Northern Mariana Islands
Encyclopedia
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), is a commonwealth in political union
with the United States
, occupying a strategic region of the western Pacific Ocean
. It consists of 15 islands about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii
to the Philippines
. The United States Census Bureau
reports the total land area of all islands as 179.01 square miles (463.63 km²).
The Northern Mariana Islands has a population of 53,883 (2010 census). More than 90% of the population lives on the island of Saipan
. Of the fourteen other islands, only two — Tinian
and Rota
— have a significant population. The islands of Agrihan
and Alamagan
have fewer than ten residents each, and the remaining islands are unpopulated.
The Commonwealth's center of government is in the village of Capital Hill on Saipan. As the island is governed as a single municipality
, most publications name Saipan as the Commonwealth's capital.
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 volcano
es on Anatahan
, Pagan
and Agrihan
. The volcano on Agrihan has the highest elevation at 3166 feet (965 m).
Anatahan
Volcano is a small volcanic island 80 miles (128.7 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 1800000 cubic foot of ash and rock were ejected, causing a large, black cloud to drift south over Saipan and Tinian
.
s. There is little seasonal temperature variation. The dry season runs from December to June, and the rainy season from July to November and can include typhoons. The Guinness Book of World Records has cited Saipan
as having the most equable temperature in the world.
, who landed on nearby Guam
and claimed the islands for Spain
. The Spanish ships were met offshore by the native Chamorros, who delivered refreshments and then helped themselves to a small boat belonging to Magellan's fleet. This led to a cultural clash, since in Chamorro tradition there was little private property and taking something one needed, such as a boat for fishing, was not considered stealing. The Spanish did not understand this custom. The Spanish fought against the local Chamorros until the boat was recovered. The Spanish then gave the archipelago the name Islas de los Ladrones ("Islands of the Thieves").
Three days after he had been welcomed on his arrival, Magellan fled the archipelago under attack. In 1565 Miguel López de Legazpi
arrived in Guam and took possession of the islands in the name of the Spanish Crown. The islands were to be ruled from the Philippines
as part of the Spanish East Indies
until 1898. A Royal Palace was built in Guam for the Spanish governor of the islands. Its ruins can still be seen.
Guam was an important stop-over for the Manila Galleons, a convoy of ships carrying passengers and cargo such as silver, plants and animals from Acapulco (Mexico) to Manila. On the return trip from the Philippines to Mexico, the galleons did not call at Guam as the eastern winds were farther north, near the coast of Japan.
In 1668 Padre Diego Luis de San Vitores
renamed the islands Las Marianas after Queen Mariana of Austria
, widow of Spain's Philip IV
.
Most of the islands' native population (90%-95%) died from Spanish diseases or married non-Chamorro settlers under Spanish rule. New settlers, primarily from the Philippines and the Caroline Islands
, were brought to repopulate the islands. The Chamorro population did gradually recover, and Chamorro, Filipino
and Carolinian language
and ethnic differences remain basically distinct in the Marianas.
Spanish colonists forced the Chamorros to be concentrated on Guam to encourage assimilation and conversion to Christianity. By the time Chamorros were allowed to return to the Northern Marianas, Carolinians (from present-day eastern Yap
State and western Chuuk
State) had settled in the Marianas. Carolinians and Chamorros now are both considered as indigenous and both languages are official in the commonwealth (though not on Guam).
Early in World War I
, Japan
took the opportunity to declare war on Germany and invaded the Northern Marianas, hoping to annex them. In 1919, the League of Nations
, precursor of the United Nations
, awarded the islands to Japan as part of the South Pacific Mandate
. During Japan's occupation, sugar cane became the main industry of the islands, and labor was imported from Japan and associated colonies (especially Okinawa and Korea
). In the census of December 1939, the total population of the South Pacific Mandate
was 129,104, of which 77,257 were Japanese (including ethnic Taiwanese and Koreans).
Hours after the Attack on Pearl Harbor
, Japanese forces from the Marianas launched an invasion of Guam
on December 8, 1941. Chamorros from the Northern Marianas, then under Japanese rule for more than two decades, were brought to Guam to assist the Japanese administration. This, combined with the harsh treatment of Guamanian Chamorros during the 31-month occupation, created a rift that would become the main reason Guamanians rejected the reunification referendum approved by the Northern Marianas in the 1960s.
, the United States military
invaded the Mariana Islands on June 15, 1944, beginning with the Battle of Saipan
, which ended on July 9 with the Japanese commander committing seppuku
(a traditional Japanese form of ritual suicide). Of the 30,000 Japanese troops that defended Saipan, fewer than 1,000 remained alive at battle's end. U.S. forces then recaptured Guam
beginning July 21 and invaded Tinian
(see Battle of Tinian
) on July 24, which provided the take off point for the Enola Gay
, the plane dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima a year later. Rota
was left untouched (and isolated) until the Japanese surrender in August 1945, due to its military insignificance.
The war did not end for everyone with the signing of the armistice. The last group of Japanese soldiers surrendered on Saipan on December 1, 1945. On Guam, Japanese soldier Shoichi Yokoi
, unaware that the war had ended, hid out in a jungle cave in the Talofofo area until 1972.
Between the end of the invasion and the Japanese surrender, the Saipan and Tinian populations were kept in concentration camps. Japanese nationals were eventually repatriated, and the indigenous Chamorro and Carolinians returned to the land.
; thus, defense and foreign affairs are the responsibility of the United States. The people of the Northern Mariana Islands decided in the 1970s not to seek independence, but instead to forge closer links with the United States. Negotiations for territorial status began in 1972. A covenant to establish a commonwealth in political union with the U.S. was approved in 1975. A new government and constitution went into effect in 1978. Similar to other U.S. territories, the islands do not have representation in the U.S. Senate, but are represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by a delegate (beginning January 2009 for the CNMI) who may vote in committee but not on the House floor.
representative democratic
system, in which the governor is head of government
, with a multi-party system
. The Northern Mariana Islands are a commonwealth of the United States
. Federal funds to the Commonwealth are administered by the Office of Insular Affairs
of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Repeating the separation of powers in other U.S. territories and state governments
, executive power
is exercised by the Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands. Legislative power is vested in the bicameral Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature
. The judiciary
is independent of the executive and the legislative branches.
