Guam ambassador

As a newly appointed ambassador to Guam, I would like to prepare this portfolio, which gives an in-depth overview of the region. The document includes several aspects of the basic overview of the Guam nation, such as the island’s location, physical geography, demographic, economic, and cultural data, among other things.

Guam is a tropical island in the Western Pacific, almost directly south of Tokyo and east of Manila. With a land area of around 213 square miles, it is Micronesia’s most significant island. Guam’s population is predicted to be 161,000 in 2016. It is Mariana’s most populous and southernmost island. The average maximum age as per 2015 for the males is 75.9 years, while for the females is 82.2 years. As at 2014, 94.6% of the population is found in the urban areas, and 5.4% in the rural (Nicholas, 2003).

The Island is situated in the typhoon belt and earthquake regions. It is made up of the northern Guam area with elevated coralline plateau and an equally-levelled landscape, which permits for development. The Southern Guam is mountainous and a bit bucolic. The fish in Guam’s waters change with the tide changes. This has led to the difference in the fishing calendar. The Guam area has a pleasant tropical climate, which results from the tempered northeast trade winds and the north equatorial ocean current, which tides west through the Pacific. Throughout the year, the temperatures range between 70 and 900F with an average precipitation of 95 inches.

The area has plenty of ferns, palm trees, and other forms of tropical plants in addition to marine plants and insects. The unintentional launch of the brown tree snake in the 1940s has devastated the indigenous bird life with a dozen extinct species and several others being endangered (Nicholas, 2003).

The natives, who are ethnically called the Chamorros and of a Malayo-Indonesian descent, are the Guamanians. The Chamorros language is an Austronesian language, which incorporates many Spanish words. Its etymology comes from the word Chamorro, or Chamoli, meaning “noble. There is the considerable admixture of the Filipino, Spanish, Mexicans, and others of the American and European ancestries. One-third of them are Asians, especially the Filipinos and Koreans. Almost three-fourths of the people are Roman Catholic, and one-eighth are Protestant (Ballendorf, 2017).

Guam is a significant site for the U.S naval and air bases, with a third of the terrestrial being possessed by the US armed forces due to the physical characteristics. It is located very close to North Korea and has exceptional amenities on the tactical U.S soil and the local terrorist activities, which have advanced the former. It benefits from direct airline to thirteen metropolises in Japan due to its closeness to Tokyo. It also acts as a regional pivot for continental airlines. About 3.6 percent of Japanese outbound tourists visit Guam annually (Nicholas 2003).

The economy of the Guam is not well established because of the soiled textile which does not support most of the agriculture activities such as farming. As a result of this, many of the foodstuff products are imported in growing quantities at the expense of local agriculture, hence the high importation of foods (Ballendorf, 2017).

English and Chamorro are used as the official languages with the former being used for education and commerce, and the latter in domestic use. Due to the increased number of Japanese tourists, the Japanese language is being increasingly used.

Guam is faced with a significant challenge in the field of education. The island has witnessed slow growth regarding knowledge. Based on research that was conducted it is estimated that about 100% of people above the age of 15 are literate, both men and women (Misco & Lee, 2012).

The capital of the area is Hagatna (Agana). The chief settlements are in Dededo, in the north-central portion of the island, Machanao, in the north, and Aptian, on the west coast. They have high employment, trade import and export trends (Ballendorf, 2017).

Senators and government officials are referred to using the Chamorro term ”inafa’maolek“ or working as a group to preserve peace and harmony. It is the overall term, which encompasses values that depict respect, care, sharing, giving, understanding, and helping. They encourage healthy social interactions in the Chamorro culture (Walter & Salas, 2008).

Childhood obesity has been a significant health issue in Guam. The prevalence of obesity among students in the public-school system has been shown to be on a decline. These rates also represent childhood obesity. Initially, there was no way of capturing the BMI weight status. This fall has led to the reinforcement of various policies in the healthcare sector. However, the overall obesity prevalence is still estimated at 23%, which is always higher than the rated 17%, recorded in the United States (Paulino, Leon, Uncangco, Rosadino, Quinene, and Natividad, 2015).

Having mixed and overlapping identities in Guam is common. They are not only blended in the Chamorro and the US identification but also in the Asian, Filipino, and the outer Island ethnicities. Most of the Guam citizens identify themselves with the village and not the ethical identities. Thus, the identity issues are not discussed in schools.

There is a significant need to preserve, promote, and showcase the indigenous Chamorro culture on the island through varied programs. The hospitality of the Chamorro encourages its formation as the foundation for social and economic development.

The Environmental Protection Agency of America is giving funds of over $12.1 million for the environmental protection work to continue its efforts towards the protection of human life and the environment. The funding from the United States will drive the advancement of the environmental goals according to one of the officials of the Guam government (the United States, 2015).

References

Ballendorf, D. A., & Foster, S. (2017, September 05). Guam. Retrieved December 10, 2017, from https://www.britannica.com/place/Guam#toc53979

Hannah, C. I. (2011, Jan 28). Celebrating Chamorro Culture. Pacific Daily News.

http://0-search.proquest.com.library.acaweb.org/docview/847630403?accountid=12280

Misco, T., & Lee, L. (2012). Multiple & Overlapping Identities: The case of Guam. Multicultural Education, 20(1), 23-32.

http://0-search.proquest.com.library.acaweb.org/docview/1495447845?accountid=12280

Nicholas, W., C. (2003). Property Information: A Guam Case Study. Real Estate Issues, 28(1), 14-21.

Paulino, Y. C., Guerrero, R. T., Uncangco, A. A., Rosadino, M. G., Quinene, J. C., & Natividad, Z. N. (2015). Obesity and overweight Prevalence among School Children in Guam. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved,26(2A), 53-62.

United States: EPA awards over $12.1 million to Guam for environmental protection. (2015). MENA Report,

http://0-search.proquest.com.library.acaweb.org/docview/1729601686?accountid=12280

Walter, A., & Salas, M. C. (2008). Cultural Diversity as an Organizational Material: Review of Guam Leaders. Journal of International Business Research, 7, 17-27.