GUAM (Span. Guajan; Guahan, in the native Chamorro)  , the largest and most populous of the Ladrone or Mariana Islands, in the North Pacific, in 13° 26' N. lat. and 144° 39 E. long., about 1823 M . E. by S. of Hong Kong, and about 1450 M . E. of Manila . Pop . (1908) about 11 ,36o, of whom 363 were foreigners, 140 being members of the U.S. naval force . Guam extends about 30 M. from N.N.E. to S.S.W., has an average width of about 6z m., and has an area of 207 sq. m . The N. portion is a plateau from 300 to 600 ft. above the sea, lowest in the interior and highest along the E. and W. coast, where it terminates abruptly in bluffs and headlands; Mt Santa Rosa, toward the N. extremity, has an elevation of 84o ft . A range of hills from 700 to nearly 1300 ft. in height traverses the S. portion from N. to S. a little W. of the middle—Mt Jumullong Mangloc, the highest peak, has an elevation of 1274 ft . Between the foot of the steep W. slope of these hills and the sea is a belt of rolling lowlands and to the E. the surface is broken by the valleys of five rivers with a number of tributaries, has a general slope toward the sea, and terminates in a coast-line of bluffs . Apra (formerly San Luis d'Apra) on the middle W. coast is the only good harbour; it is about 31 M. across, has a depth of 4-27 fathoms, and is divided into an inner and an outer harbour by a peninsula and an island . It serves as a naval station and as a port of transit between America and the Philippines, at which army transports call monthly . Deer, wild hog, duck, curlew, snipe and pigeon are abundant game, and several varieties of fish are caught .

Some of the highest points of the island are nearly

bare of vegetation, and the more elevated plateau surface is -covered with sword grass, but in the valleys and on the lower portions of the plateaus there is valuable timber . The lowlands have a rich soil; in lower parts of the highlands raised coralliferous limestone with a light covering of soil appears, and in the higher partg the soil is entirely of clay and silt . The climate is agreeable and healthy . From December to June the N.E. trade winds prevail and the rainfall is relatively light; during the other six months the monsoon blows and produces the rainy season . Destructive typhoons and earthquakes sometimes visit Guam . The island is thought to possess little if any mineral wealth, with the possible exception of coal . Only a small part of Guam is under cultivation, and most of this lies along the S.W. coast, its chief products being cocoanuts, rice, sugar, coffee and cacao . A United States Agricultural Experiment Station in Guam (at Agana) was provided for in 1908 . The inhabitants are of the Chamorro (Indonesian) stock, strongly intermixed with Philippine Tagals and Spaniards; their speech is a dialect of Malay, corrupted by Tagal and Spanish . There are very few full-blood Chamorros . The aboriginal native was of a very dark mahogany or chocolate colour . A majority of the total number of natives live in Agana .

The natives are nearly all farmers, and most of them are poor, but their

condition has been improved under American rule . Publicschools have been established; in 1go8 the enrolment was 1700 . On the island there is a small colony of lepers, segregated only after American occupation . Gangrosa is a disease said to be peculiar to Guam and the neighbouring islands; it is due to a specific bacillus and usually destroys the nasal septum . The victims of this disease also are segregated . There is a good general hospital . Agana (or San Ignacio de Agana) is the capital and principal town; under the Spanish regime it was the capital of the Ladrones . It is about 5 M . N.E. of Piti, the landing-place of Apra harbour and port of entry, with which it is connected by an excellent road . Agana has paved streets and sewer and water systems . Other villages, all small, are Asan, Piti, Sumay, Umata, Merizo and Inarajan . Guam is governed by a " naval governor," an officer of the U.S. navy who is commandant of the naval station .

The island is divided into four administrative districts, each with an executive

head called a gobernadorcillo (commissioner), and there are a court of appeals, a court of first instance and courts of justices of the peace . Peonage was abolished in the island by the United States in February 1900 . Telegraphic communication with the Caroline Islands was established in 1905; in 1908 there were four cables ending at the relay station at Sumay on the Shore of Apra harbour . Guam was discovered by Magellan in 1521, was occupied by Spain in 1688, was captured by the United States cruiser " Charleston " in June 1899, and was ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Paris on the loth of December 1898 . See A List of Books (with References to Periodicals) on Samoa and Guam (1901; issued by the Library of Congress) ; L . M . Cox, " The Island of Guam," in Bulletin of the American Geographical Society, vol . 36 (New York, 1904) ; Gen . Joseph Wheeler, Report on the Island of Guam, June 1900 (War Department, Document No . 123); F . W . Christian, The Caroline Islands (London, 1899) ; an account of the flora of Guam by W .

E . Safford in the publications of the

National Herbarium (Smithsonian Institution) ; and the reports of the naval governor .