the provisions of a special law by Congress, it is Guam's treasury rather than the U.S. treasury that receives the federal income taxes paid by local taxpayers, including military and civilian federal employees assigned to Guam. Tourism Guam is a popular destination for Japanese and South Koreans. Its tourist hub, Tumon, has over 20 large hotels, a Duty Free Shoppers Galleria, Pleasure Island district, indoor aquarium, Sandcastle Las Vegas–styled shows and other shopping and entertainment venues. The island is a relatively short flight from Asia, and its 3 to 4-star hotels and seven public golf courses receive over a million tourists per year. 75% of tourists are Japanese. Guam also receives a sizable number of tourists from South Korea, the U.S., the Philippines, and Taiwan. In recent years, South Korean tourists have become increasingly prominent. For instance, in May and June 2024, South Korean visitors accounted for over 51% of Guam's total arrivals, while Japanese tourists comprised over 21%. Other significant visitor groups include travelers from the United States mainland, Hawaii, the Philippines, and Taiwan. The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on Guam's tourism industry. In 2023, the island recorded approximately 656,000 visitor arrivals, a 50% decrease compared to 2013 figures. Despite these challenges, the industry has shown signs of recovery, with 775,000 passenger arrivals reported at the Guam International Airport during the 2024 fiscal year (October–July). While this indicated an upward trend, it remained below the pre-pandemic levels of 2019. Budget and unemployment In 2003, Guam had a 14% unemployment rate, and the government suffered a $314 million budget shortfall. As of 2019 the unemployment rate had dropped to 6.1%. By September 2020, the unemployment rate had risen again to 17.9%. As of June 2023 the unemployment rate had fallen to 4.0%. The unemployment rate in Guam for September 2023 was 4.1%, an increase of 0.1 percentage points from the June 2023 figure of 4.0%, and a reduction of 0.3 percentage points from the September 2022 figure one year earlier of 4.4%. In 2024, the COFA was amended again to renew aid the freely associated nations as well as Guam and other U.S. Pacific territories. Military bases Joint Region Marianas maintains jurisdiction over installations, which cover approximately , or 29% of the island's total land area. These include: • U.S. Naval Base Guam, U.S. Navy (Santa Rita), comprising the Orote Peninsula, additional lands, and with jurisdiction of the majority of Apra Harbor • Andersen Air Force Base, U.S. Air Force (Yigo), including Northwest Field • Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz, U.S. Marine Corps (Dededo) • Ordnance Annex, U.S. Navy – South Central Highlands (formerly known as Naval Magazine) • Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Guam, U.S. Navy (Dededo), sometimes referred to "NCTS Finegayan" • Naval Radio Station Barrigada (Barrigada), often referred to as "Radio Barrigada" • Joint Region Marianas Headquarters (Asan), at Nimitz Hill Annex • Naval Hospital Guam (Agana Heights) • South Finegayan (Dededo), a military housing complex • Andersen South (Yigo), formerly Marine Barracks Guam until its closure in 1992 • Fort Juan Muña, Guam National Guard (Tamuning) In 2010, the U.S. military proposed building a new aircraft carrier berth on Guam and moving 8,600 Marines, and 9,000 of their dependents, to Guam from Okinawa, Japan. Including the required construction workers, this buildup would increase Guam's population by a total of 79,000, a 49% increase over its 2010 population of 160,000. In a February 2010 letter, the United States Environmental Protection Agency sharply criticized these plans because of a water shortfall, sewage problems and the impact on coral reefs. ==Government and politics==

Guam is governed by a popularly elected governor and a unicameral 15-member legislature, whose members are known as senators. Its judiciary is overseen by the Supreme Court of Guam. The District Court of Guam is the court of United States federal jurisdiction in the territory. Guam elects one delegate to the United States House of Representatives, currently Republican James Moylan. The delegate does not have a vote on the final passage of legislation, but is accorded a vote in committee, and the privilege to speak to the House. The federal government rejected the version of a commonwealth that the government of Guam proposed, because its clauses were incompatible with the Territorial Clause (Art. IV, Sec. 3, cl. 2) of the U.S. Constitution. Other movements advocate U.S. statehood for Guam, union with the state of Hawaii, or union with the Northern Mariana Islands as a single territory, or independence. The first Guam Constitutional Convention was funded by the 10th Guam Legislature and met from June 1, 1969, to June 29, 1970, with 43 elected delegates. The second Guam Constitutional Convention was convened on July 1, 1977, to create a constitution for Guam that would redefine the island's relationship with the US rather than merely modifying the existing relationship. The convention met periodically to October 31, 1977. Although approved at the federal level, the people of Guam overwhelmingly rejected the Constitution in a referendum held in August 1979, with 82% opposed. No new convention has been held pursuant to US congressional authority since 1979. In 1997, a Commission on Decolonization was established to educate the people of Guam about the political status options in its relationship with the U.S.: statehood, free association, and independence. The island has been considering another non-binding plebiscite on decolonization since 1998. The group was dormant for some years. In 2013, the commission began seeking funding to start a public education campaign. There were few subsequent developments until late 2016. The commission's current executive director is Edward Alvarez and there are ten members. The group is expected to release position papers on independence and statehood but the contents have not yet been completed. The United States Department of the Interior approved a $300,000 grant for decolonization education, Edward Alvarez told the United Nations Pacific Regional Seminar in May 2016. "We are hopeful that this might indicate a shift in [United States] policy to its Non-Self-Governing Territories such as Guam, where they will be more willing to engage in discussions about our future and offer true support to help push us towards true self-governances and self-determination." Its future political status has been a matter of significant discussion, with public opinion polls indicating a strong preference of becoming a U.S state. ==Transportation and communications==

