Country name:
conventional long form: Territory of Guam
conventional short form:
Guam
local long form:
Guahan
local short form:
Guahan
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
Capital:
name: Hagatna (Agana)
geographic coordinates:
13 28 N, 144 44 E
time difference:
UTC+10 (15 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions:
none (territory of the US)
Independence:
none (territory of the US)
National holiday:
Discovery Day, first Monday in March (1521)
Constitution:
effective 1 July 1950; amended many times, last in 2012 (2013)
Legal system:
common law modeled on US system; US federal laws apply
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal; note - Guamanians are US citizens but do not vote in US presidential elections
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Barack H. OBAMA (since 20 January 2009); Vice President Joseph R. BIDEN (since 20 January 2009)
head of government:
Governor Eddie CALVO (since 3 January 2011); Lieutenant Governor Ray TENORIO (since 3 January 2011)
cabinet:
heads of executive departments; appointed by the governor with the consent of the Guam legislature
elections:
under the US Constitution, residents of unincorporated territories, such as Guam, do not vote in elections for US president and vice president; however, they may vote in Democratic and Republican presidential primary elections; governor and lieutenant governor elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a four-year term (can serve two consecutive terms, then must wait a full term before running again); election last held on 2 November 2010 (next to be held in November 2014)
election results:
Eddie CALVO elected governor with 50.6% percent of vote against 49.4% for Carl GUTIERREZ; Ray TENORIO elected lieutenant governor
Legislative branch:
unicameral Legislature (15 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve two-year terms)
elections:
last held on 6 November 2012 (next to be held in November 2014)
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 on 6 November 2012 (next to be held in November 2014); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - Democratic Party 1
Judicial branch:
highest court(s): Supreme Court of Guam (consists of 3 justices)
judge selection and term of office: justices appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Guam legislature; justices appointed for life subject to retention election every 10 years
subordinate courts: Superior Court of Guam - includes several divisions; US Federal District Court for the District of Guam (a US territorial court; appeals beyond this court are heard before the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit)
Political parties and leaders:
Democratic Party [Carlo BRANCH]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
Guam Commission on Decolonization
International organization participation:
IOC, PIF (observer), SPC, UPU
Diplomatic representation in the US:
none (territory of the US)
Diplomatic representation from the US:
none (territory of the US)
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, a proa or outrigger canoe with sail, and a palm tree with the word GUAM superimposed in bold red letters; the proa is sailing in Agana Bay with the promontory of Punta Dos Amantes, near the capital, in the background; blue represents the sea and red the blood shed in the struggle against oppression
note:
the US flag is the national flag
National symbol(s):
coconut tree
National anthem:
name: "Fanohge Chamoru" (Stand Ye Guamanians)
lyrics/music:
Ramon Manalisay SABLAN [English], Lagrimas UNTALAN [Chamoru]/Ramon Manalisay SABLAN
note:
adopted 1919; the local anthem is also known as "Guam Hymn"; as a territory of the United States, "The Star-Spangled Banner," which generally follows the playing of "Stand Ye Guamanians," is official (see United States)
NOTE: 1) The information regarding Guam on this page is re-published from the 2014 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Guam Government 2014 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Guam Government 2014 should be addressed to the CIA.
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may habe the following issues:
a) They assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
b) The CIA sometimes assignes counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order
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This page was last modified 06-Nov-14