Guam (2004) | South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2007) | |
Administrative divisions | none (territory of the US) | - |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 29.8% (male 25,577; female 23,850)
15-64 years: 64% (male 54,220; female 52,026) 65 years and over: 6.3% (male 4,912; female 5,505) (2004 est.) |
- |
Agriculture - products | fruits, copra, vegetables; eggs, pork, poultry, beef | - |
Airports | 5 (2003 est.) | - |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 4
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
- |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
- |
Area | total: 549 sq km
land: 549 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 3,903 sq km
land: 3,903 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Shag Rocks, Black Rock, Clerke Rocks, South Georgia Island, Bird Island, and the South Sandwich Islands, which consist of 11 islands |
Area - comparative | three times the size of Washington, DC | slightly larger than Rhode Island |
Background | Guam was ceded to the US by Spain in 1898. Captured by the Japanese in 1941, it was retaken by the US three years later. The military installation on the island is one of the most strategically important US bases in the Pacific. | The islands, which have large bird and seal populations, lie approximately 1,000 km east of the Falkland Islands and have been under British administration since 1908 - except for a brief period in 1982 when Argentina occupied them. Grytviken, on South Georgia, was a 19th and early 20th century whaling station. Famed explorer Ernest SHACKLETON stopped there in 1914 en route to his ill-fated attempt to cross Antarctica on foot. He returned some 20 months later with a few companions in a small boat and arranged a successful rescue for the rest of his crew, stranded off the Antarctic Peninsula. He died in 1922 on a subsequent expedition and is buried in Grytviken. Today, the station houses scientists from the British Antarctic Survey. Recognizing the importance of preserving the marine stocks in adjacent waters, the UK, in 1993, extended the exclusive fishing zone from 12 nm to 200 nm around each island. |
Birth rate | 19.31 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | - |
Budget | revenues: $340 million
expenditures: $445 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2000 est.) |
- |
Capital | Hagatna (Agana) | - |
Climate | tropical marine; generally warm and humid, moderated by northeast trade winds; dry season from January to June, rainy season from July to December; little seasonal temperature variation | variable, with mostly westerly winds throughout the year interspersed with periods of calm; nearly all precipitation falls as snow |
Coastline | 125.5 km | NA km |
Constitution | Organic Act of 1 August 1950 | - |
Country name | conventional long form: Territory of Guam
conventional short form: Guam local long form: Guahan |
conventional long form: South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
conventional short form: none abbreviation: SGSSI |
Currency | US dollar (USD) | - |
Death rate | 4.35 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | - |
Debt - external | NA (2003 est.) | - |
Dependency status | organized, unincorporated territory of the US with policy relations between Guam and the US under the jurisdiction of the Office of Insular Affairs, US Department of the Interior | overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina; administered from the Falkland Islands by a commissioner, who is concurrently governor of the Falkland Islands, representing Queen ELIZABETH II |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (territory of the US) | none (overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (territory of the US) | none (overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina) |
Disputes - international | none | Argentina, which claims the islands in its constitution and briefly occupied them by force in 1982, agreed in 1995 to no longer seek settlement by force |
Economic aid - recipient | Guam receives large transfer payments from the US Federal Treasury ($143 million in 1997) into which Guamanians pay no income or excise taxes; under the provisions of a special law of Congress, the Guam Treasury, rather than the US Treasury, receives federal income taxes paid by military and civilian Federal employees stationed in Guam (2001 est.) | - |
Economy - overview | The economy depends on US military spending, tourism, and the export of fish and handicrafts. Total US grants, wage payments, and procurement outlays amounted to $1 billion in 1998. Over the past 20 years, the tourist industry has grown rapidly, creating a construction boom for new hotels and the expansion of older ones. More than 1 million tourists visit Guam each year. The industry had recently suffered setbacks because of the continuing Japanese slowdown; the Japanese normally make up almost 90% of the tourists. Most food and industrial goods are imported. Guam faces the problem of building up the civilian economic sector to offset the impact of military downsizing. | Some fishing takes place in adjacent waters. There is a potential source of income from harvesting finfish and krill. The islands receive income from postage stamps produced in the UK, sale of fishing licenses, and harbor and landing fees from tourist vessels. Tourism from specialized cruise ships is increasing rapidly. |
Electricity - consumption | 771.9 million kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - production | 830 million kWh (2001) | - |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Lamlam 406 m |
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Paget (South Georgia) 2,934 m |
Environment - current issues | extirpation of native bird population by the rapid proliferation of the brown tree snake, an exotic, invasive species | NA |
Ethnic groups | Chamorro 37%, Filipino 26%, white 10%, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and other 27% | - |
Exchange rates | the US dollar is used | - |
Executive branch | chief of state: President George W. BUSH of the US (since 20 January 2001); Vice President Richard B. CHENEY (since 20 January 2001)
head of government: Governor Felix P. P. CAMACHO (since 6 January 2003) and Lieutenant Governor Kaleo MOYLAN (since 6 January 2003) cabinet: executive departments; heads appointed by the governor with the consent of the Guam legislature elections: US president and vice president elected on the same ticket for a four-year term; governor and lieutenant governor elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year term; election last held 5 November 2002 (next to be held NA November 2006) election results: Felix P. P. CAMACHO elected governor; percent of vote - Felix P. P. CAMACHO (Republican Party) 55.4%, Robert A. UNDERWOOD (Democratic Party) 44.6% |
- |
Exports | NA (2001) | - |
Exports - commodities | mostly transshipments of refined petroleum products; construction materials, fish, food and beverage products | - |
Exports - partners | Japan 70.1%, South Korea 17.9%, Singapore 6% (2003) | - |
Fiscal year | 1 October - 30 September | - |
