Demographics Of Guam

The demographics of Guam details an array of demographic statistics relating to the territory of Guam. This includes statistics on population, including the Indigenous population; religious affiliations; language; and immigration. The Demographics of Guam provides an overview of the history of Guam, as well as a depiction of the villages in the United States territory and its populace. The population of Guam, as of July 2021 was 168,801.

The demographics of Guam include the demographic features of the population of Guam, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Population

While there are no large cities in Guam, the populace resides in villages. The most populated village in Guam is Dededo, with a population of 44,943 in 2010. The Indigenous people of Guam are known as the Chamorro people, and are the largest ethnic group in Guam. This group is categorised as a minority group in the United States territory. The 2021 mean age in the territory of Guam was 31.4 years. Guam is the largest and most populated of the territories in the Mariana Islands.

The population density of Guam is approximately 310 people per square kilometer. The total land area is 544 km². 94.9% of Guam's population lives in urban regions.

In the 2020 U.S. census, Guam had a population of 153,836. This was a 3.5 percent decrease from the population of 159,358 in the 2010 census.

Structure of the population

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2021) (Including armed forces stationed in the area.):

Births and deaths

Ethnic groups

* Chamorro 37.3%
* Filipino 26.3%
*Mixed 9.5%
*White 7.1%
* Chuukese 7%
*Korean 2.2%
*Other Pacific Islander 2%
*Other Asian 2%
* Chinese 1.6%
* Palauan 1.6%
*Japanese 1.5%
*Pohnpeian 1.4%
*Other 0.6%
Guam is known to be the first island in the Pacific Ocean to be colonized by Europeans, discovered by the Spaniards in 1521. After Guam was discovered by Ferdinand Magellan under the flag of Spain, the island was repeatedly invaded by alien military forces. The island was officially claimed by Spain in 1565. It was the first island as well as the Mariana Islands, inhabited by humans in Remote Oceania. Guam has since been occupied by outside entities for over 330 years.

Magellan arrived on the shores of Guam with three ships, the Trinidad, the Conception and the Victoria. The population of Guam in the mid 16th century was severely reduced, due to the bloodshed caused by the Spaniards, as well as the many diseases carried by the Europeans. Guam was ceded to the United States after the Spanish–American War in 1898. It was then taken by the Japanese in 1941 during World War II. It was retaken by the United States in 1944.

While Guam merely covers 520 km squared of land area, the United States territory is considered to be of international significance, due to geopolitics, as well as the strategic importance of Guam's straits, islands and canals. Guam is the largest landfall, for use of communications, military bases and shipping. Guam was utilised as a military base in World War II against the Japanese.

Guam is a multi-ethnic island, with settlers from the Philippines, Korea, Japan and China forming part of its populace.Hung, H., Carson, M., Bellwood, P., Campos, F., Piper, P., Dizon, E., & Chi, Z. (2011). The first settlement of Remote Oceania: The Philippines to the Marianas. ''Antiquity'', ''85''(329), 909-926. Guam was first settled by migrants from the Philippines in 1,500 to 1,400 BCE.

The Chamorro people

The Mariana Islands is an ethnic and cultural heritage of the Chamorro people. Despite the invasion attempts from leading military countries, such as Spain, The United States of America and Japan, the Chamorro people have maintained their traditions. The cultural endurance of the Chamorro people was evident, as the Indigenous peoples of the Mariana Islands maintained their language, tradition and integrity, in spite of the dominance of imperialism. While Guam has remained a colony in the postmodern world, the Chamorro people of Guam have gained an amount of local political control of the island traditions.

In pre-Spanish times, Chamorro clans were divided into two distinct, ranked social castes. Social castes are different from social classes in that individuals are born into a particular caste and their status, therefore, could not be changed. Social classes, on the other hand, are more fluid and members can move between classes. The upper caste was known as , and the lower caste was known as . Movement in between these castes, such as through marriage, was prohibited. Concubines or other relationships could be maintained only within one's social class. In addition, the caste was divided into an upper noble class called and a middle, or demi-noble class, known as .

Languages

* English 43.6%
* Filipino 21.2%
* Chamorro 17.8%
*Other Pacific island languages 10%
* Other Asian languages 6.3%
*Other 1.1%

Religion

According to the Pew Research Center, 2010:

*Catholics 75%
*Protestants 17.7%
*Unaffiliated 1.7%
*Other religions 1.6%
*Folk religions 1.5%
*Other Christians 1.4%
*Buddhists 1.1%
*Eastern Orthodox <1%
*Hindu <1%
*Muslim <1%
*Jews <1%

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) reported 2,550 members in the LDS Church in Guam in 5 congregations as of 31 December 2019. On 4 May 2019, the church broke ground for a temple in Yigo.

In 2020, the Vatican noted that 87.72% of the population is Catholic, with 54 priests and 64 nuns across 27 parishes.Catholics And Culture website, retrieved 2023-08-03
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See also

* Guamanian citizenship and nationality

References

External Links

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{{Oceania topic, Demographics of

Guam
Society of Guam