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This article is about the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a political entity. For the Marianas archipelago, see Mariana Islands.
Coordinates:  16°42′18″N 145°46′48″E

Northern Mariana Islands
U.S. Commonwealth Unincorporated U.S. territory
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas (Chamorro) Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas (Carolinian)
Flag Seal
Anthem: "Gi Talo Gi Halom Tasi" (Chamorro) "Satil Matawal Pacifiko" (Carolinian) ("In the Middle of the Sea") MENU 0:00
Location of the Northern Mariana Islands (circled in red)
Sovereign state	United States
Before union with U.S.	Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
Commonwealth Status	January 9, 1978
End of U.N. Trusteeship	November 4, 1986
Capital and largest city	Saipan 15.19°N 145.74°E
Official languages	English Chamorro Carolinian
Ethnic groups  (2010)^[1]	51.6% Asian 33.0% Pacific Islander 12.7% Multiracial 2.1% White 0.6% Other
Religion  (2010)^[2]	81.3% Christianity 10.6% Buddhism 5.3% Folk religions 1.0% No religion 0.7% Islam 1.1% Other
Demonym(s)	Northern Mariana Islander (formal) Mariana (diminutive form) Chamorro (colloquial)^[3]
Government	Devolved presidential constitutional dependency
• Governor	Ralph Torres (R)
• Lieutenant Governor	Arnold Palacios (I)
Legislature	Commonwealth Legislature
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	House of Representatives
United States Congress
• House delegate	Gregorio Sablan (D)
Area
• Total	464^[4][5] km^2 (179 sq mi)
• Water (%)	negligible
Highest elevation (Mount Agrihan)	3,166 ft (965 m)
Population
• 2022 estimate	55,650 ^[6] (209th)
• 2020 census	47,329^[7]
• Density	113/km^2 (292.7/sq mi) (97th)
GDP (PPP)	2016 estimate
• Total	$1.24 billion^[6]
• Per capita	$24,500^[6]
GDP (nominal)	2019 estimate
• Total	US$1,182,000,000^[8]
Currency	United States dollar (US$) (USD)
Time zone	UTC+10:00 (ChST)
Date format	mm/dd/yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+1-670
USPS abbreviation	MP
Trad. abbreviation	CNMI
ISO 3166 code	MP US-MP
Internet TLD	.mp
Website	gov.mp

The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; Chamorro: Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; Carolinian: Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonwealth of the United States consisting of 14 islands in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.^[9] The CNMI includes the 14 northernmost islands in the Mariana Archipelago; the southernmost island, Guam, is a separate U.S. territory.
The United States Department of the Interior cites a landmass of 183.5 square miles (475.26 km²).^[10] According to the 2020 United States Census, 47,329 people were living in the CNMI at that time.^[7] The vast majority of the population resides on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. The other islands of the Northern Marianas are sparsely inhabited; the most notable among these is Pagan, which for various reasons over the centuries has experienced major population flux, but formerly had residents numbering in the thousands.^[11][12]
The administrative center is Capitol Hill, a village in northwestern Saipan. However, most^[quantify] publications^[which?] consider Saipan to be the capital because the island is governed as a single municipality.

Contents

• 
  1History
  
  • 
    1.1Arrival of humans
    
  • 
    1.2Spanish possession
    
    • 
      1.2.1Carolinian immigration
      
  • 
    1.3German possession and Japanese mandate
    
  • 
    1.4World War II
    
  • 
    1.5United Nations trusteeship
    
  • 
    1.6Commonwealth
    
• 
  2Geography
  
  • 
    2.1Climate
    
• 
  3Politics and government
  
  • 
    3.1Administrative divisions
    
  • 
    3.2Political status and autonomy
    
  • 
    3.3Judicial system
    
  • 
    3.4Citizenship
    
• 
  4Economy
  
  • 
    4.1Labor controversies
    
  • 
    4.2Infrastructure
    
• 
  5Demographics
  
  • 
    5.1Languages
    
  • 
    5.2Ethnic groups
    
  • 
    5.3Religion
    
  • 
    5.4Education
    
• 
  6Culture
  
  • 
    6.1Cuisine
    
  • 
    6.2Cinema
    
  • 
    6.3Sports
    
• 
  7See also
  
• 
  8References
  
• 
  9Further reading
  
• 
  10External links
  

History[edit]

