Northern Mariana Islands
24/7 Northern Mariana Islands Strategic Prayer Call
Date and Time:
Coordinators:
Phone:
Code:
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About Northern Mariana Islands
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.
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.
After Japan’s defeat in World War II, the Northern Marianas were administered by the United States pursuant to Security Council Resolution 21 as part of the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, which assigned responsibility for defense and foreign affairs to the United States as trustee.[9] Four referenda offering integration with Guam or changes to the islands’ status were held in 1958, 1961, 1963 and 1969. On each occasion, a majority voted in favor of integration with Guam, but this did not happen: Guam rejected integration in a 1969 referendum.[22]: 188
Map showing the Northern Mariana Islands and its exclusive economic zone (left) in the United States
The people of the Northern Mariana Islands decided in the 1970s not to seek independence, but instead to forge closer links with the United States. Negotiations for commonwealth status began in 1972 and a covenant to establish a commonwealth in political union with the United States[23] was approved in a 1975 referendum.[22]: 188 A new government and constitution partially came into effect in on January 9, 1978[22]: 188 after being approved in a 1977 referendum.[24] The United Nations approved this arrangement pursuant to Security Council Resolution 683. The Northern Mariana Islands came under U.S. sovereignty on November 4, 1986, and the islanders became US citizens.[22][25] Also on November 4, 1986, the Northern Mariana Islands constitution became fully effective under the Covenant.
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Covenant Document Welcoming the King of Glory into the Northern Mariana Islands