Saipan
Encyclopedia
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
(CNMI), a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean (15°10’51”N, 145°45’21”E) with a total area of 44.55 sq mi (115.4 km²). The 2000 census population was 62,392. The Northern Mariana Islands has a population of 80,362 (2005 estimate).
The Commonwealth's center of government is located in the village of Capital Hill on the island. As the entire island is organized as a single municipality, most publications term "Saipan" as the Commonwealth's capital.
Located at latitude of 15.25° north and longitude of 145.75° east, about 120 mi (193.1 km) north of Guam
, Saipan is about 12 mi (19.3 km) long and 5.6 mi (9 km) wide. It is a popular tourist destination in the Pacific.
The western side of the island is lined with sandy beaches and an offshore coral reef
which creates a large lagoon. The eastern shore is composed primarily of rugged rocky cliffs and a reef. Its highest point is a limestone covered mountain called Mount Tapochau
at 1560 ft (475.5 m). Many people mistakenly believe Mount Tapochau to be an extinct volcano
, but is in fact a limestone formation. To the north of Mount Tapochau towards Banzai Cliff is a ridge of hills. Mount Achugao, situated about 2 miles north, has been interpreted to be a remnant of a stratified composite volcanic cone
whose Eocene
center was not far north of the present peak.
Besides English, the indigenous Chamorro language
is spoken by approximately 19 percent of the inhabitants. The island also has many other large, strongly defined lingual and ethnic groups because of the large percentage of contract workers (60% of total population, as of 2001) from China, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia. In addition, a large percentage of the island's population includes first-generation immigrants from Japan, China, and Korea, and immigrants from many of the other Micronesian islands.
The population figure being given as of 2001 is now out of date as a major portion of the population would have been present for the garment industry. While some garment workers remain working in other occupations more returned to their home countries, went to Guam or to the United States.
The current Mayor of Saipan is Republican Donald G. Flores, who was sworn into office on January 11, 2010.
, Rota/Luta
, Tinian
, and to a lesser extent smaller islands northward, was first inhabited around 2000 BC. The Spanish were the first Europeans to encounter the Chamorros and Spain eventually annexed Saipan as part of its claim to the Mariana Islands
. Around 1815, many Carolinians from Satawal
settled Saipan during a period when the Chamorros were imprisoned on Guam, which resulted in a significant loss of land and rights for the Chamorro natives. Germany ruled Saipan from 1899 until World War I, when the Empire of Japan
took over the island, governing it under a League of Nations
mandate
from 1922. The Japanese developed both fishing and sugar industries, and in the 1930s garrison
ed Saipan heavily, resulting in nearly 30,000 troops on the island by 1941. By December 1941, Saipan had a population of more than 30,000 people, including 25,000 Japanese settlers, many of them from Okinawa.
On June 15, 1944 during World War II, the United States Marines
and United States Army
landed on the beaches of the southwestern side of the island, and spent more than three weeks fighting the Battle of Saipan
to secure it from the Japanese. Seabees of the U.S. Navy also landed to participate in construction projects. Japan considered Saipan as part of the last line of defenses for the Japanese homeland, and thus had heavily committed to defending it. Nearly all of the 30,000 Japanese defenders were killed; thousands of Japanese civilians also died, many threw themselves off Banzai Cliff. This history is also interpreted on Saipan at American Memorial Park
and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Museum of History and Culture. After the war, nearly all of the surviving Japanese settlers were repatriated to Japan.
The Federal law (the Covenant) making the CNMI a U.S. territory passed in 1975. The CNMI adopted its constitution in 1977, and its first constitutional government took office in 1978. During negotiations, the CNMI and the USA agreed that the CNMI would be exempted from certain federal laws, including some concerning labor
and immigration. One result was an increase in hotels and tourism. However, dozens of garment factories also opened; clothing manufacture became the island's chief economic force, employing thousands of foreign contract laborers while labeling their goods "made in the U.S.A." and supplying the U.S. market with low cost garments exempt from U.S. tariffs. The working conditions and treatment experienced by employees in these factories were the subject of controversy and criticism (see below). These factories have all closed down. (See "Economy"). The CNMI came under Federal minimum wage regulations in 2007 and immigration law in 2008. In June 2009, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security took over the CNMI’s immigration and border controls.
meadows and dense, dry-forest jungle known as Tangan-Tangan. Coconut
s, papaya
s, and Thai hot peppers
– locally called "Donne Sali" or "Boonie Peppers" – are among the fruits that grow wild. Mango
, taro
root, and bananas are a few of the many foods cultivated by local families and farmers. Sportfishing is excellent offshore, with numerous small boats catching tuna
, wahoo
, billfish
and many other species.
A number of native birds are easily visible to visitors: among them, Melanesian Honeyeaters; Pacific Reef Herons; and collared kingfishers.
The island used to have a large population of giant African land snail
s, introduced either deliberately as a food source, or accidentally by shipping. It became an agricultural pest. In the last few decades, its numbers have been substantially controlled by an introduced flatworm
, Platydemus manokwari
. Unfortunately, possibly due to the flatworm
, the native tree-snails also became extinct.
, Micronesian
and Hawaiian Reggae, Called (Jahwaiian) music and song, often with traditional dance for many occasions. Mainland American consists of many of the same varieties that can be found on U.S. radio, and Asian consists of Japanese
, Korea
n, Thai
and Philippine music among others. There are seven radio stations on Saipan, which play mainly popular and classic English-language songs as well as local and Philippine music.
. A ferry also operates between Saipan and Tinian
, its smaller neighboring island 5 miles to the south. Taxis are available.
One of the island's two main thoroughfares, Beach Road, is located on the western coast of Saipan. At some parts of the road, the beach is only a few feet away. Flame tree
s and pine trees line the street. The street also connects more than six villages that lie on the western coast of the island. Middle Road is the island's largest road and runs through its central section. Like Beach Road, Middle Road connects several villages throughout the island. Several offices, shops, hotels, and residences lie on or nearby these highways. Middle road is labeled "Chalan Pale Arnold" on maps, but very few people call it that. As there are no street numbers in Saipan, directions are usually given using landmarks.
In years past, the main economic driving force in Saipan was garment manufacturing, driven largely by foreign contract workers (mainly from China). As of March 2007, 19 companies manufactured garments on Saipan. In addition to many foreign-owned and run companies, many well-known U.S. brands also operated garment factories in Saipan for much of the last three decades. Brands included Gap (as of 2000 operating six factories there), Levi Strauss
, Phillips-Van Heusen, Abercrombie & Fitch
, L'Oreal
subsidiary Ralph Lauren
(Polo
), Lord & Taylor
, Tommy Hilfiger
, and Walmart.