Most of the island has state-of-the-art mobile phone services and high-speed internet widely available through either cable or DSL. Guam was added to the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) in 1997. The country code 671 became NANP area code 671. This removed the barrier of high-cost international long-distance calls to the continental U.S. Guam is a major hub for submarine communications cables between the Western U.S., Hawaii, Australia and Asia. Guam currently serves twelve submarine cables, with most continuing to China. In 2012 Slate stated that the island has "tremendous bandwidth" and internet prices comparable to those of the U.S. Mainland due to being at the junction of undersea cables. In 1899, the local postage stamps were overprinted "Guam" as was done for the other former Spanish colonies, but this was discontinued shortly thereafter and regular U.S. postage stamps have been used ever since. Guam is part of the U.S. Postal System (postal abbreviation: GU, ZIP code range: 96910–96932). Mail to Guam from the U.S. mainland is considered domestic and no additional charges are required. Private shipping companies, such as FedEx, UPS, and DHL have no obligation to do so, and do not regard Guam as domestic. The speed of mail traveling between Guam and the states varies depending on size and time of year. Light, first-class items generally take less than a week to or from the mainland. Larger first-class or Priority items can take a week or two. Fourth-class mail, such as magazines, are transported by sea after reaching Hawaii. Most residents use post office boxes or private mail boxes, although residential delivery is becoming increasingly available. , 2014 The Port of Guam is the island's lifeline, because most products must be shipped into Guam for consumers. It receives the weekly calls of the Hawaii-based shipping line Matson, Inc. whose container ships connect Guam with Honolulu, Hawaii; Los Angeles, California; Oakland, California; and Seattle, Washington. The port is also the regional transhipment hub for over 500,000 customers throughout the Micronesian region. The port is the shipping and receiving point for containers designated for the island's U.S. Department of Defense installations, Andersen Air Force Base and Commander, Naval Forces Marianas and eventually the Third Marine Expeditionary Force. Guam is served by the Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport. The island is outside the United States customs zone, so Guam is responsible for establishing and operating its own customs and quarantine agency and jurisdiction. Therefore, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection only carries out immigration, but not customs functions. Since Guam is under federal immigration jurisdiction, passengers arriving directly from the United States skip immigration and proceed directly to Guam Customs and Quarantine. Due to the Guam and CNMI visa waiver program for certain countries, an eligibility pre-clearance check is carried on Guam for flights to the States. For travel from the Northern Mariana Islands to Guam, a pre-flight passport and visa check is performed before boarding the flight to Guam. On flights from Guam to the Northern Mariana Islands, no immigration check is performed. Traveling between Guam and the States through a foreign point requires a passport. Most residents travel within Guam using personally owned vehicles. The Guam Regional Transit Authority provides fixed route bus and paratransit services, and some commercial companies operate buses between tourist-frequented locations. ==Education==

, built in 1933, was the first library in southern Guam. Guam Public Library System operates the Nieves M. Flores Memorial Library in Hagåtña and five branch libraries. The Guam Department of Education serves the entire island of Guam. In 2000, 32,000 students attended Guam's public schools, including 26 elementary schools, eight middle schools, and six high schools and alternative schools. Guam Public Schools have struggled with problems such as high dropout rates and poor test scores. Guam's educational system has always faced unique challenges as a small community located from the U.S. mainland with a very diverse student body including many students who come from backgrounds without traditional American education. An economic downturn in Guam since the mid-1990s has compounded the problems in schools. Before September 1997, the U.S. Department of Defense partnered with the Guam Board of Education. In September 1997, the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) opened its own schools for children of military personnel. DoDEA schools, which also serve children of some federal civilian employees, had an attendance of 2,500 in 2000. DoDEA Guam operates three elementary/middle schools and one high school. The University of Guam (UOG) and Guam Community College, both fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, offer courses in higher education. UOG is a member of the exclusive group of only 106 land-grant institutions in the entire United States. Pacific Islands University is a small Christian liberal arts institution, nationally accredited by the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools. ==Health care==

The Government of Guam maintains the island's main health care facility, Guam Memorial Hospital, in Tamuning. U.S. board certified doctors and dentists practice in all specialties. The U.S. Naval Hospital in Agana Heights serves active-duty members and dependents of the military community. There is one subscriber-based air ambulance located on the island, CareJet, which provides emergency patient transportation across Guam and surrounding islands. A private hospital, the Guam Regional Medical City, opened in early 2016. Medicaid is accepted in Guam. ==See also==