modern-day Guam, as did the Japanese occupation during World War II. Guam became a major military site for the United States after its liberation in August 1944. In fact, since the end of World War II, approximately one-third of Guam’s land area has been owned by the Federal Government, most of it in military reservations; in 1980, almost 20,000 people, or over 18 percent of Guam’s population, lived on military bases—primarily Andersen Air Force Base, Finegayan Naval Communication Station, and Apra Harbor Naval Reservation—and on U.S. Navy ships for which Guam was the home port.
The U.S. Navy was responsible for the administration of Guam from 1898 until June 30, 1950, when the U.S. Government transferred that obligation to the Department of the Interior. The Organic Act of Guam (1950) enabled Guamanians to elect their own legislature, an at-large 21-member senate. The President of the United States appointed the governor of Guam until 1970; since that year, as a result of legislation signed by President Lyndon Johnson on September 11, 1968, Guamanians have elected a governor and lieutenant governor. In addition, since 1973, Guam has been represented in the U.S. Congress by an elected nonvoting delegate (see parenthetical statement on page 7-14 in the section on “American Samoa”). In recent years, Guam has been trying to obtain commonwealth status, which would give it more control of some of its affairs than the current home rule it now exercises.
The Census Bureau recognizes no first-order subdivisions of Guam, so the entire island serves as a single county equivalent for census statistical purposes. Guam is subdivided into 19 election districts, which the Census Bureau treats as MCDs. These entities do not have functioning governments; they are administrative areas for electing mayors (as explained later in this paragraph). The island also is divided into 15 municipalities, or villages. By legislation effective August 14, 1956, the 15 municipalities underwent an extensive reorganization to match the current election districts for the express purpose of facilitating the election of the mayors of the municipalities. That is, each municipality is headed by a mayor