Currently, there are no garment manufacturers on the island, with the last one having closed on January 15, 2009. On November 28, 2009, the federal government took control of immigration to the Northern Mariana Islands.
Current economic conditions (Jan 2011) in Saipan are bleak. The government of the Commonwealth of Mariana Islands, the biggest employer on Saipan, is frequently unable to make payroll on time, resulting in "payless paydays". There is a gulf that exists between wages offered by government agencies and those in private industry. The private industry employers frequently hire non U.S. Citizen contract workers who will work for significantly lower wages. (The minimum wage in Saipan and CNMI is $5.05). The local government opted out of the U.S. Social Security system, and instead implemented a pensioned retirement for government employees after 20 years of service. This system proved to be economically unfeasible and has been replaced by a mandatory 401K-like structure. The government retirement fund is underfunded for its liabilities.
The island of Saipan has a total of 31 "official" villages. However, there are many sub-areas and neighborhoods located in certain villages such as Afetnas in San Antonio and Tapochau and I Denne in Capitol Hill. Those in italics are the sub-villages.
and his law firm were paid at least $6.7 million by the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) from 1995 to 2001.
Later lobbying efforts involved mailings from a Ralph Reed
marketing company and bribery of Roger Stillwell
, a Department of the Interior official who in 2006 pleaded guilty to accepting gifts from Abramoff.
Excerpted from "Immigration and the CNMI: A report of the US Commission on Immigration Reform", January 7, 1998:
On March 31, 1998, US Senator Daniel Akaka
said:
In 1991, Levi Strauss & Co.
was embarrassed by a scandal involving six subsidiary factories run on Saipan by the Tan Holdings Corporation
. It was revealed that Chinese laborers in those factories suffered under what the U.S. Department of Labor called "slavelike" conditions. Cited for sub-minimal wages, seven-day work week schedules with twelve-hour shifts, poor living conditions and other indignities (including the alleged removal of passports and the virtual imprisonment of workers), Tan would eventually pay what was then the largest fines in U.S. labor history, distributing more than $9 million in restitution to some 1200 employees.[1] [2] [3] At the time, Tan factories produced 3% of Levi's jeans with the "Made in the U.S.A." label. Levi Strauss claimed that it had no knowledge of the offenses, severed ties to the Tan family, and instituted labor reforms and inspection practices in its offshore facilities.
In 1999, Sweatshop Watch, Global Exchange, Asian Law Caucus, Unite, and the garment workers themselves filed three separate lawsuits in class-action suits on behalf of roughly 30,000 garment workers in Saipan. The defendants included 27 U.S. retailers and 23 Saipan garment factories. By 2004, they had won a 20 million dollar settlement against all but one of the defendants.
Levi Strauss & Co.
was the only successful defendant, winning the case against them in 2004.
In 2005–2006, the issue of immigration and labor practices on Saipan was brought up during the American political scandals of Congressman
Tom DeLay
and lobbyist Jack Abramoff
, who visited the island on numerous occasions. Ms. magazine has followed the issue and published a major expose in their Spring 2006 article "Paradise Lost: Greed, Sex Slavery, Forced Abortion and Right-Wing Moralists".
On February 8, 2007, the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources received testimony about federalizing CNMI labor and immigration.
On July 19, 2007, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Insular Affairs David B. Cohen
testified before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Regarding S. 1634 (The Northern Mariana Islands Covenant Implementation Act). He said:
A movement to federalize labor and immigration in the Northern Marianas Islands began in early 2007. A letter writing campaign to reform CNMI labor and immigration was debated in the local newspapers. Worker groups organized a successful Unity March December 7, 2007. Despite a strong lobby effort by Governor Fitial to stop it, President Bush signed PL 110-229 into law in May 2008 and the US takeover began November 28, 2009.
Contract laborers arriving from China are usually required to pay their (Chinese National) recruitment agents fees equal to a year's total salary (roughly $3,500) and occasionally as high as two years' salary, though the contracts are only one-year contracts, renewable at the employer's discretion.
60% of the population of the CNMI is contract workers. These workers cannot vote. They are not represented, and can be deported if they lose their jobs. Meanwhile, the minimum wage remains well below that on the U.S. mainland, and abuses of vulnerable workers are commonplace.
In John Bowe
's 2007 book Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy, he provides a focus on Saipan, exploring how its culture, isolation and American ties have made it a favorable environment for exploitative garment manufacturers and corrupt politicos. Bowe goes into detail about the island's factories, and also its karaoke bars and strip joints, some of which have had connections with politicos. The author depicts Saipan as a vulnerable, truly suffering community, where poverty rates have climbed as high as 35 percent, and proposes that the guest worker setup, by allowing many native islanders to avoid work, has actually crippled the competitiveness and job readiness of the native population.
Chinese national, Chun Yu Wang, in her 2009 book, Chicken Feathers and Garlic Skin: Diary of a Chinese Garment Factory Girl on Saipan (as told to Walt F.J. Goodridge), provides the only known first-hand account of factory work conditions and life in the barracks, and provides revealing insights from a Chinese perspective into the experience typical of many of the garment factory workers on Saipan.
to produce fresh water for their customers. In addition, many homes and small businesses augment the sporadic and sometimes brackish water provided by CUC with rainwater collected and stored in cisterns. Most locals buy drinking water from water distributors and use tap water only for bathing or washing.
Saipan also has a negative place in many Irish people's minds after the “Roy Keane Incident
”, a bitter and public falling-out between Republic of Ireland
soccer star Roy Keane
and Ireland manager Mick McCarthy
which took place before the 2002 FIFA World Cup
.
According to the last census in 2000, the population of Saipan was 62,392. Mono-racial people totaled 56,355, and their demographic breakdown in descending order by category was as follows:
Asians numbered 35,985, comprising 57.7% of the population.
Pacific Islanders numbered 18,781, comprising 30.1% of the population.
People of two or more races or ethnic groups numbered 6,037, comprising 9.7% of the population.
Whites numbered 1,121, comprising 1.8% of the population.
Other races/ethnic groups numbered 435, comprising 0.7% of the population.
Blacks numbered 33, comprising 0.1% of the population.
45.2% of the population was male, 54.8% was female. The median age of the island's population was 28.7, which is higher than in most other Oceanic regions due to its volume of foreign workers.
