Pacific Magazine > 2007 Pacific Almanac
Guam
The Basics
Population: 167,371 (2006 SPC)
Capital: Hagatna (Agana)
Land Area: 549 sq. km.
Political Status and Form of Government: Organized, unincorporated territory of the U.S. The government has executive, legislative and judicial branches as set up by Congress via the Organic Act in 1950. Guam has one non-voting congressional delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, currently Madeleine Z. Bordallo.
Languages: English, Chamorro (both official)
Currency: U.S. Dollar
Number of Islands: One
The Numbers
Gross Domestic Product: $3.7 billion (2005 est. U.S. Census Bureau)
Gross Domestic Product per capita: $22,661 (2005 est. U.S. Census Bureau)
Gross Domestic Product Growth Rate: NA
National Budget: $457 million (2007)
Aid per capita: U.S. Grants, wage pay, procurement outlays came to $1.3 billion (2004 CIA)
Life Expectancy: Male: 78.76 (2007 est.) Female:
Ethnicity: Chamorro 37.1%, Filipino 26.3%, Caucasian 6.9%, Korean, Japanese, Chinese and other Asian 6.3%, mixed 9.8%, other Pacific Islanders 11.3%, other 2.3% (2000 census)
Nationality: U.S.
Age Distribution:0-14 years: 28.6%, 15-64 years: 64.5%, 65+: 6.9% (2007 est.)
Population Growth Rate: 1.1% (2006-2010 SPC est.)
People in Power
Head of Government: Gov. Felix P. Camacho
Head of State: U.S. President George W. Bush
Cabinet Members: Lieutenant Governor Michael Cruz; Lourdes M. Perez, Administration; Maria Connelley, Labor; Alicia Limtiaco, Attorney General; Randel L. Sablan, EPA; Vernon Perez, Civil Service Commission; Tom Elliott, Chamorro Land Trust Commission; Joseph Borja, Land Management; Frankie T. Ishizaki, Police; PeterJohn D. Camacho, Public Health and Social Services; Doris Flores-Brooks, Public Auditor (partial list; there are 60 GovGuam departments, agencies and board)
Representative Body: Unicameral Legislature with 15 seats
Regional Organizations
IOC, SPC, UPU
Media & Internet Service Providers
Radio: AM 3, FM 11, SW 2. TV: 3 including KUAM, ABC 7 and KGTF
Print: Pacific Daily News and Marianas Variety
ISPs: 5 in total, MCV Broadband, GTA, IT&E, GuamCell Communications, Verizon. Broadband DSL, cable and wireless broadband high-speed (WBA) for local use and access to the U.S. are available.
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Recent News
Guam was consumed by a series of financial problems in 2007, which led to the tabling of a series of budgets and tension between the Governor and Legislature. Some observers have called the financial crisis a short-term problem, but others suggest difficult decisions need to be made with respect to public service management; not withstanding the boost the military buildup will eventually give Guam.
In September Governor Felix P. Camacho signed—with strong reservations-- the Legislature's budget plan into law in order to avoid a shutdown of critical government services. The governor claims the Fiscal Year 2008 budget reflects more than $45 million in funding shortfalls in the areas of health, safety and education alone, fails to address funding voids left by the debt service requirements for the bonds, uses bond proceeds to cover annual operating costs for some agencies, and provides no comprehensive plan to address the remaining deficit of more than $400 million.
He says the Legislature needs to sit with the administration to agree on a comprehensive deficit elimination plan. The September budget followed an earlier version, which would have cut government expenditure by $30 million on last year’s figures. But then Guam received a $21 million federal tax windfall, and furloughs and other cut were off the table.
There are still questions around the much-anticipated military buildup as well, particularly whether sufficient funding has been committed to develop Guam’s civilian facilities to support the expanded military presence.
A U.S. Government Accountability Office report released late 2007 noted that the cost of construction on Guam is 2.64 times more expensive than building in the U.S. or at other overseas locations because of typhoons and earthquakes, that Guam’s civilian infrastructure needs improvement—at a likely cost of some $800 million, and that for now, there is a shortfall between the allocated funds and likely expenses.
In private sector developments, the Tokyo-based Ken Corp real estate group is now Guam’s dominant tourism player after acquiring the Hilton Guam Resort & Spa for $73 million. It also owns the Hyatt Regency Guam, Sheraton Laguna Resort, Pacific Islands Club and the smaller Hotel Santa Fe. It also acquired a Guam golf course earlier this year, and also owns the high-end Aqua Resort Club on neighboring Saipan.
Airlines, Shippers Serving Countrys
Air: Continental Micronesia and Northwest Airlines offer service to the U.S and Japan and Australia (for the former). Commuter routes among the Marianas islands are flown by Freedom Air and Continental Connections. All Nippon Airways, China Airlines, Continental Micronesia, Japan Airlines, Korean Airlines and Philippine Airlines fly between Guam and Asia.
Shippers: Horizon Lines and Matson Navigation offer cargo service from the U.S. Mariana Express Lines, Kyowa, NYK Line and others ship between Guam and Asia.
Main Government Contact
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 2950, Hagatna, Guam 96932
Ph: (671) 472-8931
Fax: (671) 477-4826
Web:
www.guam.gov
Sources and Guam on the Web
Statistics
www.spc.int/prism/country/gu/gu_index
World Fact Book/CIA
www.cia.gov/
Guam Visitors Bureau
www.visitguam.org
Map courtesy UH Press, The Pacific Islands; an Encyclopedia
Click map for larger image
