Inarajan, Guam
Encyclopedia
Inarajanis a village
Villages of Guam
||The United States territory of Guam is divided into 19 municipalities more commonly called villages. Each municipality is governed by an elected mayor. Village populations range in size from under 1,000 to over 40,000. As of the 2000 census, the total population of Guam was 154,805. - History...

 located on the Southeastern coast of the Marianas Island of Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...

. The village's original Chamoru name, Inalåhan, was altered when transliterated during Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

ish control of the island.

The village history predates the 1521 discovery of Guam by the Spanish. It was the home to the legendary Chief Gadao
Gadao
Gadao is a legendary chief of the village of Inarajan in southern Guam. In the Chamorro language of ancient Guam, he would have had the title maga'lahi as a high-ranking male. In addition to being featured in legend, he is the namesake of Inarajan's Chief Gadao’s Cave containing ancient cave...

, and was one of the few villages with sizable populations at the end of Spanish rule in 1898. In 1950 it had a population of 1,494 with 814 living in the village itself. Today, it is the best preserved of the Spanish era villages and is known for its rich history and culture. The village's population has decreased since the island's 2000 census.
Places of interest include the village's pre-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 church, statue of Chief Gadao, the Gef Pa'go Chamorro Village, the ancient Paintings of Chief Gadao's Cave, and historic village architecture.
The municipality of Inarajan includes the community of Malojloj
Malojloj
Malojloj is a community located within the larger municipality of Inarajan, Guam. It is specifically located within the hills north of the central Inarajan.- See also :* Villages of Guam...

, in the hills north of the central village. Malojloj and Inarajan each celebrate separate village fiesta
Festival
A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....

s. Many residents from the Malojloj section of Inalahan, claim themselves to be a separate village, seeing as they celebrate different fiestas and they have their own land boundary. In Southern Guam, it is easily recognisable as to what part is proper to Inalahan, and what is proper to Malojloj.

The Dandan
Dandan
A dandan or dendan is a mythical sea creature that appears in volume 9 of The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, or Arabian Nights. It appears in the tale Abdullah the Fisherman and Abdullah the Merman, where the merman tells the fisherman that the dandan is the largest fish in the sea and is...

 region of Malojloj was the site of a NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

 Apollo tracking station and is currently the site of the proposed landfill for Guam replacing the Ordot Landfill. The Landfill issue has been opposed immensely by the residents of the village as well as many environmentalists, but the government of Guam has overruled them.

Education

Guam Public School System
Guam Public School System
Guam Public School System , formerly the Guam Department of Education, is a school district that serves the entire island of Guam, a United States insular area...

 serves the island.

Inarajan Elementary School and Inarajan Middle School are in Inarajan. Southern High School
Southern High School (Guam)
Southern High School is a public secondary school located at #1 Jose Perez Leon Guerrero Drive in Santa Rita, Guam, United States.The school, a part of the Guam Public School System, opened in 1997 and serves grades 9 through 12....

 in Santa Rita
Santa Rita, Guam
Santa Rita is a village located on the southwest coast of the United States territory of Guam with hills overlooking Apra Harbor. According to the 2000 census it has a population of 7,500, down from 11,857 in 1990....

 serves the village.

Inarajan High School, formerly located in Inarajan, closed in 1997.
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