FOREWORD

This monograph on the 1980 Census of Guam is a result of many professional contributions. This activity has helped prepare for the 1990 Census of Guam. This monograph attempts to directly interpret 1980 data and to consider the information for the planning process. The monograph is presented by chapters to contain relevant, useful tables.

The Interagency Committee on Population and others have prepared the monograph. Supplementary material has been added to aid research projects, grant applications, and other applications for both government and private sectors.

In summary, the report identifies what type of census information is available to aid in planning for what our population composition will be like by 1990 and into the future. The presentation of the individual chapters should be helpful to the users of such data.

The following individuals were associated with the various chapters:

Michael J. Levin Bureau of the Census Introduction, Age and Sex

Distribution, Fertility

Susan Ham Bureau of Planning Geographic Distribution,

Housing Characteristics,

Labor Force

Cynthia L. Naval Department of Commerce Household and Family

Characteristics, Fertility,

Housing Characteristics

Joseph P. Borja Department of Public

Health and Social

Services Marital Status, Mortality

Joseph E. Quinata Department of Commerce Migration

Joseph T. Flores Department of Commerce Ethnicity, Estimates and

Projections

Manuel F.L. Guerrero Department of Education Education

Alan T.K. Wang Department of Labor Labor Force

Yung Brian Suh Department of Commerce Industry, Occupation

and Class of Worker

Peter R. Barcinas Department of Commerce Income

The Office of Territorial and International Affairs, Department of Interior, provided funding for Joseph Flores, Department of Commerce, and Susan Ham, Bureau of Planning, to spend two months in Washington at the Census Bureau in 1986 to begin the interpretation and analysis of the 1980 census data; OTIA also paid for Michael Levin's transportation and per diem on Guam in 1987. Population Division, Bureau of the Census, provided Michael Levin's salary, both in Washington and in Guam. The various agencies and departments in the Government of Guam provided individuals as needed to finish the chapters. The Pacific Star Hotel provided work space for Michael Levin at reduced cost when it was badly needed.

We wish to extend our sincere appreciation to all who participated in this project.

Peter R. Barcinas

Michael J. Levin, Ph.D.

Cynthia L. Naval

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION AND GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION

Guam, an unincorporated territory of the United States, is the largest, most populated, and Southern‑most island in the Marianas archipelago. The island is 30 miles long and 8 miles wide, with a total land area of 209 square miles. The island was formed through an uplift of undersea volcanic activity and is surrounded by coral reefs near the shore. Guam is composed of two distinct geological areas of about equal size: the Northern part of the island is a high coraline limestone plateau rising up to 850 feet above sea level and contains the water lens which is the main source of fresh water on Guam; the Southern region is mountainous. Apra Harbor, one of the largest protected harbors in the Pacific, is located on the central, western side of the island.

Guam became a possession of the United States after the Spanish‑American War in 1898, and for the next 40 years remained almost unaffected by the changes occurring in the outside world. Health measures instituted by the U.S. Naval government started a rapid population growth, and between 1898 and 1940 the island's population more than doubled, from 10,000 to more than 22,000. Because of the occupation of Guam by Japanese armed forces during World War II, after the war more attention was paid to the territory. In 1950, Guam became an unincorporated territory of the United States by the Organic Act. Chamorro residents became United States citizens and the Government of Guam was set up with a Legislative Branch elected by Guamanians and an Executive Branch appointed by the President of the United States and directly responsible to the Department of Interior. In 1970, Guam elected its own governor for the first time. Guam is divided into 19 election districts.

SPANISH PERIOD

Although Guam had been inhabited for more than 3,500 years, it was not officially "discovered" until Magellan came in 1521. Spanish missionaries and administrators came and went over the next three hundred years. Contact during the first two centuries was sporadic, although documented (see Underwood 1973 for recorded contacts). No complete census was taken during this period.

Following a long period of native unrest, Don Jose Quiroga arrived in 1680 on Guam and his men "attacked and destroyed native villages and founded 6 'church‑villages' of Pago, Inapsan, Inarajan, Merizo, Umatac, and Agat, and forced the natives to move into one of these centers" (Underwood, 1973, cites Fritz 1904; Corte 1897). Also, Quiroga pursued the natives who fled to Rota after burning the church at Inarajan. Some 150 fugitives were returned to Guam. (Corte 1870, Ibanez 1886).

After 1694, when Quiroga became Governor, the inhabitants of all the Mariana Islands were moved to Guam or Saipan, except for a few natives who hid out on Rota to escape resettlement. Natives of Tinian Island were finally defeated on Agrigan and moved to Saipan in 1695. A final resettlement took place when Chamorros residing on Saipan were removed to Guam in 1698, leaving only Guam and Rota occupied at the beginning of the 18th century (Underwood, 1973:17, cites Safford, 1901, 1903; Corte, 1870, Fritz 1904).