The population rose 18% (9,694) since the previous census in 1995.
serves Saipan.
Northern Marianas College
is a two-year community college serving the Northern Mariana Islands.
Also there are many Private Schools on Saipan, such as Saipan International School (SIS)
novel Debt of Honor
. The island is invaded by Japan, as part of a systematic attack on the United States.
Much of the action in 2002 film Windtalkers
takes place during the invasion of Saipan during World War II.
A significant part of the novel Amrita
by Japanese author Banana Yoshimoto
takes place in Saipan with regular references to the landscape and spirituality of the island.
It also appears in Kyou Kara Ore Wa manga as a place that mitsuhashi visits after winning a lotto.
Location for MNET's South Korean dating show featuring Choi Siwon, Donghae, and Kibum of Super Junior
and model Lee Eun Jung called Super Summer.
Saipan was the main site for a South Korean dating reality TV show "Kko Kko Tour".
Also the location for the South Korean Variety Show "Lets Go! Dream Team Season 2" Survival Special, which was used to find the true ace of the program.
Also the location for the South Korean TV show "Hot Brothers" air date 6 October 2010 at Pacific Islands Club.
Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , 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...
(CNMI), a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean (15°10’51”N, 145°45’21”E) with a total area of 44.55 sq mi (115.4 km²). The 2000 census population was 62,392. The Northern Mariana Islands has a population of 80,362 (2005 estimate).
The Commonwealth's center of government is located in the village of Capital Hill on the island. As the entire island is organized as a single municipality, most publications term "Saipan" as the Commonwealth's capital.
Located at latitude of 15.25° north and longitude of 145.75° east, about 120 mi (193.1 km) north 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...
, Saipan is about 12 mi (19.3 km) long and 5.6 mi (9 km) wide. It is a popular tourist destination in the Pacific.
The western side of the island is lined with sandy beaches and an offshore coral reef
Coral reef
Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny living animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. The polyps...
which creates a large lagoon. The eastern shore is composed primarily of rugged rocky cliffs and a reef. Its highest point is a limestone covered mountain called Mount Tapochau
Mount Tapochau
Mount Tapochau is the highest point on the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands. It is located in the centre of the island, north of San Vicente village and northwest of Magicienne Bay, and rises to a height of 474 m . The mountain offers a 360 degree view of the island...
at 1560 ft (475.5 m). Many people mistakenly believe Mount Tapochau to be an extinct 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...
, but is in fact a limestone formation. To the north of Mount Tapochau towards Banzai Cliff is a ridge of hills. Mount Achugao, situated about 2 miles north, has been interpreted to be a remnant of a stratified composite volcanic cone
Volcanic cone
Volcanic cones are among the simplest volcanic formations. They are built by ejecta from a volcanic vent, piling up around the vent in the shape of a cone with a central crater. Volcanic cones are of different types, depending upon the nature and size of the fragments ejected during the eruption...
whose Eocene
Eocene
The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...
center was not far north of the present peak.
Besides English, the indigenous Chamorro language
Chamorro language
Chamorro is a Malayo-Polynesian language, spoken on the Mariana Islands by about 47,000 people Chamorro (Chamorro: Fino' Chamoru or simply Chamoru) is a Malayo-Polynesian (Austronesian) language, spoken on the Mariana Islands (Guam, Rota, Tinian, and Saipan) by about 47,000 people Chamorro...
is spoken by approximately 19 percent of the inhabitants. The island also has many other large, strongly defined lingual and ethnic groups because of the large percentage of contract workers (60% of total population, as of 2001) from China, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia. In addition, a large percentage of the island's population includes first-generation immigrants from Japan, China, and Korea, and immigrants from many of the other Micronesian islands.
The population figure being given as of 2001 is now out of date as a major portion of the population would have been present for the garment industry. While some garment workers remain working in other occupations more returned to their home countries, went to Guam or to the United States.
The current Mayor of Saipan is Republican Donald G. Flores, who was sworn into office on January 11, 2010.
History
Saipan, along with neighboring 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...
, Rota/Luta
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...
, 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 to a lesser extent smaller islands northward, was first inhabited around 2000 BC. The Spanish were the first Europeans to encounter the Chamorros and Spain eventually annexed Saipan as part of its claim to 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...
. Around 1815, many Carolinians from Satawal
Satawal
Satawal is a solitary coral atoll of one island located at in the Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district in Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia...
settled Saipan during a period when the Chamorros were imprisoned on Guam, which resulted in a significant loss of land and rights for the Chamorro natives. Germany ruled Saipan from 1899 until World War I, when the Empire of Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
took over the island, governing it under a 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...
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...
from 1922. The Japanese developed both fishing and sugar industries, and in the 1930s garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
ed Saipan heavily, resulting in nearly 30,000 troops on the island by 1941. By December 1941, Saipan had a population of more than 30,000 people, including 25,000 Japanese settlers, many of them from Okinawa.
On June 15, 1944 during World War II, the United States Marines
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
and United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
landed on the beaches of the southwestern side of the island, and spent more than three weeks fighting 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...
to secure it from the Japanese. Seabees of the U.S. Navy also landed to participate in construction projects. Japan considered Saipan as part of the last line of defenses for the Japanese homeland, and thus had heavily committed to defending it. Nearly all of the 30,000 Japanese defenders were killed; thousands of Japanese civilians also died, many threw themselves off Banzai Cliff. This history is also interpreted on Saipan at American Memorial Park
American Memorial Park
American Memorial Park on the island of Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, was created as a living memorial honoring the sacrifices made during the Marianas Campaign of World War II...
and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Museum of History and Culture. After the war, nearly all of the surviving Japanese settlers were repatriated to Japan.
The Federal law (the Covenant) making the CNMI a U.S. territory passed in 1975. The CNMI adopted its constitution in 1977, and its first constitutional government took office in 1978. During negotiations, the CNMI and the USA agreed that the CNMI would be exempted from certain federal laws, including some concerning labor
Labor relations
Industrial relations is a multidisciplinary field that studies the employment relationship. Industrial relations is increasingly being called employment relations because of the importance of non-industrial employment relationships. Many outsiders also equate industrial relations to labour relations...
and immigration. One result was an increase in hotels and tourism. However, dozens of garment factories also opened; clothing manufacture became the island's chief economic force, employing thousands of foreign contract laborers while labeling their goods "made in the U.S.A." and supplying the U.S. market with low cost garments exempt from U.S. tariffs. The working conditions and treatment experienced by employees in these factories were the subject of controversy and criticism (see below). These factories have all closed down. (See "Economy"). The CNMI came under Federal minimum wage regulations in 2007 and immigration law in 2008. In June 2009, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security took over the CNMI’s immigration and border controls.
