Northern Mariana Islands

Northern Mariana Islands
Northern Mariana Islands
United States 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")
	Location of the Northern Mariana Islands ; (circled in red)
Sovereign state	United States
Before belonging to the United States	Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
Commonwealth Status	January 9, 1978
End of U.N. Trusteeship	November 4, 1986
Capital and largest city	Saipan; 15°11′N 145°44′E / 15.19°N 145.74°E
Official languages	English; Chamorro; Carolinian;
Ethnic groups (2010)	51.6% Asian; 33.0% Pacific Islander; 12.7% Multiracial; 2.1% White; 0.6% Other;
Religion (2010)	81.3% Christianity; 10.6% Buddhism; 5.3% Folk religions; 1.0% No religion; 0.7% Islam; 1.1% Other;
Demonym(s)	Northern Mariana Islander (formal); Northern Marianan (other); Marianan (diminutive form); Chamorro (colloquial)
Government	Devolved presidential constitutional dependency
• Governor	Arnold Palacios (I)
• Lieutenant Governor	David Apatang (I)
Legislature	Commonwealth Legislature
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	House of Representatives
United States Congress
• House delegate	Gregorio Sablan (D)
Area
• Total	464 km2 (179 sq mi)
• Water (%)	negligible
Highest elevation (Mount Agrihan)	965 m (3,166 ft)
Population
• 2022 estimate	55,650 (209th)
• 2020 census	47,329
• Density	113/km2 (292.7/sq mi) (97th)
GDP (PPP)	2016 estimate
• Total	$1.24 billion
• Per capita	$25,516
GDP (nominal)	2019 estimate
• Total	US$1,182,000,000
• Per capita	$21,239
Currency	United States dollar (US$) (USD)
Time zone	UTC+10:00 (ChST)
Date format	mm/dd/yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+1-670
USPS abbreviation	MP
Trad. abbreviation	CNMI
ISO 3166 code	MP; US-MP;
Internet TLD	.mp
Website	gov.mp

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

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

Geography

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

People

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1960	8,286	—
1970	9,436	13.9%
1980	16,780	77.8%
1990	43,345	158.3%
2000	69,221	59.7%
2010	53,883	−22.2%
2020	47,329	−12.2%

In 2020, 47,329 people lived on the Northern Mariana Islands. This was down from 69,221 in 2000.^[7]

The official languages on the Northern Mariana Islands are English, Chamorro, and Carolinian. Only a few people speak the Tanapag language. Many people also speak Philippine languages, Chinese, and other Pacific island languages. Many people still have Spanish family names, but the people do not often speak Spanish, as they did in the past.^[9]

Most people in the Northern Mariana Islands are Roman Catholic. There are also communities of Buddhist and Protestant people. Many people have traditional beliefs, also referred to as folk religion. According to the Pew Research Center, 2010:^[10]

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

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reported 865 members in the Northern Mariana Islands.^[11]

Notes

↑ The Northern Mariana Islands belongs to, but is not a part of, the United States. See the page for the Insular Cases for more information.

References

↑ Bureau, U.S. Census. "American FactFinder – Results". factfinder.census.gov. Archived from the original on February 14, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2018. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
↑ "Northern Mariana Islands". Archived from the original on 2019-04-21. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
↑ "AAPI – Asian American and Pacific Islander – Primer". Environmental Protection Agency. June 28, 2006. Retrieved August 29, 2015.
↑ "Northern Mariana Islands". CIA World Factbook. November 10, 2021. Area:total: 464 sq km land: 464 sq km water: 0 sq km note: consists of 14 islands including Saipan, Rota, and Tinian
↑ "Our District". Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan Representing the Northern Mariana Islands. Archived from the original on November 5, 2020. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the total land area of all islands as 179 square miles.
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 ^6.2 "Australia-Oceania :: Northern Mariana Islands (Territory of the US)". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
↑ ^7.0 ^7.1 2020 Census Population of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands: Municipality and Village, U.S. Census Bureau.
↑ "Northern Mariana Islands | Data". data.worldbank.org. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
↑ Solenberger, Robert R. (1962). "The Social Meaning of Language Choice in the Marianas". Anthropological Linguistics. 4 (1): 59–64. JSTOR 30022346.
↑ "Religions in Northern Mariana Islands – PEW-GRF". GlobalReligiousFutures.org. Archived from the original on 2019-04-21. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
↑ "Facts and Statistics: Statistics by Country: Northern Mariana Islands", Newsroom, LDS Church, retrieved January 15, 2021