Territory Name: Northern Mariana Islands (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands)

Capital: Saipan

Government Type: a commonwealth in political union with and under the sovereignty of the US; republican form of government with separate executive, legislative, and judicial branches

Background: The Northern Mariana Islands were settled by Austronesian people around 1500 B.C. These people became the indigenous Chamorro and were influenced by later migrations, including of Micronesians in the first century A.D., and island Southeast Asians around 900. Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailed through the Mariana Islands in 1521 and Spain claimed them in 1565. Spain formally colonized the Mariana Islands in 1668 and administered the archipelago from Guam. Spain’s brutal repression of the Chamorro, along with new diseases and intermittent warfare, reduced the indigenous population by about 90% in the 1700s. With a similar dynamic occurring on Guam, Spain forced the Chamorro from the Northern Mariana Islands to resettle on Guam and prevented them from returning to their home islands. By the time the Northern Mariana Islands’ Chamorro returned, many other Micronesians, including Chuukese and Yapese, had already settled on their islands.

In 1898, Spain ceded Guam to the US following the Spanish-American War but sold the Northern Mariana Islands to Germany under the German-Spanish Treaty of 1899. Germany administered the territory from German New Guinea but took a hands-off approach to day-to-day life. Following World War I, Japan administered the islands under a League of Nations mandate. Japan focused on sugar production and brought in thousands of Japanese laborers, who quickly outnumbered the Chamorro on the islands. During World War II, Japan invaded Guam from the Northern Mariana Islands and used Marianan Chamorro as translators with Guamanian Chamorro, creating friction between the two Chamorro communities that continues to this day. The US captured the Northern Mariana Islands in 1944 after the Battle of Saipan and administered them post-World War II as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI).

On four occasions in the 1950s and 1960s, voters opted for integration with Guam, although Guam rejected it in 1969. In 1978, the Northern Mariana Islands was granted self-government separate from the rest of the TTPI and in 1986, islanders were granted US citizenship and the territory came under US sovereignty as the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). In 2009, the CNMI became the final US territory to elect a nonvoting delegate to the US Congress.

Region: Oceania

Population: 51,295 (2023 est.)

Ethnic Groups: Asian 50% (includes Filipino 35.3%, Chinese 6.8%, Korean 4.2%, and other Asian 3.7%), Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander 34.9% (includes Chamorro 23.9%, Carolinian 4.6%, and other Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander 6.4%), other 2.5%, two or more ethnicities or races 12.7% (2010 est.)

Languages: Philippine languages 32.8%, Chamorro (official) 24.1%, English (official) 17%, other Pacific island languages 10.1% (includes Carolinian (official), Chinese 6.8%, other Asian languages 7.3%, other 1.9% (2010 est.)

Religions: Christian (Roman Catholic majority, although traditional beliefs and taboos may still be found)

Economic Overview: US Pacific island commonwealth economy; growing Chinese and Korean tourist destination; hit hard by 2018 typhoon; dependent on energy imports; exempt from some US labor and immigration laws; longstanding garment production

Currency: United States Dollar (USD)

Real GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): $1.242 billion (2016 est.) note: GDP estimate includes US subsidy; data are in 2013 dollars

Real GDP Growth Rate: -29.68% (2020 est.) note: annual GDP % growth based on constant local currency

Real GDP per Capita: $24,500 (2016 est.)

Exports: 

• $914 million (2016 est.)

• Comparison Ranking: 184

Export Commodities: scrap iron, refined petroleum, scrap copper, hydraulic engines, integrated circuits, peas, scrap aluminum (2021)

Export Partners: South Korea 73%, Peru 5% (2019)

Imports: 

• $893 million (2016 est.)

• Comparison Ranking: 192

Import Commodities: refined petroleum, trunks/cases, cars, watches, jewelry (2019)

Import Partners: Hong Kong 29%, Japan 29%, Singapore 16%, South Korea 9% (2019)

Natural Resources: arable land, fish

Agricultural Products: vegetables and melons, fruits and nuts; ornamental plants; livestock, poultry, eggs; fish and aquaculture products

Industries: tourism, banking, construction, fishing, handicrafts, other services

Industrial Production Growth Rate: 

• 4.3% (2014 est.) note: annual % change in industrial value added based on constant local currency

• Comparison Ranking: 75

Labor Force: 27,970 (2010 est.); note: includes foreign workers

Unemployment Rate: 11.2% (2010 est.)

Natural Hazards: active volcanoes on Pagan and Agrihan; typhoons (especially August to November)

Geography:

• Total: 464 sq km

• Land: 464 sq km

• Water: 0 sq km

(Country Summary, The World Factbook, CIA.gov)

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