We knew nothing about Guam and after our afternoon tour, unfortunately we still don’t! Our guide was not very informative; maybe he was new, so I will copy information from our ship’s guide.
‘Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, sailing for the King of Spain, reached the island in 1521 during his circumnavigation of the globe. The island was claimed for Spain and Spanish colonization commenced in 1668 with the arrival of Padre San Vitores, who established the first Catholic mission. The Mariana islands were then governed as part of the Spanish East Indies from the Philippines.
The United States took control of the island in the 1898 Spanish-American war. Guam came to serve as a station for American ships travelling to and from the Philippines, while the Northern Mariana Islands passed to Germany then Japan. During World War II, Guam was attacked and invaded by the armed forces of Japan on December 8, 1941. After the war, the Guam Organic Act of 1950, which established Guam as an unincorporated organised territory of the United States, provided for the structure of the island’s civilian government and granted the people United States citizenship.’
The island is surrounded by the Philippine Sea to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east. It’s a very pretty island of about 212 square miles with a population of about 169000. English is the first language but Chamorro (the local dialect) and Japanese are also spoken. The currency is the US dollar and we’re GMT +10.
Osaka is our next stop in 3 days time, I’m very excited about visiting Japan.
We knew nothing about Guam and after our afternoon tour, unfortunately we still don’t! Our guide was not very informative; maybe he was new, so I will copy information from our ship’s guide.
‘Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, sailing for the King of Spain, reached the island in 1521 during his circumnavigation of the globe. The island was claimed for Spain and Spanish colonization commenced in 1668 with the arrival of Padre San Vitores, who established the first Catholic mission. The Mariana islands were then governed as part of the Spanish East Indies from the Philippines.
The United States took control of the island in the 1898 Spanish-American war. Guam came to serve as a station for American ships travelling to and from the Philippines, while the Northern Mariana Islands passed to Germany then Japan. During World War II, Guam was attacked and invaded by the armed forces of Japan on December 8, 1941. After the war, the Guam Organic Act of 1950, which established Guam as an unincorporated organised territory of the United States, provided for the structure of the island’s civilian government and granted the people United States citizenship.’
The island is surrounded by the Philippine Sea to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east. It’s a very pretty island of about 212 square miles with a population of about 169000. English is the first language but Chamorro (the local dialect) and Japanese are also spoken. The currency is the US dollar and we’re GMT +10.
Osaka is our next stop in 3 days time, I’m very excited about visiting Japan.
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