Northern Mariana Islands

The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, usually shortened to the Northern Mariana Islands, is a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean that are a political division controlled by the United States. Its capital is Saipan.

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas  (Chamorro) Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas  (Carolinian)
Flag Seal
Anthem: "Gi Talo Gi Halom Tasi" (Chamorro) "Satil Matawal Pacifiko" (Carolinian) ("In the Middle of the Sea")
Location of the Northern Mariana Islands (circled in red)
Sovereign state	United States
Before belonging to the United States	Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
Commonwealth Status	January 9, 1978
End of U.N. Trusteeship	November 4, 1986
Capital and largest city	Saipan 15.19°N 145.74°E / 15.19; 145.74
Official languages	English Chamorro Carolinian
Ethnic groups (2010)	51.6% Asian 33.0% Pacific Islander 12.7% Multiracial 2.1% White 0.6% Other
Religion (2010)	81.3% Christianity 10.6% Buddhism 5.3% Folk religions 1.0% No religion 0.7% Islam 1.1% Other
Demonym(s)	Northern Mariana Islander (formal) Northern Marianan (other) Marianan (diminutive form) Chamorro (colloquial)
Government	Devolved presidential constitutional dependency
• Governor	Arnold Palacios (I)
• Lieutenant Governor	David Apatang (I)
Legislature	Commonwealth Legislature
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	House of Representatives
United States Congress
• House delegate	Gregorio Sablan (D)
Area
• Total
• Water (%)	negligible
Highest elevation (Mount Agrihan)	965 m (3,166 ft)
Population
• 2022 estimate	55,650 (209th)
• 2020 census	47,329
• Density	(97th)
GDP (PPP)	2016 estimate
• Total	$1.24 billion
• Per capita	$25,516
GDP (nominal)	2019 estimate
• Total	US$1,182,000,000
• Per capita	$21,239
Currency	United States dollar (US$) (USD)
Time zone	UTC+10:00 (ChST)
Date format	mm/dd/yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+1-670
USPS abbreviation	MP
Trad. abbreviation	CNMI
ISO 3166 code	MP US-MP
Internet TLD	.mp
Website	gov.mp

Spain owned the islands until 1899 and sold them to the German Empire. Germany lost them to Japan in World War I and the United States took them in World War II.

Geography

The Northern Mariana Islands, together with Guam to the south, compose the Mariana Islands. The southern islands are limestone, with level terraces and fringing coral reefs. The northern islands are volcanic, with active volcanos on Anatahan, Pagan and Agrihan. The volcano on Agrihan has the highest elevation at 3,166 feet (965 m). Anatahan Volcano is a small volcanic island 80 miles (130 km) north of Saipan. It is about 6 miles (10 km) long and 2 miles (3 km) wide. Anatahan began erupting suddenly from its east crater on May 10, 2003, at about 6 p.m. (0800 UTC). It has since alternated between eruptive and calm periods. On April 6, 2005, approximately 1,800,000 cubic feet (50,970 m³) of ash and rock were ejected, causing a large, black cloud to drift south over Saipan and Tinian.

People

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1960	8,286		—
1970	9,436		13.9%
1980	16,780		77.8%
1990	43,345		158.3%
2000	69,221		59.7%
2010	53,883		−22.2%

In 2020, 47,329 people lived on the Northern Mariana Islands. This was down from 69,221 in 2000.

The official languages on the Northern Mariana Islands are English, Chamorro, and Carolinian. Only a few people speak the Tanapag language. Many people also speak Philippine languages, Chinese, and other Pacific island languages. Many people still have Spanish family names, but the people do not often speak Spanish, as they did in the past.

Most people in the Northern Mariana Islands are Roman Catholic. There are also communities of Buddhist and Protestant people. Many people have traditional beliefs, also referred to as folk religion. According to the Pew Research Center, 2010:

• Roman Catholic 64.1%
• Protestants 16%
• Buddhists 10.6%
• Folk religions 5.3%
• Other Christians 1.2%
• Other religions 1.1%
• Unaffiliated 1.0%
• Eastern Orthodox <1%
• Hindu <1%
• Muslim <1%
• Jews <1%

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reported 865 members in the Northern Mariana Islands.

Northern Mariana Islands Media

• "Im schönsten Wiesengrunde" performed by the U.S. Navy Band. It is also used as the territorial anthem of the Northern Mariana Islands

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  Pictograms of sea turtles in Mariana's cave

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  Reception of the Manila galleon by the Chamorro in the Ladrones Islands, c. 1590. From Boxer Codex.

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  Saipan under the administration of Japan

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  Marine infantrymen in Garapan, Saipan

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  Aerial view of Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands

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  Map showing the Northern Mariana Islands and its exclusive economic zone (left) in the United States

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  Pagan Island eruption in 2012

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  Saipan seen from the International Space Station

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  Aerial view of Anatahan Island in the Northern Mariana Islands

• Women performing a folk stick dance in Saipan, 2000

Other websites

Media related to Northern Mariana Islands at Wikimedia Commons

• Wikimedia Atlas of Northern Mariana Islands
• Northern Mariana Islands travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Northern Mariana Islands Archived 2009-04-28 at the Wayback Machine official government website
• The CNMI Covenant Archived 2013-01-17 at the Wayback Machine
• The CNMI Constitution Archived 2008-10-05 at the Wayback Machine
• CNMI Office of Resident Representative Pedro A. Tenorio Archived 2007-05-23 at the Wayback Machine
• H.R. 873 - the Northern Mariana Islands Delegate Act Archived 2008-12-24 at the Wayback Machine
• H.R. 5550 - The United States-Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Human Dignity Act Archived 2008-12-23 at the Wayback Machine
• U.S. Census Bureau: Island Areas Census 2000
• CIA World Factbook information about Northern Mariana Islands
• Northern Mariana Islands at the Open Directory Project