However, politics in the Northern Mariana Islands is often "more a function of family relationships and personal loyalties" where the size of one's extended family is more important than a candidate's personal qualifications. Some critics, including the author of the political website Saipan Sucks
, charge that this is nepotism
carried out within the trappings of democracy.
(TTPI). The United States became the TTPI's administering authority under the terms of a trusteeship agreement. In 1976, Congress approved the mutually negotiated Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) in Political Union with the United States. The CNMI Government adopted its own constitution in 1977, and the constitutional government took office in January 1978. The Covenant was fully implemented November 3, 1986, pursuant to Presidential Proclamation no. 5564, which conferred United States citizenship on legally qualified CNMI residents.
On December 22, 1990, the United Nations Trusteeship Council
terminated the TTPI as it applied to the CNMI and five other of the TTPI's original seven districts (the Marshall Islands
and the Federated States of Micronesia
(Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei and Yap)), this was acknowledged in under United Nations Security Council Resolution 683
passed on the same day.
Under the Covenant, in general, United States federal law applies to CNMI. However, the CNMI is outside the customs territory of the United States and, although the internal revenue code does apply in the form of a local income tax, the income tax system is largely locally determined. According to the Covenant, the federal minimum wage and federal immigration laws "will not apply to the Northern Mariana Islands except in the manner and to the extent made applicable to them by the Congress by law after termination of the Trusteeship Agreement." The local control of minimum wage was superseded by the United States Congress in 2007.
Prior to November 28, 2009, the INA did not apply in the CNMI. Rather, a separate immigration system existed in the CNMI. This system was established under the Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States of America (“Covenant”), which was signed in 1975 and codified as 48 U.S.C. § 1801. The Covenant was unilaterally amended by the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008
(“CNRA”) approved by the U.S. Congress on May 8, 2008, thus altering the CNMI’s immigration system. Specifically, CNRA § 702(a) amended the Covenant to state that “the provisions of the ‘immigration laws’ (as defined in section 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17))) shall apply to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.”2 Further, under
CNRA § 702(a), the “immigration laws,” as well as the amendments to the Covenant, “shall . . .
supersede and replace all laws, provisions, or programs of the Commonwealth relating to the admission of aliens and the removal of aliens from the Commonwealth.”
Transition to U.S. Immigration Law began November 28, 2009 in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). CNMI's immigration laws have been replaced by the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and other U.S. immigration laws.
The CNMI has a United States district court
which exercises jurisdiction over the District of the Northern Mariana Islands (DNMI), which is coterminous with the CNMI. The United States District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands was established by act of Congress
in 1977 and began operations in January 1978. The court sits on the island of Saipan
, but may sit other places within the Commonwealth. The district court has the same jurisdiction as all other United States district courts, including diversity jurisdiction and bankruptcy
jurisdiction. Appeals are taken to the Ninth Circuit
. The district court's local rules specifically require lawyers to wear shoes to court.
The CNMI was founded in January 1978. Following the foundation of the Commonwealth its qualified residents were granted U.S. citizenship in November 1986, after which it was represented in the United States (and especially Washington, D.C.) by a Resident Representative who was elected at-large by CNMI voters and whose office was paid for by the CNMI government. In 2008, Congress enacted , title VII of which established a CNMI delegate's seat. Democrat Gregorio Sablan
was elected in November 2008 as the first CNMI delegate and took office in the 111th Congress.
, especially from Japan
, and the rapidly dwindling garment manufacturing
sector. The tourism industry has also been dwindling since late 2005. Since late 2006, tourist arrivals fell 15.23% (73,000 potential visitors) from the eleven months prior.
The Northern Mariana Islands had successfully used its position as a free trade area with the U.S., while at the same time not being subject to the same labor laws. For example, the $3.05 per hour minimum wage in the Commonwealth, which lasted from 1997 to 2007, was lower than in the U.S. and some other worker protections are weaker, leading to lower production costs. That allowed garments to be labeled "Made in USA" without having to comply with all U.S. labor laws. However, the U.S. minimum wage law signed by President Bush on May 25, 2007, would result in stepped increases in the Northern Marianas' minimum wage to reach U.S. level by 2015. The first step (to $3.55) became effective July 25, 2007, and a yearly increase of $0.50 will take effect every May thereafter until the CNMI minimum wage equals the nationwide minimum wage. However, a law signed in December 2009 delayed the yearly increase from May to September. As of September 30, 2010, the minimum wage is $5.05 per hour.
In the extreme, the island's exemption from U.S. labor laws had led to many alleged exploitations including recent claims of sweatshops, child labor
, child prostitution, and even forced abortions.
An immigration system mostly outside of federal U.S. control (which ended on November 28, 2009) resulted in a large number of Chinese migrant workers (about 15,000 during the peak years) employed in the islands' garment trade. However, the lifting of World Trade Organization
restrictions on Chinese imports to the U.S. in 2005 had put the Commonwealth-based trade under severe pressure, leading to a number of recent factory closures. Adding to the U.S.-imposed scheduled wage increases, the garment industry became extinct by 2009.
Agricultural production, primarily of tapioca
, cattle
, coconut
s, breadfruit
, tomato
es, and melon
s, exists, but is relatively unimportant in the economy.
Some extreme labor practices, not common elsewhere in the United States, had occurred. Some of these labor practices include forcing women to have abortions, as exposed in the March 18, 1998, episode of ABC News
' 20/20, and enslaving women and forcing them into prostitution, as the U.S. Department of Justice conviction of several CNMI traffickers in 1999 attests. In 2005 and 2006, the issue of these regulatory exemptions in the CNMI was brought up during the American political scandals of Congressman
Tom DeLay
and lobbyist Jack Abramoff
.
