Guam

Guam, the largest island in Micronesia and home to the indigenous Chamorro people, was a Spanish colony for more than two centuries before Spain ceded it to the United States in 1898. The Navy governed it until World War II, when Japan occupied the island from December 1941 until American forces retook it on July 21, 1944, now celebrated as Liberation Day. The Organic Act of Guam, signed on August 1, 1950, made Guamanians U.S. citizens and established a civilian government.

Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory. Its residents have elected their governor since 1970 and a nonvoting delegate to the House since 1972, and a single-chamber legislature makes local law. Residents are citizens but cannot vote for President in general elections, though Guam holds a symbolic straw poll and sends delegates to party conventions. Guam remains on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories, and local efforts have sought a vote on future political status, which courts limited to all residents rather than only native inhabitants in Davis v. Guam.

About a third of the island's land is held by the military, including Andersen Air Force Base and Naval Base Guam, which make Guam a central hub for American power in the Pacific, only about 1,600 miles from East Asian coastlines. The Marine Corps opened Camp Blaz in 2020 as part of a plan to move thousands of Marines from Okinawa, and missile defense systems on the island have expanded. Supporters of the buildup cite Guam's strategic value, while some residents raise concerns about land use, the environment, and limited local say in defense decisions.