Agriculture, flora and fauna
Undeveloped areas on the island are covered with sword grassSword grass
Sword grass is a name used for some species of grasses with blades that are sharp enough to cut human skin. This is because they contain many silica phytoliths, a hardening material in many plants. The sharp blades help to discourage herbivores from grazing, protecting the grasses around it as well....
meadows and dense, dry-forest jungle known as Tangan-Tangan. 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, papaya
Papaya
The papaya , papaw, or pawpaw is the fruit of the plant Carica papaya, the sole species in the genus Carica of the plant family Caricaceae...
s, and Thai hot peppers
Thai pepper
Bird's eye chili or "Thai chili" is a chili pepper of the species Capsicum frutescens L. in the family Solanaceae, commonly found in South-east Asia. It can also be found in India, mainly Kerala, where it is used in traditional dishes of the Kerala cuisine...
– locally called "Donne Sali" or "Boonie Peppers" – are among the fruits that grow wild. Mango
Mango
The mango is a fleshy stone fruit belonging to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is native to India from where it spread all over the world. It is also the most cultivated fruit of the tropical world. While...
, taro
Taro
Taro is a common name for the corms and tubers of several plants in the family Araceae . Of these, Colocasia esculenta is the most widely cultivated, and is the subject of this article. More specifically, this article describes the 'dasheen' form of taro; another variety is called eddoe.Taro is...
root, and bananas are a few of the many foods cultivated by local families and farmers. Sportfishing is excellent offshore, with numerous small boats catching tuna
Tuna
Tuna is a salt water fish from the family Scombridae, mostly in the genus Thunnus. Tuna are fast swimmers, and some species are capable of speeds of . Unlike most fish, which have white flesh, the muscle tissue of tuna ranges from pink to dark red. The red coloration derives from myoglobin, an...
, wahoo
Wahoo
The wahoo is a scombrid fish found worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas. It is best known to sports fishermen, as its speed and high-quality flesh make it a prize game fish...
, billfish
Billfish
The term billfish is applied to a number of different large, predatory fish characterised by their large size and their long, sword-like bill. Billfish include the sailfish and marlin, which make up the family Istiophoridae, and the swordfish, sole member of the family Xiphiidae...
and many other species.
A number of native birds are easily visible to visitors: among them, Melanesian Honeyeaters; Pacific Reef Herons; and collared kingfishers.
The island used to have a large population of giant African land snail
Giant African land snail
Giant African land snail may refer to two genera and three species within the family Achatinidae, a family of unusually large African terrestrial snails.* Achatina, an African snail genus in the family Achatinidae....
s, introduced either deliberately as a food source, or accidentally by shipping. It became an agricultural pest. In the last few decades, its numbers have been substantially controlled by an introduced flatworm
Flatworm
The flatworms, known in scientific literature as Platyhelminthes or Plathelminthes are a phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, unsegmented, soft-bodied invertebrate animals...
, Platydemus manokwari
Platydemus manokwari
Platydemus manokwari, also known as the New Guinea flatworm, is a species of large predatory land flatworm. It is a terrestrial turbellarian in the family Geoplanidae. It is an invasive species....
. Unfortunately, possibly due to the flatworm
Flatworm
The flatworms, known in scientific literature as Platyhelminthes or Plathelminthes are a phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, unsegmented, soft-bodied invertebrate animals...
, the native tree-snails also became extinct.
Music
Music on Saipan can generally be broken down into three categories: local, mainland American and Asian. Local consists of Chamorro, CarolinianCarolinian 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...
, Micronesian
Micronesian
Micronesian may refer to:* Something of, from, or related to Micronesia, a subregion of Oceania composed of hundreds of small islands in the Pacific Ocean...
and Hawaiian Reggae, Called (Jahwaiian) music and song, often with traditional dance for many occasions. Mainland American consists of many of the same varieties that can be found on U.S. radio, and Asian consists of Japanese
Music of Japan
The music of Japan includes a wide array of performers in distinct styles both traditional and modern. The word for music in Japanese is 音楽 , combining the kanji 音 with the kanji 楽...
, 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...
n, Thai
Music of Thailand
The music of Thailand reflects its geographic position at the intersection of China and India, and reflects trade routes that have historically included Persia, Africa, Greece and Rome...
and Philippine music among others. There are seven radio stations on Saipan, which play mainly popular and classic English-language songs as well as local and Philippine music.
Television
Local television stations on Saipan are the following:- KPPI-LP (ABC7), the ABCAmerican Broadcasting CompanyThe 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 (repeats KTGMKTGMKTGM 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...
), which is owned by Sorensen Media GroupRex SorensenRex Sorensen is the chairman and CEO of Sorensen Media Group. He was a founding board member of Air America Radio.-Biography:Sorensen is a graduate of the University of Oregon and is a Certified Public Accountant. Sorensen started his career in Hawaii as a real estate developer. Sorensen then...
. - KSPN 2, which is owned by the Flame Tree Network.
- The Visitors Channel 3, which is owned by the Flame Tree Network.
- WSZE-TV 10, the NBCNBCThe 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 (repeats KUAM-TVKUAM-TVKUAM-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...
in Guam), which is owned by Pacific Telestations.
Transportation
Travel to and from the island is available from several airlines via Saipan International AirportSaipan International Airport
- See also :* East Field * USAAF in the Central Pacific-References:* Dorr, Robert F. B-29 Units of World War II. Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2002. ISBN 1-84176-285-7...
. A ferry also operates between 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....
, its smaller neighboring island 5 miles to the south. Taxis are available.
One of the island's two main thoroughfares, Beach Road, is located on the western coast of Saipan. At some parts of the road, the beach is only a few feet away. Flame tree
Flame tree
Flame tree is a common name used in various parts of the world to refer to several different species of tree:* Delonix regia - Royal Poinciana* Brachychiton acerifolius - Illawarra flame tree* Koelreuteria bipinnata - Chinese flame tree...
s and pine trees line the street. The street also connects more than six villages that lie on the western coast of the island. Middle Road is the island's largest road and runs through its central section. Like Beach Road, Middle Road connects several villages throughout the island. Several offices, shops, hotels, and residences lie on or nearby these highways. Middle road is labeled "Chalan Pale Arnold" on maps, but very few people call it that. As there are no street numbers in Saipan, directions are usually given using landmarks.