Non-native islanders are not allowed to own land, but can lease it.
Mail service for the islands is provided by the U.S. Postal Service
(USPS). Each major island has its own zip code in the 96950-96952 range, and the USPS state abbreviation for the CNMI is "MP".
For phone service, the islands are included in the North American Numbering Plan
, using area code 670
.
Television service is provided by KPPI-LP, Channel 7, which simulcasts Guam's ABC
affiliate KTGM
, as well as WSZE, Channel 10, which simulcasts Guam's NBC
affiliate KUAM-TV
. About 10 radio stations broadcast within the CNMI.
operates public schools in the commonwealth and there are numerous private schools. Northern Marianas College
is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges
and offers a range of programs similar to other small U.S. community college
s.
Administratively, the CNMI is divided into four municipalities
:
The Northern Islands (north of Saipan) form the Northern Islands Municipality
.
The three main islands of the Southern Islands form the municipalities of Saipan
, Tinian
, and Rota
, with uninhabited Aguijan forming part of Tinian municipality.
Because of volcanic threat, the northern islands have been largely evacuated. Human habitation is limited to Agrihan, Pagan, and Alamagan, but population varies due to various economic factors, including children's education. The Census of April 2000 registered just six people in all of the Northern Islands municipality (then residing on Alamagan), and the Northern Islands' mayor office is located in "exile" on Saipan.
Saipan, Tinian, and Rota have the only ports and harbors, and are the only permanently populated islands.
General information
News media
Other
Political union
A political union is a type of state which is composed of or created out of smaller states. Unlike a personal union, the individual states share a common government and the union is recognized internationally as a single political entity...
with the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, occupying a strategic region of the western Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. It consists of 15 islands about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
to the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. The United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
reports the total land area of all islands as 179.01 square miles (463.63 km²).
The Northern Mariana Islands has a population of 53,883 (2010 census). More than 90% of the population lives on the island of Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
. Of the fourteen other islands, only two — Tinian
Tinian
Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.-Geography:Tinian is about 5 miles southwest of its sister island, Saipan, from which it is separated by the Saipan Channel. It has a land area of 39 sq.mi....
and Rota
Rota (island)
Rota also known as the "peaceful island", is the southernmost island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the second southernmost of the Marianas Archipelago. It lies approximately 40 miles north-northeast of the United States territory of Guam...
— have a significant population. The islands of Agrihan
Agrihan
Agrihan is a stratovolcano which forms an island in the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The entire island is a massive volcano which rises over from the ocean floor, and is the fifth largest in the Marianas volcanic arc. At , its summit is the highest point in Micronesia...
and Alamagan
Alamagan
The Northern Marianas island of Alamagan is located north from Saipan and is 11.12 km² in area. The island's volcano has a large caldera at the summit. The volcano last erupted around 870 AD, with an error bar of 100 years. It involved pyroclastic flows, and had a VEI of 4...
have fewer than ten residents each, and the remaining islands are unpopulated.
The Commonwealth's center of government is in the village of Capital Hill on Saipan. As the island is governed as a single municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
, most publications name Saipan as the Commonwealth's capital.
Geography
The Northern Mariana Islands, together with GuamGuam
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...
to the south, compose the Mariana Islands
Mariana Islands
The Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...
. The southern islands are limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
, with level terraces and fringing coral
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
reefs. The northern islands are volcanic, with active volcano
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
es on Anatahan
Anatahan
Anatahan is one of the most active volcanoes of the Northern Mariana Islands. The island of Anatahan is 9 kilometers long and has a land area of . Formerly inhabited, it now has no population because of the always-present danger of volcanic eruptions...
, Pagan
Pagan Island
Pagan is an island of the Northern Mariana Islands chain,located at , approximately 320 kilometers northof Saipan.Pagan has an area of 47.23 km² , making it the fourth largest island of the Northern Marianas, and consists of two stratovolcanoes joined by a narrow strip of land.The...
and Agrihan
Agrihan
Agrihan is a stratovolcano which forms an island in the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The entire island is a massive volcano which rises over from the ocean floor, and is the fifth largest in the Marianas volcanic arc. At , its summit is the highest point in Micronesia...
. The volcano on Agrihan has the highest elevation at 3166 feet (965 m).
Anatahan
Anatahan
Anatahan is one of the most active volcanoes of the Northern Mariana Islands. The island of Anatahan is 9 kilometers long and has a land area of . Formerly inhabited, it now has no population because of the always-present danger of volcanic eruptions...
Volcano is a small volcanic island 80 miles (128.7 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 1800000 cubic foot of ash and rock were ejected, causing a large, black cloud to drift south over Saipan and Tinian
Tinian
Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.-Geography:Tinian is about 5 miles southwest of its sister island, Saipan, from which it is separated by the Saipan Channel. It has a land area of 39 sq.mi....
.
Climate
The islands have a tropical marine climate moderated by seasonal northeast trade windTrade wind
The trade winds are the prevailing pattern of easterly surface winds found in the tropics, within the lower portion of the Earth's atmosphere, in the lower section of the troposphere near the Earth's equator...
s. There is little seasonal temperature variation. The dry season runs from December to June, and the rainy season from July to November and can include typhoons. The Guinness Book of World Records has cited Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
as having the most equable temperature in the world.
Spanish possession
The first European exploration of the area was in 1521 by Ferdinand MagellanFerdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer. He was born in Sabrosa, in northern Portugal, and served King Charles I of Spain in search of a westward route to the "Spice Islands" ....
, who landed on nearby 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...
and claimed the islands for 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...
. The Spanish ships were met offshore by the native Chamorros, who delivered refreshments and then helped themselves to a small boat belonging to Magellan's fleet. This led to a cultural clash, since in Chamorro tradition there was little private property and taking something one needed, such as a boat for fishing, was not considered stealing. The Spanish did not understand this custom. The Spanish fought against the local Chamorros until the boat was recovered. The Spanish then gave the archipelago the name Islas de los Ladrones ("Islands of the Thieves").
