Northern Mariana Islands

The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), is an unincorporated territory and commonwealth of the United States. It consists of 14 islands in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, part of the Mariana Archipelago. The closest large island, Guam, is a separate U.S. territory.

During different times in history, the Northern Mariana Islands were controlled by the Spanish, German, and Japanese empires. After World War II, the islands were managed by the United Nations under American supervision. They officially became a U.S. territory in 1986, and the people there became U.S. citizens.

The islands cover an area of 183.5 square miles (475.26 km²) and had a population of 47,329 in 2020. Most people live on the islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. Other islands, like Pagan, have very few residents, especially after a volcanic eruption in 1981.

The main town and administrative center is Capitol Hill on Saipan. The leader of the Northern Mariana Islands is called the governor. The current governor is David M. Apatang, who took office on July 23, 2025, after the previous governor, Arnold Palacios, passed away. The government includes a nine-member Senate and a 20-member House of Representatives.

History

The Northern Mariana Islands were settled around 1500 BC by people who moved there from nearby places. Spain claimed the islands in 1521. Later, Spain sold them to Germany, and after World War I, they were given to Japan to manage. During World War II, the United States fought and won control of the islands, especially in the Battle of Saipan in 1944.

After the war, the islands were managed by the United Nations under U.S. supervision. In the 1970s, the people voted to become a commonwealth of the United States. This became official in 1986, and the people became U.S. citizens. In 2009, they were allowed to send a non-voting representative to the U.S. Congress.

Arrival of humans

The Mariana Islands were the first islands in Remote Oceania to be settled by humans. People from the Philippines arrived around 1500 to 1400 BC. Later groups came from the Caroline Islands and Maritime Southeast Asia. The ancient people built homes on large stone pillars called latte stones.

Spanish possession

The Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, sailing for Spain, arrived in 1521 and claimed the islands for Spain. Spain built a palace in Guam and used it as a stop for ships trading between the Philippines and Mexico. Many of the native people died from diseases brought by Europeans, and new settlers from the Philippines and Caroline Islands were brought in.

German possession and Japanese mandate

After losing a war, Spain sold the Northern Marianas to Germany in 1899. Germany did not develop the islands much. Japan took control during World War I and focused on growing sugar cane. Many Japanese people moved to the islands.

World War II

In 1941, Japan used the islands to attack Guam. In 1944, the United States invaded and took control, especially during the Battle of Saipan. After the war, many Japanese people left, and the islands were placed under U.S. supervision by the United Nations.

United Nations trusteeship ends, Commonwealth begins

In the 1970s, the people of the Northern Mariana Islands voted to become a commonwealth of the United States. This became official in 1986, and the islands came under U.S. sovereignty. The people became U.S. citizens and started to focus more on farming and ranching.

Twenty-first century

Since 2009, the Northern Mariana Islands have been represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by a non-voting delegate. In 2018, a group of people tried to repopulate some of the northern islands. Typhoon Yutu caused major damage in October 2018.

Geography

Main article: Geography of the Northern Mariana Islands

The Northern Mariana Islands, along with Guam, make up the Mariana Islands archipelago. The southern islands are made of limestone and have flat areas with coral reefs. The northern islands are volcanic and have active volcanoes, such as on Anatahan, Pagan, and Agrihan. The highest point is Mount Agrihan on Agrihan, standing at 3,166 feet.

There are 14 main islands, with some smaller ones grouped together. The islands stretch hundreds of kilometers from north to south. Many have different names from Spanish, Chamorro, or English. Some islands have had to be left because of volcanic eruptions.

The islands are part of the Marianas tropical dry forests. The ocean east of the islands, including parts of the islands themselves, is protected as the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument. This area protects special underwater life, including seabirds, sea turtles, coral reefs, and underwater volcanoes. The Marianas Trench holds the deepest ocean water on Earth.

The Northern Mariana Islands have a warm, tropical climate with little change in temperature throughout the year. The dry season is from December to June, and the rainy season is from July to November, sometimes bringing typhoons. Saipan is known for having one of the most steady climates in the world.

Politics and government

Main article: Politics of the Northern Mariana Islands

Further information: Political party strength in the Northern Mariana Islands

The Northern Mariana Islands have a multiparty presidential representative democratic system. They are a commonwealth of the United States. Money from the United States goes to the islands through the Office of Insular Affairs of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

The executive branch is led by the governor of the Northern Mariana Islands. The legislative power is held by the Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature, and the judicial power is held by the CNMI Supreme Court and lower courts.

Some people feel that politics on the islands often depends more on family ties and personal loyalty than on a candidate’s skills. They say this can look like nepotism within a democratic system.

In 2012, the islands’ public pension fund faced money problems and had to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The fund had less money than it owed to people who retired.

The Northern Mariana Islands’ group at the 2016 Republican National Convention said they were the most Republican area in the United States. In 2017, the Republican Party had many members in both the Northern Mariana Islands Senate and the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives, though by 2023 no party had a majority in either group.