Economy
Tourism has long been a vital source of the island's revenue, although the industry has undergone a serious decline since the Asian Economic Crisis of the mid-to-late 1990s. Some major airlines have since ceased regular service to the island. Some internationally-known businesses which located to Saipan are struggling, and some have left.In years past, the main economic driving force in Saipan was garment manufacturing, driven largely by foreign contract workers (mainly from China). As of March 2007, 19 companies manufactured garments on Saipan. In addition to many foreign-owned and run companies, many well-known U.S. brands also operated garment factories in Saipan for much of the last three decades. Brands included Gap (as of 2000 operating six factories there), Levi Strauss
Levi Strauss
Levi Strauss was a German-Jewish immigrant to the United States who founded the first company to manufacture blue jeans. His firm, Levi Strauss & Co., began in 1853 in San Francisco, California.-Origins:...
, Phillips-Van Heusen, Abercrombie & Fitch
Abercrombie & Fitch
Abercrombie & Fitch is an American retailer that focuses on casual wear for consumers aged 18 to 22. It has over 300 locations in the United States, and is expanding internationally....
, L'Oreal
L'Oréal
The L'Oréal Group is the world's largest cosmetics and beauty company. With its registered office in Paris and head office in the Paris suburb of Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, France, it has developed activities in the field of cosmetics...
subsidiary Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren is an American fashion designer and business executive; best known for his Polo Ralph Lauren clothing brand.-Early life:...
(Polo
Polo Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren Corporation is a luxury clothing and goods company of the American fashion designer Ralph Lauren. Ralph Lauren specializes in high-end casual/semi-formal wear for men and women, as well as accessories, fragrances, home and housewares...
), Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor, colloquially known as L&T, or LT, based in New York City, is the oldest upscale, specialty-retail department store chain in the United States. Concentrated in the eastern U.S., the retailer operated independently for nearly a century prior to joining American Dry Goods...
, Tommy Hilfiger
Tommy Hilfiger
Thomas Jacob "Tommy" Hilfiger is an American fashion designer and founder of the premium lifestyle brand Tommy Hilfiger.-Early life:...
, and Walmart.
Currently, there are no garment manufacturers on the island, with the last one having closed on January 15, 2009. On November 28, 2009, the federal government took control of immigration to the Northern Mariana Islands.
Current economic conditions (Jan 2011) in Saipan are bleak. The government of the Commonwealth of Mariana Islands, the biggest employer on Saipan, is frequently unable to make payroll on time, resulting in "payless paydays". There is a gulf that exists between wages offered by government agencies and those in private industry. The private industry employers frequently hire non U.S. Citizen contract workers who will work for significantly lower wages. (The minimum wage in Saipan and CNMI is $5.05). The local government opted out of the U.S. Social Security system, and instead implemented a pensioned retirement for government employees after 20 years of service. This system proved to be economically unfeasible and has been replaced by a mandatory 401K-like structure. The government retirement fund is underfunded for its liabilities.
Villages and towns
- Achugao
- As Lito
- As Matuis
- As Perdido
- As Teo
- As Terlaje
- Capital Hill I Denne, Tapochau, and Wireless Ridge
- Chalan KanoaChalan KanoaChalan Kanoa is a settlement in Saipan, in the Northern Mariana Islands. It is located in the southwest of the island. The village contains the island's central post office, as well as the historic Mt Carmel Catholic Church. Mount Carmel School, Home of the Knights, one of the best schools on...
Laly I, II, III, and IV - Chalan Kiya
- Chalan Laulau Quartermaster
- Chalan PiaoChalan PiaoChalan Piao is a village on the southwestern area of Saipan, the capital and largest island in the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. It is bordered on the north by Chalan Kanoa, on the east by As Perdido village and on the south by San Antonio village...
- Chinatown
- Dandan Airport Road, Naftan, and Obyan
- Fina Sisu
- GarapanGarapanGarapan is the largest village and the center of the tourism industry on the island of Saipan, which is a part of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands ....
- Gualo Rai
- Kagman I, II, and III"
- Kannat Tabla
- Koblerville As Gonno
- Lower Base
- Marpi
- Navy Hill Chalan Galaide and Rapagao
- Oleai
- PapagoPapagoPapago may refer to:* An archaic term for Tohono O'odham people* Papago , a genus of geometer moths* Papago Freeway, I-10 through Phoenix, Arizona* Papago Freeway Tunnel, a tunnel in Arizona* Papago Park, a park in Arizona...
- Puerto Rico
- Sadog Tasi As Mahetog
- San AntonioSan Antonio, SaipanSan Antonio is a settlement in Saipan, in the Northern Mariana Islands. It is close to the southwestern tip of the island. Once a separate village, it is now virtually contiguous with other nearby villages on beach road, including Susupe, Chalan Kanoa and Chalan Piao....
Afetnas - San RoqueSan Roque, SaipanSan Roque is a settlement in Saipan, in the Northern Mariana Islands. It is located to the north of Tanapag on the island's northwest coast, close to the point where the barrier reef protecting the Tanapag Harbor joins to the island. It is connected to Tanapag by the Marpi Road which runs the...
- San VicenteSan Vicente, SaipanSan Vicente is a village on Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands. it is located close to the shore of Magicienne Bay, to the south of the island's highest point, Mount Tagpochau. It is connected via the cross-island road to Susupe in the west and with Capital Hill and Tanapag to the north....
Lao Lao Beach - SusupeSusupeSusupe is a village on Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands. Susupe is also known as Susupi. As of 2000, its population is 2,083.-Education:Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Public School System serves the town...
- TanapagTanapagTanapag is a settlement on the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands. It is located close to Tanapag Beach on the northwest coast, just to the north of Capital Hill, the island group's centre of government...
Jack Abramoff CNMI scandal
Jack AbramoffJack 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...
and his law firm were paid at least $6.7 million by the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) from 1995 to 2001.
Later lobbying efforts involved mailings from a Ralph Reed
Ralph E. Reed, Jr.
Ralph Eugene Reed, Jr., is a conservative American political activist, best known as the first executive director of the Christian Coalition during the early 1990s. He sought the Republican nomination for the office of Lieutenant Governor of Georgia but lost the primary election on July 18, 2006,...
marketing company and bribery of Roger Stillwell
Roger Stillwell
Roger G. Stillwell , an American lobbyist. Stillwell was charged with "falsely certifying that he did not receive reportable gifts" from Jack Abramoff and on August 11, 2006, pled guilty to a misdemeanor charges...