Three days after he had been welcomed on his arrival, Magellan fled the archipelago under attack. In 1565 Miguel López de Legazpi
Miguel López de Legazpi
Miguel López de Legazpi , also known as El Adelantado and El Viejo , was a Spanish conquistador who established one of the first European settlements in the East Indies and the Pacific Islands in 1565. He is the first Governor-General in the Philippines...
arrived in Guam and took possession of the islands in the name of the Spanish Crown. The islands were to be ruled from the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
as part of the Spanish East Indies
Spanish East Indies
Spanish East Indies was a term used to describe Spanish territories in Asia-Pacific which lasted for three centuries . With the seat of government in Manila, the territory encompassed the Philippine Islands, Guam and the Mariana Islands, the Caroline Islands, and for a period of time, parts of...
until 1898. A Royal Palace was built in Guam for the Spanish governor of the islands. Its ruins can still be seen.
Guam was an important stop-over for the Manila Galleons, a convoy of ships carrying passengers and cargo such as silver, plants and animals from Acapulco (Mexico) to Manila. On the return trip from the Philippines to Mexico, the galleons did not call at Guam as the eastern winds were farther north, near the coast of Japan.
In 1668 Padre Diego Luis de San Vitores
Diego Luis de San Vitores
Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores was a Spanish Jesuit missionary who founded the first Catholic church on the island of Guam. He is responsible for establishing the Spanish presence in the Mariana Islands.-Early life:...
renamed the islands Las Marianas after Queen Mariana of Austria
Mariana of Austria
Mariana of Austria was Queen consort of Spain as the second wife of King Philip IV, who was also her maternal uncle...
, widow of Spain's Philip IV
Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV was King of Spain between 1621 and 1665, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, and King of Portugal until 1640...
.
Most of the islands' native population (90%-95%) died from Spanish diseases or married non-Chamorro settlers under Spanish rule. New settlers, primarily from the Philippines and the Caroline Islands
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end...
, were brought to repopulate the islands. The Chamorro population did gradually recover, and Chamorro, Filipino
Filipino language
This move has drawn much criticism from other regional groups.In 1987, a new constitution introduced many provisions for the language.Article XIV, Section 6, omits any mention of Tagalog as the basis for Filipino, and states that:...
and Carolinian language
Carolinian language
Carolinian is an Austronesian language spoken in the Northern Mariana Islands, where it is an official language along with English and Chamorro. Spoken mostly by the Carolinian people, Carolinian is most closely related to Satawalese, Woleaian, and Puluwatese...
and ethnic differences remain basically distinct in the Marianas.
Spanish colonists forced the Chamorros to be concentrated on Guam to encourage assimilation and conversion to Christianity. By the time Chamorros were allowed to return to the Northern Marianas, Carolinians (from present-day eastern Yap
Yap
Yap, also known as Wa'ab by locals, is an island in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean. It is a state of the Federated States of Micronesia. Yap's indigenous cultures and traditions are still strong compared to other neighboring islands. The island of Yap actually consists of four...
State and western Chuuk
Chuuk
Chuuk — formerly Truk, Ruk, Hogoleu, Torres, Ugulat, and Lugulus — is an island group in the south western part of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia , along with Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap. Chuuk is the most populous of the FSM's...
State) had settled in the Marianas. Carolinians and Chamorros now are both considered as indigenous and both languages are official in the commonwealth (though not on Guam).
German and Japanese possession
Following the Spanish–American War of 1898, Spain ceded Guam to the United States and sold the remainder of the Marianas (along with the Caroline and Marshall Islands) to Imperial Germany under the German–Spanish Treaty of 1899.Early in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
took the opportunity to declare war on Germany and invaded the Northern Marianas, hoping to annex them. In 1919, the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
, precursor of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, awarded the islands to Japan as part of the South Pacific Mandate
South Pacific Mandate
The was the Japanese League of Nations mandate consisting of several groups of islands in the Pacific Ocean which came under the administration of Japan after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I.-Early history:Under the terms of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, after the start of World...
. During Japan's occupation, sugar cane became the main industry of the islands, and labor was imported from Japan and associated colonies (especially Okinawa and Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
). In the census of December 1939, the total population of the South Pacific Mandate
South Pacific Mandate
The was the Japanese League of Nations mandate consisting of several groups of islands in the Pacific Ocean which came under the administration of Japan after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I.-Early history:Under the terms of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, after the start of World...
was 129,104, of which 77,257 were Japanese (including ethnic Taiwanese and Koreans).
Hours after the Attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
, Japanese forces from the Marianas launched an invasion of Guam
Battle of Guam (1941)
The First Battle of Guam, was an engagement during the Pacific War in World War II, and took place on 8 December 1941 on Guam in the Mariana Islands between the Empire of Japan and the United States...
on December 8, 1941. Chamorros from the Northern Marianas, then under Japanese rule for more than two decades, were brought to Guam to assist the Japanese administration. This, combined with the harsh treatment of Guamanian Chamorros during the 31-month occupation, created a rift that would become the main reason Guamanians rejected the reunification referendum approved by the Northern Marianas in the 1960s.
American Invasion
Near the end of World War IIWorld 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...
, the United States military
United States armed forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
invaded the Mariana Islands on June 15, 1944, beginning with the Battle of Saipan
Battle of Saipan
The Battle of Saipan was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands from 15 June-9 July 1944. The Allied invasion fleet embarking the expeditionary forces left Pearl Harbor on 5 June 1944, the day before Operation Overlord in Europe was...
, which ended on July 9 with the Japanese commander committing seppuku
Seppuku
is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku was originally reserved only for samurai. Part of the samurai bushido honor code, seppuku was either used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies , or as a form of capital punishment...
