Guam – Chamorro heritage, Spanish rule and an American territory
Guam was settled thousands of years ago by seafaring ancestors of the Chamorro people, who built a society organised in clans and villages. The distinctive latte stones, pillars that once supported houses, are among the most important symbols of this ancient culture.
In 1521 Ferdinand Magellan's expedition reached the island, and Spain claimed it later in the sixteenth century. With the arrival of Jesuit missionaries in 1668 colonisation began in earnest. The Spanish–Chamorro wars and introduced diseases caused a dramatic decline of the indigenous population. For about two centuries Guam served as a stopover for the Manila galleons crossing the Pacific, and Chamorro culture absorbed strong Spanish and Catholic influences.
After the Spanish–American War of 1898 Guam passed to the United States. In December 1941 Japan occupied the island; the occupation brought forced labour and violence for the Chamorro until American forces retook Guam in 1944. The Guam Organic Act of 1950 granted its residents US citizenship and a civilian government. Since then the island has developed as an unincorporated US territory with a strong military presence.
Today Guam is shaped by its Chamorro language and traditions, its multicultural population, tourism and its strategic role in the western Pacific.
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