, a Department of the Interior official who in 2006 pleaded guilty to accepting gifts from Abramoff.
Foreign contract labor abuse and exemptions from U.S. federal regulations
The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) immigration system is antithetical to the principals that are at the core of the US immigration policy. Over time, the CNMI has developed an immigration system dominated by the entry of foreign temporary contract workers. These now outnumber US citizens but have few rights within the CNMI and are subject to serious labor and human rights abuses. In contrast to US immigration policy, which admits immigrants for permanent residence and eventual citizenship, the CNMI admits aliens largely as temporary contract workers who are ineligible to gain either US citizenship or civil and social rights within the commonwealth. Only a few countries and no democratic society have immigration policies similar to the CNMI. The closest equivalent is Kuwait.
The end result of the CNMI policy is to have a minority population governing and severely limiting the rights of the majority population who are alien in every sense of the word.
On March 31, 1998, US Senator Daniel Akaka
Daniel Akaka
Daniel Kahikina Akaka is the junior U.S. Senator from Hawaii and a member of the Democratic Party. He is the first U.S. Senator of Native Hawaiian ancestry and is currently the only member of the Senate who has Chinese ancestry....
said:
The Commonwealth shares our American flag, but it does not share the American system of immigration. There is something fundamentally wrong with a CNMI immigration system that issues permits to recruiters, who in turn promise well-paying American jobs to foreigners in exchange for a $6,000 recruitment fee. When the workers arrive in Saipan, they find their recruiter has vanished and there are no jobs in sight. Hundreds of these destitute workers roam the streets of Saipan with little or no chance of employment and no hope of returning to their homeland.
The State Department has confirmed that the government of China is an active participant in the CNMI immigration system. There is something fundamentally wrong with an immigration system that allows the government of China to prohibit Chinese workers from exercising political or religious freedom while employed in the United States. Something is fundamentally wrong with a CNMI immigration system that issues entry permits for 12- and 13-year-old girls from the Philippines and other Asian nations, and allows their employers to use them for live sex shows and prostitution.
Finally, something is fundamentally wrong when a Chinese construction worker asks if he can sell one of his kidneys for enough money to return to China and escape the deplorable working conditions in the Commonwealth and the immigration system that brought him there. There are voices in the CNMI telling us that the cases of worker abuse we keep hearing about are isolated examples, that the system is improving, and that worker abuse is a thing of the past. These are the same voices that reap the economic benefits of a system of indentured labor that enslaves thousands of foreign workers – a system described in a bi-partisan study as "an unsustainable economic, social and political system that is antithetical to most American values." There is overwhelming evidence that abuse in the CNMI occurs on a grand scale and the problems are far from isolated.
In 1991, Levi Strauss & Co.
Levi Strauss & Co.
Levi Strauss & Co. is a privately held American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's brand of denim jeans. It was founded in 1853 when Levi Strauss came from Buttenheim, Franconia, to San Francisco, California to open a west coast branch of his brothers' New York dry goods business...
was embarrassed by a scandal involving six subsidiary factories run on Saipan by the Tan Holdings Corporation
Tan Holdings Corporation
Tan Holdings Corporation is a holdings company located in the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands . Since 1983, the company's headquarters are located in Saipan. The company's CEO is Henry Tan, its President is Willie Tan, and its Executive Vice-President is Jerry Tan. All...
. It was revealed that Chinese laborers in those factories suffered under what the U.S. Department of Labor called "slavelike" conditions. Cited for sub-minimal wages, seven-day work week schedules with twelve-hour shifts, poor living conditions and other indignities (including the alleged removal of passports and the virtual imprisonment of workers), Tan would eventually pay what was then the largest fines in U.S. labor history, distributing more than $9 million in restitution to some 1200 employees.[1] [2] [3] At the time, Tan factories produced 3% of Levi's jeans with the "Made in the U.S.A." label. Levi Strauss claimed that it had no knowledge of the offenses, severed ties to the Tan family, and instituted labor reforms and inspection practices in its offshore facilities.
Levi Strauss & Co.
Levi Strauss & Co.
Levi Strauss & Co. is a privately held American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's brand of denim jeans. It was founded in 1853 when Levi Strauss came from Buttenheim, Franconia, to San Francisco, California to open a west coast branch of his brothers' New York dry goods business...
was the only successful defendant, winning the case against them in 2004.
In 2005–2006, the issue of immigration and labor practices on Saipan 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...
, who visited the island on numerous occasions. Ms. magazine has followed the issue and published a major expose in their Spring 2006 article "Paradise Lost: Greed, Sex Slavery, Forced Abortion and Right-Wing Moralists".
On February 8, 2007, the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources received testimony about federalizing CNMI labor and immigration.
On July 19, 2007, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Insular Affairs David B. Cohen
David B. Cohen
David B. Cohen was an American psychology professor.Born in Brooklyn, Cohen received his bachelor's degree in 1963 from Columbia College of Columbia University, and his doctorate in clinical psychology from University of Michigan in 1968...
testified before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Regarding S. 1634 (The Northern Mariana Islands Covenant Implementation Act). He said:
Congress has the authority to make immigration and naturalization laws applicable to the CNMI. Through the bill that we are discussing today, Congress is proposing to take this legislative step to bring the immigration system of the CNMI under Federal administration. [...] [S]erious problems continue to plague the CNMI's administration of its immigration system, and we remain concerned that the CNMI's rapidly deteriorating fiscal situation may make it even more difficult for the CNMI government to devote the resources necessary to effectively administer its immigration system and to properly investigate and prosecute labor abuse. [...] While we congratulate the CNMI for its recent successful prosecution of a case in which foreign women were pressured into prostitution, human trafficking remains far more prevalent in the CNMI than it is in the rest of the U.S. During the twelve-month period ending on April 30, 2007, 36 female victims of human trafficking were admitted to or otherwise served by Guma' Esperansa, a women’s shelter operated by a Catholic nonprofit organization. All of these victims were in the sex trade. Secretary Kempthorne personally visited the shelter and met with a number of women from the Philippines who were underage when they were trafficked into the CNMI for the sex industry. [...I]t is clear that local control over CNMI immigration has resulted in a human trafficking problem that is proportionally much greater than the problem in the rest of the U.S.