"On Guam, a native population in the throes of resettlement, having suffered a series of damaging typhoons in 1670 (Ibanez 1886), in 1671 (Corte 1870; Thompson 1946, 1947; Reed 1952) and in 1693 (Thompson 1945; Reed 1952), and engaging in a series of rebellions, would expectably be peculiarly susceptible to disease, whether of introduced or native origins. That population decline began well before the date of the first Spanish census in 1710 seems evident, but the decrease had certainly not proceeded to the level of from 100 to 400 indicated by Dampier, after his visit in 1686, and recorded by Haswell (1917), Safford (1901), and Reed (1952)" (Underwood, 1973:18).

The data in Tables 1.1 and 1.2 show the change in composition of the population on Guam and Rota combined from 1710, the first Spanish census, through 1830. Rota could not be disaggregated from Guam in these tabulations; only a few hundred persons were living on Rota during this period. Immigrants, particularly Filipinos, continued to come to the Mariana Islands throughout the period, but since the censuses seem to classify persons in different ways, the population flows cannot be traced very well. The number of pure Chamorros decreased during the 1700s, and then started a very gradual increase during the early 1800s. While the Native population declined steadily, reaching its lowest point in 1786, the "mestizo" population (the progeny of matings between natives and Spanish, Filipino, and other foreigners) grew during the period.

Table 1.1 Ethnic Distribution: 1710 to 1830

‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑

Spanish/ Fili‑ Offcls/

Date Total Natives Mixed Mestizo pinos Troops Others

‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑

1830 6,490 2,652 1,007 5 2,612 70 143

1829 6,480 2,697 1,006 5 2,557 79 136

1828 6,448 2,792 970 2 2,466 78 140

1825 5,901 2,683 3,218 0 0 0 0

1816 5,389 2,559 0 1,109 1,484 147 90

1802 4,149 2,151 0 676 1,156 139 27

1801 4,244 2,142 0 657 1,274 140 31

1800 4,060 2,108 0 542 1,234 139 37

1799 4,001 2,074 0 591 1,164 142 30

1795 3,500 1,894 0 537 898 147 24

1793 3,584 1,766 0 961 710 147 0

1710 3,614 3,143 0 471 0 0 0

_______________________________________________________________________

Notes: Mestizos excluded from Spanish category 1828 to 1830; for 1828

to 1830 census reports, "other" includes English, French,

Mulattos, Malayans, and Pacific Islanders.

Source: Karolle 1978:46‑47 (Karolle cites Underwood 1976: 206, Carano

1964: 199, 323‑324, Statistical Abstract: Guam 1975: 2.

The percent native also fluctuated quite a bit during the period, again, attributable to the classification systems used in the various censuses (Table 1.2). The proportion of Filipinos in the population increased between 1710 and 1801, then remained at about 30 percent for several years. These Filipinos were mainly workers brought from the Philippines to serve the Spanish.

Table 1.2 Percent Ethnic Distribution: 1710 to 1830

‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑

Spanish/ Fili‑ Offcls/

Date Total Natives Mixed Mestizo pinos Troops Others

‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑

1830 100.0 40.9 15.5 .1 40.2 1.1 2.2

1829 100.0 41.6 15.5 .1 39.5 1.2 2.1

1828 100.0 43.3 15.0 .0 38.2 1.2 2.2

1825 100.0 45.5 54.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

1816 100.0 47.5 0.0 20.6 27.5 2.7 1.7

1802 100.0 51.8 0.0 16.3 27.9 3.4 .7

1801 100.0 50.5 0.0 15.5 30.0 3.3 .7

1800 100.0 51.9 0.0 13.3 30.4 3.4 .9

1799 100.0 51.8 0.0 14.8 29.1 3.5 .8

1797 100.0 37.2 0.0 20.4 0.0 4.8 37.6

1795 100.0 54.1 0.0 15.3 25.7 4.2 .7

1793 100.0 49.3 0.0 26.8 19.8 4.1 0.0

1710 100.0 87.0 0.0 13.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

________________________________________________________________________

Notes: See Notes to Table 1.1

Source: Karolle 1978:46‑47 (Karolle cites Underwood 1976: 206, Carano

1964: 199, 323‑324, Statistical Abstract: Guam 1975: 2.

Between 1800 and about 1856, the population nearly tripled, reaching more than 8,000 before a devastating smallpox epidemic in 1856 reduced the number by about half (Table 1.3). For the rest of the century the population gradually recovered, although a large part of this latter increase was due to migration of Carolinians, brought as a part of a Spanish policy of repopulating the Marianas. Also, a number of people migrated from the Philippines.

The rate of natural growth must have been very high, because epidemics continued, and yet the population increased. Safford (1901) has noted that an epidemic killed 194 persons on Guam in January, 1849. An epidemic of whooping cough reportedly resulted in the deaths of at least 200 children in 1855 (Fritz 1904). And two epidemics swept through the survivors of the smallpox epidemic in 1856 ‑ a measles epidemic in which at least 50 died in 1861, while another epidemic of whooping cough caused the deaths of 100 children in Agana, alone, in 1898 (Fritz 1904 from Underwood, 1973:23).