Administrative divisions

The islands cover 179.01 square miles (463.63 km²). The islands are divided into four areas called municipalities:

The Northern Islands (north of Saipan) are part of the Northern Islands Municipality. The main islands—Saipan, Tinian, and Rota—form their own municipalities, while the island Aguijan is part of Tinian.

People do not live on the northern islands anymore because of volcanic danger. Only a few people lived on Agrihan, Pagan, and Alamagan, and their numbers changed because of things like school and jobs. The 2020 count showed only seven people in the Northern Islands Municipality, and the mayor’s office for this area works from Saipan.

Saipan, Tinian, and Rota are the only islands with ports and harbors and the only ones where people live permanently.

For counting people, the United States Census Bureau treats the four municipalities of the Northern Mariana Islands as similar to county equivalents.

Political status and autonomy

Further information: Law of the Northern Mariana Islands

In 1947, the Northern Mariana Islands became part of the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI). The United States took care of this area. In 1976, Congress approved an agreement to make the Northern Mariana Islands a Commonwealth connected to the United States. This agreement became official law on March 24, 1976. The islands made their own constitution in 1977, and the new government started in January 1978. The agreement fully started on January 1, 1978, and finished on November 3, 1986. This let the islands send a Resident Representative to the United States Government in Washington, DC. This person was chosen by voters in the islands and paid for by the islands’ government. The Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 (“CNRA”), which the U.S. Congress approved on May 8, 2008, created a seat for a CNMI delegate. Democrat Gregorio Sablan was elected in November 2008 as the first CNMI delegate and started work in the 111th Congress. Like other delegates in the House, the CNMI delegate can speak and vote in committees but cannot vote on the main floor of the House of Representatives or in the U.S. Senate, though they can act like a Senator when part of a conference committee.

On December 22, 1990, the United Nations Trusteeship Council ended the TTPI for the CNMI and five other areas. This was noted in United Nations Security Council Resolution 683 on the same day.

Under this agreement, only some parts of the U.S. Constitution apply to the islands, and laws passed by the U.S. Congress only apply to the islands if they apply to all 50 states. The islands are outside the United States’ customs area, and people who live there do not pay U.S. federal income tax, like in four other self-governing areas. According to the agreement, the federal minimum wage and U.S. immigration laws “will not apply to the Northern Mariana Islands except as decided by Congress after the Trusteeship Agreement ended.” In 2007, Congress changed the local minimum wage, and by 2015 it matched the wage in the 50 states.

At first, the islands had its own immigration system, and U.S. immigration law did not apply. But the agreement gave the United States control over immigration law for the islands. After stories came out about bad treatment of workers from other countries, on November 28, 2009, the United States used this control; specifically, CNRA § 702(a) changed the agreement to say that “the provisions of the ‘immigration laws’ ... shall apply to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.” Also, under CNRA § 702(a), these “immigration laws,” plus the changes to the agreement, “shall...replace all laws, rules, or programs of the Commonwealth about letting in people from other countries and sending them away.” The change to use U.S. immigration laws started on November 28, 2009.

Judicial system

Cases about federal law are heard by the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, which was created by act of Congress in 1977 and started in January 1978. The court meets on Saipan but can meet elsewhere in the islands. The district court has the same powers as other United States district courts, including handling disagreements between people from different states and bankruptcy cases. Appeals go to the Ninth Circuit. As a United States territorial court created under Congress’s power in Article IV of the United States Constitution, its judges do not work forever, unlike judges in the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Cases about local laws are heard by the Superior Court of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, with appeals heard by the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Citizenship

Further information: Northern Mariana citizenship and nationality

Article III of the agreement gave United States citizenship to people who lived in the islands and met certain rules, and said that children born in the islands have U.S. birthright citizenship. The islands have special programs for people from other countries, but there are strict rules about who can become a citizen and how. For example, it is not possible to ask for safety from danger before 2030. The United States works with countries in Asia and the local government to balance letting people in with following the rules fairly.

Economy

Main article: Economy of the Northern Mariana Islands

The Northern Mariana Islands benefit from trading with the United States and having skilled workers from Asia. The islands' economy has depended on tourism, especially from Japan, and making clothes. However, the economy shrank after rules changed in 2005, causing all the clothing factories in Saipan to close by February 2009. Tourism also dropped after Japan Airlines stopped flying there.

Farming is not a big part of the economy, making only 1.7% of the islands' money in 2016. But it is still important to the local community. The islands grow tapioca, cattle, coconuts, breadfruit, tomatoes, and melons. The cattle farms supply beef to places like Guam, Palau, and Micronesia.

Tourism is very popular. In a normal year, several hundred thousand people visit. The most visitors came in 1997, with over 760,000 people. Tourism was strong in 2019, mostly from China and South Korea. It dropped during the pandemic and has been slow to come back. Flights from Japan have decreased, and issues between the US and China have stopped flights from China to Saipan. The islands hope to bring back tourists from Japan by increasing direct flights. In 2023 and 2024, tourism was about half of what it was before the pandemic, mostly from South Korea.