Arrival of humans[edit]

Main article: Mariana Islands § Prehistory

Chamorro Hunter with Spear, as depicted in the Boxer Codex (1590) of the Philippines

Chamorro Hunter with Bow, as depicted in the Boxer Codex (1590) of the Philippines
The Mariana Islands were the first islands settled by humans in Remote Oceania. Incidentally it is also the first and the longest of the ocean-crossing voyages of the Austronesian peoples, and is separate from the later Polynesian settlement of the rest of Remote Oceania. They were first settled around 1500 to 1400 BC by migrants departing from the Philippines. This was followed by a second migration from the Caroline Islands by the first millennium AD, and a third migration from Island Southeast Asia (likely the Philippines or eastern Indonesia) by 900 AD.^[13][14]
After first contact with Spaniards, they eventually became known as the Chamorros, a Spanish word similar to Chamori, the name of the indigenous caste system's higher division.
The ancient people of the Marianas raised colonnades of megalithic capped pillars called latte stones upon which they built their homes. The Spanish reported that by the time of their arrival, the largest of these were already in ruins, and that the Chamorros believed the ancestors who had erected the pillars lived in an era when people possessed supernatural abilities.
In 2013 archaeologists posited that the first people to settle in the Marianas may have made what was at that point the longest uninterrupted ocean-crossing voyage in human history. Archeological evidence indicates that Tinian may have been the first Pacific island to be settled.^[15]

Spanish possession[edit]

Reception of the Manila galleon by the Chamorro in the Ladrones Islands, c. 1590. From Boxer Codex.
Main articles: New Spain, Captaincy General of the Philippines, Spanish East Indies, and Spanish-Chamorro Wars

Colonial tower, a vestige of the former Spanish colony
The Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, sailing under the Spanish flag, arrived in 1521. He and his crew were the first Europeans to arrive in the Mariana Islands. He landed on Guam, the southernmost island of the Marianas, and claimed the archipelago 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: in Chamorro tradition, little property was private and taking something one needed, such as a boat for fishing, did not count as stealing. The Spanish did not understand this custom and fought the Chamorros until the boat was recovered. Three days after he had been welcomed on his arrival, Magellan fled the archipelago. Spain regarded the islands as annexed and later made them part of the Spanish East Indies in 1565. In 1734, the Spanish built a royal palace, the Plaza de España, in Guam for the governor of the islands. The palace was largely destroyed during World War II, but portions of it remain.
Guam operated as an important stopover between the Philippines and Mexico for Manila galleon carrying trading between Spanish colonies.
In 1668, Father Diego Luis de San Vitores renamed the islands Las Marianas in honor of his patroness the Spanish regent Mariana of Austria (1634–1696), widow of Felipe IV (reigned 1621–1665).^[16]
Most of the islands' native population (90–95%)^[17] died from European diseases carried by the Spaniards or married non-Chamorro settlers under Spanish rule. New settlers, primarily from the Philippines and the Caroline Islands, were brought^{[by whom?]} to repopulate the islands. The Chamorro population gradually recovered, and Chamorro, Filipino, and Refaluwasch languages and other ethnic groups remain in the Marianas.
During the 17th century, Spanish colonists forcibly moved the Chamorros to Guam, to encourage assimilation and conversion to Roman Catholicism. By the time they were allowed to return to the Northern Marianas, many Carolinians from present-day eastern Yap State and western Chuuk State had settled in the Marianas.^{[citation needed]} Both languages, as well as English, are now official in the commonwealth.