Which village is the capital of Guam?

Hagåtña is the capital of Guam. It is a coastal village on Guam’s western side and remains the seat of the territory’s legislature, governor’s office, and other government agencies.

The village was historically Guam’s main population center. During Spanish rule, it became an important administrative and religious center, and the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica was established there in the seventeenth century. Remnants of Spanish administration can still be seen around the Plaza de España.

Hagåtña suffered extensive destruction during the 1944 battle to retake Guam from Japanese forces. After World War II, many residents moved elsewhere on the island, so the capital is now relatively small compared with Guam’s larger residential communities.

The name is sometimes written Agana or Agaña. In 1998, Guam’s legislature restored the Chamorro form Hagåtña. Tamuning, Dededo, and Yigo are separate villages, not the territorial capital.