(a traditional Japanese form of ritual suicide). Of the 30,000 Japanese troops that defended Saipan, fewer than 1,000 remained alive at battle's end. U.S. forces then recaptured 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...
beginning July 21 and invaded Tinian
Tinian
Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.-Geography:Tinian is about 5 miles southwest of its sister island, Saipan, from which it is separated by the Saipan Channel. It has a land area of 39 sq.mi....
(see Battle of Tinian
Battle of Tinian
The Battle of Tinian was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Tinian in the Mariana Islands from 24 July 1944 to 1 August 1944.-Background:...
) on July 24, which provided the take off point for the Enola Gay
Enola Gay
Enola Gay is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, mother of the pilot, then-Colonel Paul Tibbets. On August 6, 1945, during the final stages of World War II, it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb as a weapon of war...
, the plane dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima a year later. Rota
Rota (island)
Rota also known as the "peaceful island", is the southernmost island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the second southernmost of the Marianas Archipelago. It lies approximately 40 miles north-northeast of the United States territory of Guam...
was left untouched (and isolated) until the Japanese surrender in August 1945, due to its military insignificance.
The war did not end for everyone with the signing of the armistice. The last group of Japanese soldiers surrendered on Saipan on December 1, 1945. On Guam, Japanese soldier Shoichi Yokoi
Shoichi Yokoi
was a Japanese sergeant in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second World War. He was among the last three Japanese hold-outs to surrender after the end of hostilities in 1945.-Early life:Yokoi was born in Saori, Aichi Prefecture...
, unaware that the war had ended, hid out in a jungle cave in the Talofofo area until 1972.
Between the end of the invasion and the Japanese surrender, the Saipan and Tinian populations were kept in concentration camps. Japanese nationals were eventually repatriated, and the indigenous Chamorro and Carolinians returned to the land.
Commonwealth
After Japan's defeat, the islands were administered by the United States as part of the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific IslandsTrust Territory of the Pacific Islands
The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from 1947 to 1986.-History:...
; thus, defense and foreign affairs are the responsibility of the United States. The people of the Northern Mariana Islands decided in the 1970s not to seek independence, but instead to forge closer links with the United States. Negotiations for territorial status began in 1972. A covenant to establish a commonwealth in political union with the U.S. was approved in 1975. A new government and constitution went into effect in 1978. Similar to other U.S. territories, the islands do not have representation in the U.S. Senate, but are represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by a delegate (beginning January 2009 for the CNMI) who may vote in committee but not on the House floor.
Demographics
According to the 2010 census, the population of the CNMI as of April 1, 2010 was 53,883, down from 69,221 in 2000, a decrease of 22.2%. The decrease was reportedly due to a combination of factors including the demise of the garment industry (the vast majority of whose employees were females from China), economic crises, and a decline in tourism, one of the CNMI's primary sources of revenue.Politics
The Northern Mariana Islands have a presidentialPresidential system
A presidential system is a system of government where an executive branch exists and presides separately from the legislature, to which it is not responsible and which cannot, in normal circumstances, dismiss it....
representative democratic
Representative democracy
Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principle of elected individuals representing the people, as opposed to autocracy and direct democracy...
system, in which the governor is head of government
Head of government
Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...
, with a multi-party system
Multi-party system
A multi-party system is a system in which multiple political parties have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in coalition, e.g.The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition in the United Kingdom formed in 2010. The effective number of parties in a multi-party system is normally...
. The Northern Mariana Islands are a commonwealth of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Federal funds to the Commonwealth are administered by the Office of Insular Affairs
Office of Insular Affairs
The Office of Insular Affairs is a unit of the United States Department of the Interior that oversees federal administration of several United States possessions...
of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Repeating the separation of powers in other U.S. territories and state governments
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
, executive power
Executive Power
Executive Power is Vince Flynn's fifth novel, and the fourth to feature Mitch Rapp, an American agent that works for the CIA as an operative for a covert counter terrorism unit called the "Orion Team."-Plot summary:...
is exercised by the Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands. Legislative power is vested in the bicameral Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature
Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature
The Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature is the territorial legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The legislative branch of the territory is bicameral, consisting of a 20-member lower House of Representatives, and an upper house Senate with nine...
. The judiciary
Judiciary
The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...
is independent of the executive and the legislative branches.
However, politics in the Northern Mariana Islands is often "more a function of family relationships and personal loyalties" where the size of one's extended family is more important than a candidate's personal qualifications. Some critics, including the author of the political website Saipan Sucks
Saipan Sucks
Saipan Sucks is a politically and socially critical website about the United States's Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , particularly its principal island Saipan. The website seeks to call attention to what it sees as systemic societal corruption in the CNMI...
, charge that this is nepotism
Nepotism
Nepotism is favoritism granted to relatives regardless of merit. The word nepotism is from the Latin word nepos, nepotis , from which modern Romanian nepot and Italian nipote, "nephew" or "grandchild" are also descended....
carried out within the trappings of democracy.
Political status
In 1947, the Northern Mariana Islands became part of the post–World War II United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific IslandsTrust Territory of the Pacific Islands
The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from 1947 to 1986.-History:...
(TTPI). The United States became the TTPI's administering authority under the terms of a trusteeship agreement. In 1976, Congress approved the mutually negotiated Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) in Political Union with the United States. The CNMI Government adopted its own constitution in 1977, and the constitutional government took office in January 1978. The Covenant was fully implemented November 3, 1986, pursuant to Presidential Proclamation no. 5564, which conferred United States citizenship on legally qualified CNMI residents.
On December 22, 1990, the United Nations Trusteeship Council
United Nations Trusteeship Council
The United Nations Trusteeship Council, one of the principal organs of the United Nations, was established to help ensure that trust territories were administered in the best interests of their inhabitants and of international peace and security...
terminated the TTPI as it applied to the CNMI and five other of the TTPI's original seven districts (the Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
and the Federated States of Micronesia
Federated States of Micronesia
The Federated States of Micronesia or FSM is an independent, sovereign island nation, made up of four states from west to east: Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae. It comprises approximately 607 islands with c...
(Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei and Yap)), this was acknowledged in under United Nations Security Council Resolution 683
United Nations Security Council Resolution 683
United Nations Security Council Resolution 683, adopted on December 22, 1990, after recalling Resolution 21 which approved the Trusteeship Territory of the Japanese Mandated Islands as well as Chapter XII of the United Nations Charter which established the United Nations Trusteeship system, the...
passed on the same day.
Under the Covenant, in general, United States federal law applies to CNMI. However, the CNMI is outside the customs territory of the United States and, although the internal revenue code does apply in the form of a local income tax, the income tax system is largely locally determined. According to the Covenant, the federal minimum wage and federal immigration laws "will not apply to the Northern Mariana Islands except in the manner and to the extent made applicable to them by the Congress by law after termination of the Trusteeship Agreement." The local control of minimum wage was superseded by the United States Congress in 2007.
Prior to November 28, 2009, the INA did not apply in the CNMI. Rather, a separate immigration system existed in the CNMI. This system was established under the Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States of America (“Covenant”), which was signed in 1975 and codified as 48 U.S.C. § 1801. The Covenant was unilaterally amended by the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008
Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008
The Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 was an act passed in the 110th United States Congress and enacted on May 8, 2008.-Legislative history:...
(“CNRA”) approved by the U.S. Congress on May 8, 2008, thus altering the CNMI’s immigration system. Specifically, CNRA § 702(a) amended the Covenant to state that “the provisions of the ‘immigration laws’ (as defined in section 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17))) shall apply to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.”2 Further, under
CNRA § 702(a), the “immigration laws,” as well as the amendments to the Covenant, “shall . . .
supersede and replace all laws, provisions, or programs of the Commonwealth relating to the admission of aliens and the removal of aliens from the Commonwealth.”
Transition to U.S. Immigration Law began November 28, 2009 in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). CNMI's immigration laws have been replaced by the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and other U.S. immigration laws.
The CNMI has a United States district court
United States district court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
which exercises jurisdiction over the District of the Northern Mariana Islands (DNMI), which is coterminous with the CNMI. The United States District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands was established by act of Congress
Act of Congress
An Act of Congress is a statute enacted by government with a legislature named "Congress," such as the United States Congress or the Congress of the Philippines....
in 1977 and began operations in January 1978. The court sits on the island of Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
, but may sit other places within the Commonwealth. The district court has the same jurisdiction as all other United States district courts, including diversity jurisdiction and bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
jurisdiction. Appeals are taken to the Ninth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Alaska* District of Arizona...
. The district court's local rules specifically require lawyers to wear shoes to court.
The CNMI was founded in January 1978. Following the foundation of the Commonwealth its qualified residents were granted U.S. citizenship in November 1986, after which it was represented in the United States (and especially Washington, D.C.) by a Resident Representative who was elected at-large by CNMI voters and whose office was paid for by the CNMI government. In 2008, Congress enacted , title VII of which established a CNMI delegate's seat. Democrat Gregorio Sablan
Gregorio Sablan
Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan is a Northern Mariana politician and former election commission director. Sablan was elected in 2008 as the first nonvoting delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands...
was elected in November 2008 as the first CNMI delegate and took office in the 111th Congress.
Economy
The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands benefits from substantial subsidies and development assistance from the federal government of the United States. The economy also relies heavily on tourismTourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
, especially from Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and the rapidly dwindling garment manufacturing
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
sector. The tourism industry has also been dwindling since late 2005. Since late 2006, tourist arrivals fell 15.23% (73,000 potential visitors) from the eleven months prior.
The Northern Mariana Islands had successfully used its position as a free trade area with the U.S., while at the same time not being subject to the same labor laws. For example, the $3.05 per hour minimum wage in the Commonwealth, which lasted from 1997 to 2007, was lower than in the U.S. and some other worker protections are weaker, leading to lower production costs. That allowed garments to be labeled "Made in USA" without having to comply with all U.S. labor laws. However, the U.S. minimum wage law signed by President Bush on May 25, 2007, would result in stepped increases in the Northern Marianas' minimum wage to reach U.S. level by 2015. The first step (to $3.55) became effective July 25, 2007, and a yearly increase of $0.50 will take effect every May thereafter until the CNMI minimum wage equals the nationwide minimum wage. However, a law signed in December 2009 delayed the yearly increase from May to September. As of September 30, 2010, the minimum wage is $5.05 per hour.
In the extreme, the island's exemption from U.S. labor laws had led to many alleged exploitations including recent claims of sweatshops, child labor
Child labor
Child labour refers to the employment of children at regular and sustained labour. This practice is considered exploitative by many international organizations and is illegal in many countries...
, child prostitution, and even forced abortions.
An immigration system mostly outside of federal U.S. control (which ended on November 28, 2009) resulted in a large number of Chinese migrant workers (about 15,000 during the peak years) employed in the islands' garment trade. However, the lifting of World Trade Organization
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...
restrictions on Chinese imports to the U.S. in 2005 had put the Commonwealth-based trade under severe pressure, leading to a number of recent factory closures. Adding to the U.S.-imposed scheduled wage increases, the garment industry became extinct by 2009.
Agricultural production, primarily of tapioca
Tapioca
Tapioca is a starch extracted Manihot esculenta. This species, native to the Amazon, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and most of the West Indies, is now cultivated worldwide and has many names, including cassava, manioc, aipim,...
, cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
, coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
s, breadfruit
Breadfruit
Breadfruit is a species of flowering tree in the mulberry family, Moraceae, growing throughout Southeast Asia and most Pacific Ocean islands...
, tomato
Tomato
The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...
es, and melon
Melon
thumb|200px|Various types of melonsThis list of melons includes members of the plant family Cucurbitaceae with edible, fleshy fruit e.g. gourds or cucurbits. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit...
s, exists, but is relatively unimportant in the economy.