People enjoy activities like hiking, golf, diving, and visiting historical places. One popular spot is Managaha Island, which you can reach by ferry. It has beaches, forests, and places to eat and do water sports.

Tourists from the U.S. do not need a special permit to visit. People from some other countries can stay for up to 45 or 90 days without a visa.

The islands have many miles of roads, several airports, and one main airport in Saipan. Small planes fly between the islands, and bigger planes connect to places like Korea, China, Japan, and the U.S. through Guam or Hawaiʻi. People can also travel between islands by boat. The U.S. Postal Service handles mail, and there are radio and television stations. Internet prices used to be very high, but some money was given to improve it in 2023.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of the Northern Mariana Islands

See also: List of U.S. states and territories by population

The Northern Mariana Islands had a population of 47,329 in 2020, which is smaller than the 69,221 people counted in 2000. This drop happened because the garment industry closed, the economy had problems, and tourism, which is very important to the islands, went down.

The Northern Mariana Islands are one of the least crowded places in the United States, except for American Samoa. The number of people living there has gone up and down over time. In 1950, only about 7,000 people lived there. By 2000, that number grew to around 80,000, but then it fell to about 50,000 in the 2010s. In 1986, when people from the Northern Mariana Islands became U.S. citizens, about 36,000 people lived there.

Today, about 60% of the people are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, and the other 40% are workers from other countries. Many people from the Northern Mariana Islands have moved to live in the continental U.S., especially in Washington State.

Languages

The official languages on the Northern Mariana Islands include English, Chamorro, and Carolinian. Some people still speak Tanapag language, but it is almost gone. Many people also speak Philippine languages, Chinese, and other Pacific island languages. Spanish is not used much anymore, but some older people and students still know it.

Ethnic groups

People living in the Northern Mariana Islands come from many different places. Most of them are from Asia or the Pacific islands.

• Filipino 35.3%
• Chamorro 23.9%
• Multiracial 12.7% (2 or more backgrounds)
• Chinese 6.8%
• Other Hawaiian or Pacific Islander 6.4%
• Carolinian 4.6%
• Korean 4.2%
• Other Asian 3.7%
• Other 2.5%

Religion

Because of the Spanish missionaries, most people on the Northern Mariana Islands practice Roman Catholicism. When Japan controlled the islands, many people became Buddhists, and some still are today. The United States brought different kinds of Protestantism to the islands. Many people are Roman Catholic or follow traditional beliefs.

Cuisine

Main article: Cuisine of the Mariana Islands

Food on the Northern Mariana Islands comes from many cultures. Popular foods include sweet or savory empanada, which came from Spain, and pancit, a noodle dish from the Philippines.

A special food from the islands is red rice made with achoti, which is served at parties and important events. Fruits like lemmai (breadfruit), mangga (mangoes), niyok (coconuts), and bilimbines (bilimbi) are used in many recipes. Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and American foods are also common.

A local dish is kelaguen, where meat is cooked using citric acid instead of heat. Another dish is tinaktak, made with coconut milk. There is also a soup called kå'du fanihi made from fruit bats, but fruit bats are now rare because people took too many of them and their homes were lost. Hunting them is now against the law.

The Northern Mariana Islands and Hawaii eat a lot of Spam. Spam was brought to the islands by American soldiers during World War II and is now a popular food. People use Spam in many dishes, like Spam sushi and Spam pizza.

Cinema

Main article: Cinema of Northern Mariana Islands

A small movie industry started in the Northern Mariana Islands in the 21st century. It makes mostly documentary films. Before that, movies were sometimes filmed there in the 20th century.

Sports

Team sports like those in the United States were brought to the Northern Mariana Islands by American soldiers during World War II. Baseball is the most popular sport. Teams from the islands have played in the Little League World Series and won medals in the Micronesian Games and South Pacific Games.

Other popular sports include basketball and mixed martial arts. The islands held the official 2009 Oceania Basketball Tournament. Other sports people play there are Ultimate Frisbee, volleyball, tennis, soccer, outrigger sailing, softball, beach volleyball, rugby, golf, boxing, kickboxing, tae kwon do, track and field, swimming, triathlon, and football.

Flora and fauna

See also: List of endemic plants in the Mariana Islands

The Northern Mariana Islands have a special bird called the Mariana fruit dove, and their official flower is the Plumeria, which originally came from the Americas. These islands are full of tropical plants and animals, and you can find sea creatures like whales and dugongs nearby. Most of the land is covered with thick tropical forests, with trees such as palm, banana, pine, fern, and plumeria.

There are nine special birds that only live on these islands, like the Saipan Reed Warbler and Golden white-eye. The islands also have many interesting small creatures, insects, and plants, including Langford's tree snail (Partula langfordi) and the tree fern (Cyathea aramaganensis).