A number of foreign nationals have come to the Federal Ombudsman’s office complaining that they were promised a job in the CNMI after paying a recruiter thousands of dollars to come there, only to find, upon arrival in the CNMI, that there was no job. Secretary Kempthorne met personally with a young lady from China who was the victim of such a scam and who was pressured to become a prostitute; she was able to report her situation and obtain help in the Federal Ombudsman’s office. We believe that steps need to be taken to protect women from such terrible predicaments.
We are also concerned about recent attempts to smuggle foreign nationals, in particular Chinese nationals, from the CNMI into Guam by boat. A woman was recently sentenced to five years in prison for attempting to smuggle over 30 Chinese nationals from the CNMI into Guam.
A movement to federalize labor and immigration in the Northern Marianas Islands began in early 2007. A letter writing campaign to reform CNMI labor and immigration was debated in the local newspapers. Worker groups organized a successful Unity March December 7, 2007. Despite a strong lobby effort by Governor Fitial to stop it, President Bush signed PL 110-229 into law in May 2008 and the US takeover began November 28, 2009.
Contract laborers arriving from China are usually required to pay their (Chinese National) recruitment agents fees equal to a year's total salary (roughly $3,500) and occasionally as high as two years' salary, though the contracts are only one-year contracts, renewable at the employer's discretion.
60% of the population of the CNMI is contract workers. These workers cannot vote. They are not represented, and can be deported if they lose their jobs. Meanwhile, the minimum wage remains well below that on the U.S. mainland, and abuses of vulnerable workers are commonplace.
In John Bowe
John Bowe (author)
John Bowe is the author and editor of three books: ; ; and Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs. He is a contributing writer for the New York Times. He has also written for The New Yorker, The American Prospect, GQ, McSweeney’s and This American Life...
's 2007 book Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy, he provides a focus on Saipan, exploring how its culture, isolation and American ties have made it a favorable environment for exploitative garment manufacturers and corrupt politicos. Bowe goes into detail about the island's factories, and also its karaoke bars and strip joints, some of which have had connections with politicos. The author depicts Saipan as a vulnerable, truly suffering community, where poverty rates have climbed as high as 35 percent, and proposes that the guest worker setup, by allowing many native islanders to avoid work, has actually crippled the competitiveness and job readiness of the native population.
Chinese national, Chun Yu Wang, in her 2009 book, Chicken Feathers and Garlic Skin: Diary of a Chinese Garment Factory Girl on Saipan (as told to Walt F.J. Goodridge), provides the only known first-hand account of factory work conditions and life in the barracks, and provides revealing insights from a Chinese perspective into the experience typical of many of the garment factory workers on Saipan.
Other local issues
Despite an annual rainfall of 80 to 100 in (2,032 to 2,540 mm), the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation (CUC), the local government-run water utility company on Saipan, is unable to deliver 24-hour-a-day potable water to its customers in certain areas. As a result, several large hotels use reverse osmosisReverse osmosis
Reverse osmosis is a membrane technical filtration method that removes many types of large molecules and ions from solutions by applying pressure to the solution when it is on one side of a selective membrane. The result is that the solute is retained on the pressurized side of the membrane and...
to produce fresh water for their customers. In addition, many homes and small businesses augment the sporadic and sometimes brackish water provided by CUC with rainwater collected and stored in cisterns. Most locals buy drinking water from water distributors and use tap water only for bathing or washing.
Saipan also has a negative place in many Irish people's minds after the “Roy Keane Incident
2002 Roy Keane incident
The Roy Keane incident was a public quarrel in May 2002 between Republic of Ireland national football team's captain Roy Keane and manager Mick McCarthy when the team was preparing for its matches in Japan in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. It resulted in Keane, the key player, leaving the squad...
”, a bitter and public falling-out between Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland national football team
The Republic of Ireland national football team represents Ireland in association football. It is run by the Football Association of Ireland and currently plays home fixtures at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, which opened in May 2010....
soccer star Roy Keane
Roy Keane
Roy Maurice Keane is an Irish former footballer and manager. In his 18-year playing career, he played for Cobh Ramblers in the League of Ireland, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United, before ending his career at Celtic in Scotland....
and Ireland manager Mick McCarthy
Mick McCarthy
Michael Joseph "Mick" McCarthy is an English-born former Irish international footballer who is currently the manager of Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he has been in charge since July 2006....
which took place before the 2002 FIFA World Cup
2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th staging of the FIFA World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan from 31 May to 30 June. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia, and the last in which the golden goal rule was implemented. Brazil won the tournament for a record fifth time, beating Germany 2–0...
.
Demographics
Asians numbered 35,985, comprising 57.7% of the population.
- FilipinoFilipino peopleThe Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
: 12,280 (26.1%) - ChineseChinese peopleThe term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
: 4,040 (24.1%) - KoreanKorean peopleThe Korean people are an ethnic group originating in the Korean peninsula and Manchuria. Koreans are one of the most ethnically and linguistically homogeneous groups in the world.-Names:...
: 1,945 (3.1%) - Other Asian ethnicitiesAsian peopleAsian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...
: 962 (1.5%) - JapaneseJapanese peopleThe are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
: 898 (1.4%) - BangladeshBangladeshBangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
i: 690 (1.1%) - NepaleseNepali peopleNepali people can refer to:*People of Nepal*Ethnic Nepalis of Indian citizenry residing in Gorkhaland area of West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and other parts of India.* Indian Gorkhas*Lhotshampas of Bhutan.*Nepali diaspora the world over....
: 170 (0.3%)
Pacific Islanders numbered 18,781, comprising 30.1% of the population.
- Chamorro: 10,644 (18.7%)
- Carolinian: 3,645 (4.2%)
- Palauan: 1,642 (2.6%)
- ChuukeseChuukeseChuukese may refer to:* Chuuk* Chuukese language...
: 1,382 (2.2%) - Pohnpeian: 614 (1.0%)
- Other Pacific Islander ethnicitiesPacific IslanderPacific Islander , is a geographic term to describe the indigenous inhabitants of any of the three major sub-regions of Oceania: Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia.According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, these three regions, together with their islands consist of:Polynesia:...
: 502 (0.8%) - Yapese: 192 (0.3%)
- Marshallese: 109 (0.2%)
- Kosraean: 51 (0.1%)
People of two or more races or ethnic groups numbered 6,037, comprising 9.7% of the population.
Whites numbered 1,121, comprising 1.8% of the population.
Other races/ethnic groups numbered 435, comprising 0.7% of the population.
Blacks numbered 33, comprising 0.1% of the population.
