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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: GRA-GUI |
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GUAM (Span. Guajan; Guahan, in the native Chamorro) , the largest and most populous of the Ladrone or Mariana Islands, in the North Pacific, in 13 26' N. lat. and 144 39 E. long., about 1823 M. E. by S. of Hong Kong, and about 1450 M. E. of Manila. Pop. (1908) about 11 ,36o, of whom 363 were foreigners, 140 being members of the U.S. naval force. Guam extends about 30 M. from N.N.E. to S.S.W., has an average width of about 6z m., and has an area of 207 sq. m. The N. portion is a plateau from 300 to 600 ft. above the sea, lowest in the interior and highest along the E. and W. coast, where it terminates abruptly in bluffs and headlands; Mt Santa Rosa, toward the N. extremity, has an elevation
elevation
curlew
rainy
chief
The inhabitants are of the Chamorro (Indonesian) stock, strongly intermixed with Philippine Tagals and Spaniards; their speech is a dialect of Malay, corrupted by Tagal and Spanish. There are very few full-blood Chamorros. The aboriginal native was of a very dark mahogany or chocolate colour. A majority of the total number of natives live in Agana. The natives are nearly all farmers, and most of them are poor, but their condition has been improved under American rule. Publicschools have been established; in 1go8 the enrolment was 1700. On the island there is a small colony of lepers, segregated only after American occupation. Gangrosa is a disease said to be peculiar to Guam and the neighbouring islands; it is due to a specific bacillus and usually destroys the nasal septum. The victims of this disease also are segregated. There is a good general hospital. Agana (or San Ignacio de Agana) is the capital and principal town; under the Spanish regime it was the capital of the Ladrones. It is about 5 M. N.E. of Piti, the landing-place of Apra harbour and port of entry, with which it is connected by an excellent road. Agana has paved streets and sewer and water systems. Other villages, all small, are Asan, Piti, Sumay, Umata, Merizo and Inarajan. Guam is governed by a " naval governor," an officer of the U.S. navy who is commandant of the naval station. The island is divided into four administrative districts, each with an executive head called a gobernadorcillo (commissioner), and there are a court of appeals, a court of first instance and courts of justices of the peace. Peonage was abolished in the island by the United States in February 1900. Telegraphic communication with the Caroline Islands was established in 1905; in 1908 there were four cables ending at the relay station at Sumay on the Shore of Apra harbour.Guam was discovered by Magellan in 1521, was occupied by Spain in 1688, was captured by the United States cruiser " Charleston " in June 1899, and was ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Paris on the loth of December 1898. See A List
Periodicals
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