Exemptions from some federal regulations
Although the CNMI is part of the United States, several members of Congress have fought hard to keep labor regulation out of the CNMI.Some extreme labor practices, not common elsewhere in the United States, had occurred. Some of these labor practices include forcing women to have abortions, as exposed in the March 18, 1998, episode of ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
' 20/20, and enslaving women and forcing them into prostitution, as the U.S. Department of Justice conviction of several CNMI traffickers in 1999 attests. In 2005 and 2006, the issue of these regulatory exemptions in the CNMI was brought up during the American political scandals of Congressman
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
Tom DeLay
Tom DeLay
Thomas Dale "Tom" DeLay is a former member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1984 until 2006. He was Republican Party House Majority Leader from 2003 to 2005, when he resigned because of criminal money laundering charges in...
and lobbyist Jack Abramoff
Jack Abramoff
Jack Abramoff is an American former lobbyist and businessman. Convicted in 2006 of mail fraud and conspiracy, he was at the heart of an extensive corruption investigation that led to the conviction of White House officials J. Steven Griles and David Safavian, U.S. Representative Bob Ney, and nine...
.
Non-native islanders are not allowed to own land, but can lease it.
Transportation and communication
The islands have over 220 miles (350 km) of highways, three airports with paved runways (one about 9,800 feet [3,000 m] long; two around 6,600 feet [2,000 m]), three airports with unpaved runways, and one heliport.Mail service for the islands is provided by the U.S. Postal Service
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
(USPS). Each major island has its own zip code in the 96950-96952 range, and the USPS state abbreviation for the CNMI is "MP".
For phone service, the islands are included in the North American Numbering Plan
North American Numbering Plan
The North American Numbering Plan is an integrated telephone numbering plan administered by Neustar which encompasses 24 countries and territories, including the United States and its territories, Canada, Bermuda, and 16 nations of the Caribbean...
, using area code 670
Area code 670
The area code 670 is the local telephone area code for the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands . It was created on July 1, 1997 and replaced the previous International Telecommunication Union country code 670, which is now used by East Timor....
.
Television service is provided by KPPI-LP, Channel 7, which simulcasts Guam's ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliate KTGM
KTGM
KTGM is a full-power television station located in Hagåtña , Guam transmitting over digital channel 14 and on cable channel 7 . The station is owned by Sorensen Television Systems, Inc...
, as well as WSZE, Channel 10, which simulcasts Guam's NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate KUAM-TV
KUAM-TV
KUAM-TV is the NBC affiliate serving Guam. The station is currently owned by Pacific Telestations, Inc., and is a sister station to CBS affiliate KUAM-LP and the local Public-access television cable channel Local 2...
. About 10 radio stations broadcast within the CNMI.
Education
The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Public School SystemCommonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Public School System
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Public School System is a school district serving the Northern Mariana Islands, a territory of the United States.-7-12 schools:Tinian* Tinian High School -High schools:Saipan...
operates public schools in the commonwealth and there are numerous private schools. Northern Marianas College
Northern Marianas College
Northern Marianas College is a two-year community college located in the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands . The college was founded in 1981 by Agnes McPheteres in a renovated former United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands hospital on Saipan where its main...
is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges
Western Association of Schools and Colleges
The Western Association of Schools and Colleges is one of six official academic bodies responsible for the accreditation of public and private universities, colleges, secondary and elementary schools in the United States and foreign institutions of American origin. The Western Association of...
and offers a range of programs similar to other small U.S. community college
Community college
A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries.-Australia:Community colleges carry on the tradition of adult education, which was established in Australia around mid 19th century when evening classes were held to help adults...
s.
Islands, island groups and municipalities
The islands total 179.01 square miles (463.63 km²). The table gives an overview, with the individual islands from north to south:| No. | Island | Area | Population (2010 census) |
Height | Highest peak | Location | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sq mi | km2 | feet | m | |||||
| Northern Islands (Northern Islands Municipality) | ||||||||
| 1 | Farallon de Pajaros Farallon de Pajaros Farallón de Pájaros , also known as Urracas , is an uninhabited volcanic island, the northernmost island in the Northern Mariana Islands chain.... (Urracas) |
0.985 | 2.55 | — | 1047 | 319 | 20°33′N 144°54′E | |
| 2 | Maug Islands Maug Islands The Maug Islands consist of three islands formed from the highest points of a single submerged volcano's caldera... Japanese military occupation 1939 to 1944 |
0.822 | 2.13 | — | 745 | 227 | (North Island) | 20°02′N 145°19′E |
| 3 | Asuncion Asuncion Island Asuncion is the third northernmost independent island in the Northern Mariana Islands chain at .It is located in the far northern part of the Mariana arc of volcanic islands, situated northwest of Agrihan and southeast of the Maug Islands; the island of Pagan lies to the southwest... |
2.822 | 7.31 | — | 2923 | 891 | 19°43′N 145°41′E | |
| 4 | Agrihan Agrihan Agrihan is a stratovolcano which forms an island in the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The entire island is a massive volcano which rises over from the ocean floor, and is the fifth largest in the Marianas volcanic arc. At , its summit is the highest point in Micronesia... (Agrigan) |
16.8 | 43.51 | 9 | 3166 | 965 | Mount Agrihan | 18°46′N 145°40′E |