Flag description | territorial flag is dark blue with a narrow red border on all four sides; centered is a red-bordered, pointed, vertical ellipse containing a beach scene, outrigger canoe with sail, and a palm tree with the word GUAM superimposed in bold red letters; US flag is the national flag | blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands coat of arms centered on the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms features a shield with a golden lion centered; the shield is supported by a fur seal on the left and a penguin on the right; a reindeer appears above the shield, and below it on a scroll is the motto LEO TERRAM PROPRIAM PROTEGAT (Let the Lion Protect its Own Land) |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $3.2 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 7%
industry: 15% services: 78% (2002 est.) |
- |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $21,000 (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | NA | - |
Geographic coordinates | 13 28 N, 144 47 E | 54 30 S, 37 00 W |
Geography - note | largest and southernmost island in the Mariana Islands archipelago; strategic location in western North Pacific Ocean | the north coast of South Georgia has several large bays, which provide good anchorage; reindeer, introduced early in the 20th century, live on South Georgia |
Highways | total: 885 km
paved: 675 km unpaved: 210 km note: there are also 685 km of roads classified non-public, including roads located on federal government installations |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
- |
Imports | NA (2001) | - |
Imports - commodities | petroleum and petroleum products, food, manufactured goods | - |
Imports - partners | Singapore 35.8%, Japan 22.2%, South Korea 17.5%, Hong Kong 11.4% (2003) | - |
Independence | none (territory of the US) | - |
Industrial production growth rate | NA | - |
Industries | US military, tourism, construction, transshipment services, concrete products, printing and publishing, food processing, textiles | - |
Infant mortality rate | total: 7.15 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 7.8 deaths/1,000 live births female: 6.46 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
- |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 0% (1999 est.) | - |
International organization participation | Interpol (subbureau), IOC, UPU | - |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 0 sq km |
Judicial branch | Federal District Court (judge is appointed by the president); Territorial Superior Court (judges appointed for eight-year terms by the governor) | - |
Labor force | 60,000 (2000 est.) | - |
Labor force - by occupation | private 74% (industry 10%, trade 24%, other services 40%), federal and territorial government 26% (2000 est.) | - |
Land boundaries | 0 km | 0 km |
Land use | arable land: 9.09%
permanent crops: 16.36% other: 74.55% (2001) |
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (largely covered by permanent ice and snow with some sparse vegetation consisting of grass, moss, and lichen) (2005) |
Languages | English, Chamorro, Japanese | - |
Legal system | modeled on US; US federal laws apply | the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply; the senior magistrate from the Falkland Islands presides over the Magistrates Court |
Legislative branch | unicameral Legislature (15 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve two-year terms)
elections: last held 5 November 2002 (next to be held 2 November 2004) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - Democratic Party 9, Republican Party 6 note: Guam elects one nonvoting delegate to the US House of Representatives; election last held 5 November 2002 (next to be held 2 November 2004); results - Madeleine BORDALLO (Democratic Party) was elected as delegate; percent of vote by party - Democratic Party 64.6%, Republican Party 35.4%; seats by party - Democratic Party 1 |
- |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 78.12 years
male: 75.08 years female: 81.34 years (2004 est.) |
- |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (1990 est.) |
- |
Location | Oceania, island in the North Pacific Ocean, about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines | Southern South America, islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, east of the tip of South America |
Map references | Oceania | Antarctic Region |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | none | - |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the US | defense is the responsibility of the UK |
National holiday | Discovery Day, first Monday in March (1521) | - |
Nationality | noun: Guamanian(s)
adjective: Guamanian |
- |
Natural hazards | frequent squalls during rainy season; relatively rare, but potentially very destructive typhoons (June - December) | the South Sandwich Islands have prevailing weather conditions that generally make them difficult to approach by ship; they are also subject to active volcanism |
Natural resources | fishing (largely undeveloped), tourism (especially from Japan) | fish |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | - |
Political parties and leaders | Democratic Party (controls the legislature) [speaker, Vicente (Ben) PANGELINAN]; Republican Party (party of Governor CAMACHO) [leader NA] | - |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | - |
Population | 166,090 (July 2004 est.) | no indigenous inhabitants
note: the small military garrison on South Georgia withdrew in March 2001 replaced by a permanent group of scientists of the British Antarctic Survey, which also has a biological station on Bird Island; the South Sandwich Islands are uninhabited |
Population below poverty line | 23% (2001 est.) | - |
Population growth rate | 1.5% (2004 est.) | - |
Ports and harbors | Apra Harbor | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 4, FM 7, shortwave 2 (2003) | 0 (2003) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 85%, other 15% (1999 est.) | - |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
- |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal; US citizens, but do not vote in US presidential elections | - |
Telephone system | general assessment: modern system, integrated with US facilities for direct dialing, including free use of 800 numbers
domestic: modern digital system, including cellular mobile service and local access to the Internet international: country code - 1-671; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean); submarine cables to US and Japan (Guam is a trans-Pacific communications hub for MCI, Sprint, AT&T, IT&E, and GTE, linking the US and Asia) |
general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: coastal radiotelephone station at Grytviken |
Telephones - main lines in use | 84,134 (2001) | - |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 32,600 (2001) | - |
Television broadcast stations | 5 (1997) | 0 (2003) |
Terrain | volcanic origin, surrounded by coral reefs; relatively flat coralline limestone plateau (source of most fresh water), with steep coastal cliffs and narrow coastal plains in north, low hills in center, mountains in south | most of the islands, rising steeply from the sea, are rugged and mountainous; South Georgia is largely barren and has steep, glacier-covered mountains; the South Sandwich Islands are of volcanic origin with some active volcanoes |
Total fertility rate | 2.61 children born/woman (2004 est.) | - |
Unemployment rate | 15% (2000 est.) | - |