"Prior to the time of the decimating smallpox epidemic in 1856, immigration to the Mariana Islands had been minimal, especially in contrast to the rate of population movement into the area which took place after that date. A small Carolinian colony was established on Guam in 1816... This nucleus of Carolinian settlement was augmented somewhat following the great earthquake and tidal wave which apparently hit many Carolinian islands, as well as Guam, in 1849, leading survivors of the calamity to flee their ravaged atoll homes and seek refuge elsewhere in Micronesia...the Mariana Islands were not used extensively as a penal colony prior to the 1870s" (Underwood 1973:23).

Table 1.3 Population by Village and Region: 1831 to 1897

‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑

Village 1897 1891 1886 1872 1871 1849 1832 1831

‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑

Guam...................8,698 8,369 8,144 6,248 6,276 7,940 6,310 6,049

North.......................6,324 6,153 5,949 4,972 5,251 6,452 5,065 4,831

Agana.....................5,198 (NA) 4,959 (NA) (NA) 5,620 4,362 4,137

Other North...............1,126 (NA) 990 (NA) (NA) 832 703 694

Anigua.................. (NA) (NA) 169 (NA) (NA) 217 246 234

Asan.................... (NA) (NA) 252 (NA) (NA) 190 155 158

Tepungan................ (NA) (NA) 234 (NA) (NA) 73 57 56

Sinajana................ (NA) (NA) 142 (NA) (NA) 250 177 172

Maria Cristina.......... (NA) (NA) 193 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)

Mongmong................ (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 102 68 74

South.......................2,374 2,243 2,195 1,276 1,025 1,488 1,245 1,218

Agat‑Sumay................1,325 1,151 1,141 641 553 287 218 222

Umatac‑Merizo............. 788 679 664 379 316 582 539 501

Umatac.................. (NA) (NA) 225 (NA) 127 224 220 206

Merizo.................. (NA) (NA) 439 (NA) 189 358 319 295

Inarajan.................. 261 413 390 256 156 346 244 246

Pago...................... (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 273 244 249

__________ ________________________________________________________________

Source: Underwood 1973:27; 1831 and 1832 from Safford (1901); 1849 from Cox

(1917); 1871 from Corte (1875); 1872 from Ibanez (1886); 1886 from

Noticias (1886); 1891 from Resumen (1891), 1897 Census.

The number and the variety of the immigrants increased after 1856. As many as 63 Chinese laborers arrived from Manila aboard the Spanish vessel Denia in 1858 (Safford 1901); and an additional 39 Chinese may have arrived during the 1860s (Fritz 1904). About 35 Japanese agricultural laborers arrived in the Mariana Islands in 1867.

Between 1865 and 1869, over 1,000 Carolinians came to the Mariana Islands, in part to develop the copra industry in the area. An earlier complement of some 600 Carolinians were brought to Guam on labor contracts about 1861 (Beers, 1954), and by 1868, when an additional 95 Carolinians were brought to Guam, a total of 430 Carolinians were listed as resident in the community around what is now Tamuning (Ibanez 1886).

Table 1.3 and 1.4 show village distributions during the 1800s. Since the various sources did not collect data in comparable manners, Underwood (1973) made broad categories which are repeated here.

The population of Guam increased until the 1856 epidemic, and then decreased suddenly. There were also shifts between the North and the South, with increased percentages living in the North until 1871, and then a drifting away from the North to the Southern villages. Immigration could explain some of these differences, of course, particularly the movements of the large numbers of Carolinians. The Agana area continued to have the majority of the population throughout the period.

Table 1.4. Percent Population by Village and Region: 1831 to 1897

‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑

Village 1897 1891 1886 1872 1871 1849 1832 1831

‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑

Guam.................. 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

North...................... 72.7 73.3 73.0 79.6 83.7 81.3 80.3 79.9

Agana.................... 59.8 NA 60.9 NA NA 70.8 69.1 68.4

Other North.............. 12.9 NA 12.2 NA NA 10.5 11.1 11.5

Anigua................. NA NA 2.1 NA NA 2.7 3.9 3.9

Asan................... NA NA 3.1 NA NA 2.4 2.5 2.6

Tepungan............... NA NA 2.9 NA NA .9 .9 .9

Sinajana............... NA NA 1.7 NA NA 3.1 2.8 2.8

Maria Cristina......... NA NA 2.4 NA NA NA NA NA

Mongmong............... 1.2 1.1 1.3 NA NA 1.3 1.1 1.2

South...................... 27.3 26.7 27.0 20.4 16.3 18.7 19.7 20.1

Agat‑Sumay............... 15.2 13.7 14.0 10.3 8.8 3.6 3.5 3.7

Umatac‑Merizo............ 9.1 8.1 8.2 6.1 5.0 7.3 8.5 8.3

Umatac................. NA NA 2.8 NA 2.0 2.8 3.5 3.4