Micronesia is a subregion of Oceania, composed of thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a shared cultural history with two other island regions: Polynesia to the east and Melanesia to the south.
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, is an insular area and commonwealth of the United States consisting of 14 islands in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The CNMI includes the 14 northernmost islands in the Mariana Archipelago except the southernmost island of the chain, Guam, which is a separate U.S. territory. The CNMI and Guam are the westernmost point and territory of the United States.
Politics of the Northern Mariana Islands takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic system, whereby the Governor is head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. The Northern Mariana Islands are a commonwealth in political union with the United States. Executive power is exercised by the governor. Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of the legislature. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Local government is carried out through three regional mayors.
The Mariana Islands are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the western North Pacific Ocean, between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east. They lie south-southeast of Japan, west-southwest of Hawaii, north of New Guinea and east of the Philippines, demarcating the Philippine Sea's eastern limit. They are found in the northern part of the western Oceanic sub-region of Micronesia, and are politically divided into two jurisdictions of the United States: the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and, at the southern end of the chain, the territory of Guam. The islands were named after the influential Spanish queen Mariana of Austria.
The CNMI Republican Party is a political party in the Northern Mariana Islands. The Northern Mariana Islands Republican Party is now associated with the United States Republican Party though no Northern Mariana Islands politicians have achieved high-ranking positions in the mainland United States.
Pagan is a volcanic island in the Mariana Islands archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, belonging to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Formerly inhabited, the inhabitants were evacuated due to volcanic eruptions in 1981.
The Northern Mariana Islands national football team represents the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in international men's football. The team is controlled by the governing body for football in the Northern Mariana Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association, which is a member of the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) and an associate member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The federation is not a member of the world governing body FIFA and so whilst the national team is eligible to enter AFC and EAFF-run competitions, they are currently ineligible for global competitions such as the FIFA World Cup and FIFA Confederations Cup. As such, they do not have an official FIFA ranking. However, the team have been consistently ranked as one of the worst teams in the world on the Elo ratings and are in fact, at July 2016 rated as the worst men's senior international team in the world in a ratings system that also includes a number of other non-FIFA teams. Following the completion of the preliminary qualifying round for the 2017 EAFF East Asian Cup the team have won only one official competitive match against international opposition and have a goal difference of −78 in official matches. The team have never qualified for the finals of a major tournament and beyond friendlies and qualifying matches, their only official competition has been in an exhibition tournament in the regional Micronesian Games in 1998, which they won, to date their only tournament success.
The Northern Mariana Islands Football Association is the governing body of football in the Northern Mariana Islands. It was founded in 2005 by US-Attorney Peter Coleman. The Association received full membership into the East Asian Football Federation in 2008. The association was admitted as a quasi-member of the Asian Football Confederation in July 2009.
Koo Luam Khen is a Malaysian former national football player. He participated in the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. He was the former coach of Hong Kong national football team, Hong Kong League team Instant-Dict and Sun Hei. He won "Best Coach of the Year" in Hong Kong Top Footballer Awards 2003 and 2005.
Sugao Kambe is a former Japanese football player and manager. He managed for Philippines, Guam and Northern Mariana Islands national teams.
The sport of football (soccer) in the country of the Northern Mariana Islands is run by the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association. The association administers the national football team, as well as the Championship.
Northern Mariana Islands competed at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, Spain between 19 July and 4 August 2013.
Tan Holdings Football Club, also known as the THFC, is a M*League Division 1 club, which plays in the island of Saipan. They play in the Northern Mariana Islands first division, the M*League Division 1.
The 2012 M*League Division 1 was the sixth season of top-flight football in Northern Marianas Islands. The league was divided into two parts, the Winter League and the Fall League. The Winter League was won by IFC Wild Bills, and the Fall League was won by Tan Holdings FC
The 2013–14 M*League Division 1 was the eighth season of top-flight football in Northern Marianas Islands. The League was won by IFC Wild Bills.
Star Marianas Air, Inc. is a U.S. commuter airline headquartered at Tinian International Airport in Tinian Municipality, Northern Mariana Islands. It operates scheduled and charter passenger service in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam, both U.S. territories in the Pacific Ocean.
James Ada is an American politician who is Secretary of the Department of Public Works of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and president of CNMI Republican Party.