45.2% of the population was male, 54.8% was female. The median age of the island's population was 28.7, which is higher than in most other Oceanic regions due to its volume of foreign workers.
The population rose 18% (9,694) since the previous census in 1995.
Education
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...
serves Saipan.
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 a two-year community college serving the Northern Mariana Islands.
Also there are many Private Schools on Saipan, such as Saipan International School (SIS)
Notable residents from the mainland United States
- Larry HillblomLarry HillblomLarry Lee Hillblom was an American businessman, and a co-founder of DHL Worldwide Express, a shipping company.-Background:Larry Hillblom was born and raised in Kingsburg, California. Larry Hillblom was a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law and briefly...
: 1980s–1995 - Guy GabaldonGuy GabaldonPFC Guy Louis Gabaldon was a United States Marine who was credited with capturing about 1,500 Japanese soldiers and civilians during the Battle of Saipan in World War II...
: 1926–2006 - William MillardWilliam MillardWilliam "Bill" Millard was the founder of IMS Associates, makers of the IMSAI series of computers and the electronics retailer ComputerLand.He is credited as the "father" of modern computer retailing. He is also been called one of the world's most elusive tax exiles.William H. Millard worked for...
: 1986-2011
Appearances in fiction
Saipan was a major part of the plot in the Tom ClancyTom Clancy
Thomas Leo "Tom" Clancy, Jr. is an American author, best known for his technically detailed espionage, military science, and techno thriller storylines set during and in the aftermath of the Cold War, along with video games on which he did not work, but which bear his name for licensing and...
novel Debt of Honor
Debt of Honor
Debt of Honor is a novel by Tom Clancy. It is a continuation of the series featuring his character Jack Ryan. In this installment, Ryan has become the National Security Advisor when the Japanese government goes to war with the United States...
. The island is invaded by Japan, as part of a systematic attack on the United States.
Much of the action in 2002 film Windtalkers
Windtalkers
Windtalkers is a 2002 action war film directed by John Woo. Nicolas Cage and Christian Slater star as two US Marine sergeants assigned to protect Navajo code talkers in Saipan during World War II.-Plot:World War II Sgt...
takes place during the invasion of Saipan during World War II.
A significant part of the novel Amrita
Amrita (novel)
Amrita （アムリタ) is a novel written by Japanese author Banana Yoshimoto Amrita （アムリタ) is a novel written by Japanese author Banana Yoshimoto Amrita （アムリタ) is a novel written by Japanese author Banana Yoshimoto (吉本ばなな）in 1994 and translated into English in 1997 by Russell F. Wasden.-Plot synopsis:...
by Japanese author Banana Yoshimoto
Banana Yoshimoto
is the pen name of Mahoko Yoshimoto , a Japanese contemporary writer. She writes her name in hiragana.-Biography:Yoshimoto, daughter of Takaaki Yoshimoto, was born in Tokyo on July 24, 1964...
takes place in Saipan with regular references to the landscape and spirituality of the island.
It also appears in Kyou Kara Ore Wa manga as a place that mitsuhashi visits after winning a lotto.
Appearances in television
Location for South Korean band,TVXQ's All About TVXQ! Season 3 Storybook in Saipan.Location for MNET's South Korean dating show featuring Choi Siwon, Donghae, and Kibum of Super Junior
Super Junior
Super Junior is a South Korean boy band. Formed in 2005 by producer Lee Soo-man of SM Entertainment, the group comprised a total of thirteen members at its peak, and was once claimed to be the world's largest boy band...
and model Lee Eun Jung called Super Summer.
Saipan was the main site for a South Korean dating reality TV show "Kko Kko Tour".
Also the location for the South Korean Variety Show "Lets Go! Dream Team Season 2" Survival Special, which was used to find the true ace of the program.
Also the location for the South Korean TV show "Hot Brothers" air date 6 October 2010 at Pacific Islands Club.
See also
- Commonwealth (United States insular area)Commonwealth (United States insular area)In the terminology of the United States insular areas, a Commonwealth is a type of organized but unincorporated dependent territory.The definition of "Commonwealth" according to current U.S. State Department policy reads: "The term 'Commonwealth' does not describe or provide for any specific...
- GarapanGarapanGarapan is the largest village and the center of the tourism industry on the island of Saipan, which is a part of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands ....
- KalaberaKalaberaKalabera is a small village on the northern side of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands.Kalabera is best known for a large cave, that is a common tourist stop. The entry room stands close to 60 feet high, and drops off to a seemingly bottomless series of tributaries...
- List of Registered Historic Places in the Northern Mariana Islands
- List of villages in the Marianas
- Northern Marianas CollegeNorthern Marianas CollegeNorthern 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...
- Pedro A. Tenorio
- Saipan International AirportSaipan International Airport- See also :* East Field * USAAF in the Central Pacific-References:* Dorr, Robert F. B-29 Units of World War II. Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2002. ISBN 1-84176-285-7...
- SusupeSusupeSusupe is a village on Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands. Susupe is also known as Susupi. As of 2000, its population is 2,083.-Education:Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Public School System serves the town...
- Saipansucks.com
External links
- The Insular Empire: America in the Mariana Islands, PBS documentary film & website
- http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-show_geoid=Y&-tree_id=405&-_caller=geoselect&-context=dt&-errMsg=&-all_geo_types=N&-mt_name=DEC_2000_IAMP_P001&-redoLog=false&-transpose=N&-search_map_config=|b=50|l=en|t=4001|zf=0.0|ms=sel_00dec|dw=0.9528487917191559|dh=0.6838460131961157|dt=gov.census.aff.domain.map.EnglishMapExtent|if=gif|cx=-67.48042614595042|cy=18.385966173167105|zl=6|pz=6|bo=318:317:316:314:313:323:319|bl=362:393:358:357:356:355:354|ft=350:349:335:389:388:332:331|fl=381:403:204:380:369:379:368|g=04000US72&-PANEL_ID=p_dt_geo_map&-_lang=en&-geo_id=05000US69110&-CONTEXT=dt&-format=&-search_results=ALL&-ds_name=DEC_2000_IAMPSaipan Municipality, United States Census Bureau]
- Department of the Interior, Office of Insular Affairs—Links to cultural and informational sites about the CNMI as well as to government sites
- Food for Thought—Transcripts of the Harry Blalock radio program on CNMI society
- http://www.oddcast.com/witness/saipan/saipan_story1.html—Listing of documented foreign contract labor abuses in Saipan