The Territory of Guam (Guahan in Chamorro) is an island in the Western Pacific Ocean and is an organized unincorporated territory of the United States. Its indigenous people are the Chamorros, who first inhabited the island approximately 3,500 years ago. The capital is Hagatna, formerly Agana (pronounced Agana). Guam's economy is mainly supported by tourism (particularly from Japan) and United States armed forces bases. The latter takes up one-third of the entire land mass of the island. The United Nations Committee on Decolonization includes Guam on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.
Guam has an area of 212 mi? (549 kvm). The northern part of the island is a coralline limestone plateau while the south contains volcanic peaks. A coral reef surrounds most of the island. Guam is the southernmost island in the Mariana Island chain and is the largest island in Micronesia.
Guam lies along the Marianas Trench, a deep subduction zone at the edge of the Pacific plate. The Challenger Deep, the deepest point on earth, is southwest of Guam at 35,838 ft (10,923 meters) deep.
The island experiences occasional earthquakes. In recent years, quakes with epicenters near Guam have had magnitudes ranging from 7.0 to 8.2.
The island is divided into 19 municipalities (often called villages).
