Page 357 - Micronesia

PLANNING YOUR VISIT Planning Your Visit

16 Culture Getting to Guam 17
Our island is a melting pot Before you can begin explor-
Guam is known as the jewel of culture comprised of the ing our beautiful island, you
of Micronesia. It is located indigenous people of Guam, first need to find a way here.
in the Pacific Ocean, about known as Chamorros, as well A.B. Won Pat Guam Interna-
1,200 miles east of the Philip- as a number of Filipinos, tional Airport is Micronesia’s
pines and 3,500 miles west Koreans, Chinese, and Micro- regional airport serving as the
of Hawaii. Being the largest nesians that have migrated to entry point for the neighbor-
island in Micronesia, it spans Guam due to our proximity ing islands of the Northern
about 212 square miles (549 to Asia and the Philippines. Marianas (Saipan, Rota, and
square km), and covers an U.S. military bases on our Tinian), Palau, the Federated
area about 30 miles (48.39 island have also led a number States of Micronesia (Chuuk,
km) long and 8.5 miles (13.71 of Americans to our tropical Pohnpei, Yap, and Kosrae),
km ) wide at the northern tip. paradise. and the Marshall Islands. To
The larger southern half of the see a regional map of Microne-
island stretches to about 11.5 Although differences exist be- sia, see page 64.
miles (18.55 km) wide. The tween our native cultures, the
Marianas Trench, the deepest spirit of Guam can be found It also serves as an interna-
ocean in the world, is about in each village and household. tional entry point from a num-
210 miles southeast of Guam, We are all united through the ber of cities in Asia – from
the westernmost territory of love of our island and the hos- Shanghai to Beijing, Incheon
the United States. pitality of our people. After to Tokyo. Known as the clos-
all, “We Are Guam.” est U.S. destination in Asia,
Guam hosts about a million
visitors each year.

Climate
Guam’s beau-
tiful tropical
weather pro-
vides a year-
round summer,
with trade
winds that
keep the island
comfortable. The average
temperature ranges between
75-86 degrees Fahrenheit
(26-30 degrees Celsius), with
an annual average rainfall at
about 80 inches (2,509 milli-
meters) per year. Guam knows
only two seasons – wet and
dry. Rainy season is from June
to November, and dry season
is from December to May.