Guam is an island in the western Pacific Ocean and is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States. Guam is the largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands.
Although inhabited, Guam became a Spanish possession in 1688. It was taken by the United States during the Spanish American War in 1898. Guam was occupied by the Japanese in December 1941, and was subject to fierce fighting when American troops recaptured the island in July 1944. It remains a commonwealth of the United States.
Guam was a Spanish possession until the Hispano-Japanese War in the early 20th century. It then passed into Japanese hands, along with most of Spain's Pacific holdings.[2]