| 5 | Pagan Pagan Island Pagan is an island of the Northern Mariana Islands chain,located at , approximately 320 kilometers northof Saipan.Pagan has an area of 47.23 km² , making it the fourth largest island of the Northern Marianas, and consists of two stratovolcanoes joined by a narrow strip of land.The... evacuated 1981 due to volcanic eruptions |
18.24 | 47.24 | — | 1900 | 579 | Mount Pagan | 18°08′36"N 145°47′39"E |
| 6 | Alamagan Alamagan The Northern Marianas island of Alamagan is located north from Saipan and is 11.12 km² in area. The island's volcano has a large caldera at the summit. The volcano last erupted around 870 AD, with an error bar of 100 years. It involved pyroclastic flows, and had a VEI of 4... |
4.29 | 11.11 | 6 | 2441 | 744 | Alamagan | 17°35′N 145°50′E |
| 7 | Guguan Guguan Guguan is an island in the Northern Marianas island chain and is 130 miles north of Saipan. It measures only 3.87 km² but contains two volcanoes, one of which is active. A major eruption in 1883 produced pyroclastic flows as well as lava flows. The coast is bordered by steep basaltic rock with... |
1.494 | 3.87 | — | 988 | 301 | 17°20′N 145°51′E | |
| 8 | Zealandia Bank Zealandia Bank Zealandia Bank is the name given to two rocky pinnacles, and the submarine volcano they rise from, in the Northern Mariana Islands chain situated 11 miles NNE of Sarigan. These two pinnacles are 1/2 mile apart from each other; one reaches more than a meter above sea level at low tide... |
>0.0 | >0.0 | — | >0 | >0 | 16°45′N 145°42′E | |
| 9 | Sarigan Sarigan Sarigan is a small island in the Northern Mariana Island chain. It is the result of a Holocene Era stratovolcano with no known historic eruptions, although a swarm of volcano-tectonic earthquakes took place here in the summer of 2005.... formerly inhabited (population of 21 in 1935, but only 2 in 1968) |
1.92 | 4.97 | — | 1801 | 549 | — | 16°43′N 145°47′E |
| 10 | Anatahan Anatahan Anatahan is one of the most active volcanoes of the Northern Mariana Islands. The island of Anatahan is 9 kilometers long and has a land area of . Formerly inhabited, it now has no population because of the always-present danger of volcanic eruptions... |
12.05 | 31.21 | — | 2582 | 787 | 16°22′N 145°40′E | |
| 11 | Farallon de Medinilla Farallon de Medinilla Farallon de Medinilla is a small island in the Northern Mariana Islands chain and is situated north of Saipan. It is the second smallest in the chain; only Zealandia Bank is smaller. It is an uninhabited coral island which is 0.845 km² in area. It is 2.8 km long from southwest to... |
0.328 | 0.84951610008 | — | 266 | 81 | 16°01′N 146°04′E | |
| Southern Islands (3 municipalities) | ||||||||
| 12 | Saipan Saipan Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392... |
44.55 | 115.38 | 48,220, | 1555 | 474 | Mount Tapochau | 15°11′06"N 145°44′28"E |
| 13 | Tinian Tinian Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.-Geography:Tinian is about 5 miles southwest of its sister island, Saipan, from which it is separated by the Saipan Channel. It has a land area of 39 sq.mi.... |
39 | 101.01 | 3,136 | 558 | 170 | Kastiyu (Lasso Hill) | 14°57′12"N 145°38′54"E |
| 14 | Aguijan Aguijan Aguijan is a small bean-shaped coralline island in the Northern Mariana Islands chain situated southwest of Tinian, from which it is separated by the Tinian Channel. It is only 7.09 km² in size and is nicknamed Goat Island due to the large number of feral goats present there... (Agiguan)part of Tinian Municipality |
2.74 | 7.1 | — | 515 | 157 | Alutom | 14°42′N 145°18′E |
| 15 | Rota Rota (island) Rota also known as the "peaceful island", is the southernmost island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the second southernmost of the Marianas Archipelago. It lies approximately 40 miles north-northeast of the United States territory of Guam... |
32.97 | 85.39 | 2,527 | 1611 | 491 | Mt. Manira | 14°08′37"N 145°11′08"E |
| Northern Mariana Islands | 179.01 | 463.63 | 53,883 | 3166 | 965 | Mount Agrihan | 14°08' to 20°33'N, 144°54° to 146°04'E |
|
Notes |
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Administratively, the CNMI is divided into four municipalities
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
:
The Northern Islands (north of Saipan) form the Northern Islands Municipality
Northern Islands Municipality
Northern Islands Municipality is one of the four main political divisions of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. It consists of a long string of the northernmost islands of the Northern Marianas, including Farallon de Pajaros, the Maug Islands, Asuncion, Agrihan, Pagan, Alamagan,...
.
The three main islands of the Southern Islands form the municipalities of Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
, Tinian
Tinian
Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.-Geography:Tinian is about 5 miles southwest of its sister island, Saipan, from which it is separated by the Saipan Channel. It has a land area of 39 sq.mi....
, and Rota
Rota (island)
Rota also known as the "peaceful island", is the southernmost island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the second southernmost of the Marianas Archipelago. It lies approximately 40 miles north-northeast of the United States territory of Guam...
, with uninhabited Aguijan forming part of Tinian municipality.
Because of volcanic threat, the northern islands have been largely evacuated. Human habitation is limited to Agrihan, Pagan, and Alamagan, but population varies due to various economic factors, including children's education. The Census of April 2000 registered just six people in all of the Northern Islands municipality (then residing on Alamagan), and the Northern Islands' mayor office is located in "exile" on Saipan.
Saipan, Tinian, and Rota have the only ports and harbors, and are the only permanently populated islands.
See also
- Commonwealth (U.S. insular area)
- List of National Register of Historic Places in the Northern Mariana Islands
- Mariana IslandsMariana IslandsThe Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...
- MicronesiaMicronesiaMicronesia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It is distinct from Melanesia to the south, and Polynesia to the east. The Philippines lie to the west, and Indonesia to the southwest....
- Pacific OceanPacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
External links
Government- Northern Mariana Islands official government website
- The CNMI Covenant
- The CNMI Constitution
- CNMI Office of Resident Representative Pedro A. Tenorio
- H.R. 873 - the Northern Mariana Islands Delegate Act
- H.R. 5550 - The United States-Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Human Dignity Act
General information
News media
- KSPN2 News
- Saipan Tribune
- Marianas Variety
- The Pacific Times
- Food for Thought - Weekly commentary on CNMI society by KZMI and KCNM manager Harry Blalock
Other