The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, is an unincorporated territory 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; the southernmost island, Guam, is a separate U.S. territory.
Saipan is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a commonwealth of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2017 estimates by the United States Census Bureau and the Commonwealth's Department of Commerce, Saipan's population was 47,565.
Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguigan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of the four constituent municipalities of the Northern Marianas. Tinian's largest village is San Jose.
The Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, also known as Operation Forager, was an offensive launched by United States forces against Imperial Japanese forces in the Mariana Islands and Palau in the Pacific Ocean between June and November 1944 during the Pacific War. The United States offensive, under the overall command of Chester Nimitz, followed the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign and was intended to neutralize Japanese bases in the central Pacific, support the Allied drive to retake the Philippines, and provide bases for a strategic bombing campaign against Japan.
Saipan International Airport, also known as Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport, is a public airport located on Saipan Island in the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The airport is owned by Commonwealth Ports Authority. Its airfield was previously known as Aslito and Isely Field.
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 since December 2020 a full member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The association is not a member of the world governing body FIFA, although it had applied for membership, and so while 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. 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 were in fact, in 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 Micronesian megapode or Micronesian scrubfowl is an endangered megapode which inhabits islands of the Western Pacific Ocean.
The 7th Micronesian Games was held August 1–10 in Palau.
The Micronesian Games are a quadrennial international multi-sport event within the Micronesian region. The Games were first held in 1969 in Saipan. The 2010 Micronesian Games were initially due to be held in Majuro, until the hosts withdrew. The 2010 Games were hosted by Palau. The Federated States of Micronesia won the bidding to host the 2014 Micronesian Games in Pohnpei State, and later won again against CNMI for the 2018 Micronesian Games to be held in Yap State.
Koreans in Micronesia used to form a significant population before World War II, when most of the region was ruled as the South Seas Mandate of the Empire of Japan; for example, they formed 7.3% of the population of Palau in 1943. However, after the area came under the control of the United States as the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, most Koreans returned to their homeland. As of 2013, about seven thousand South Korean expatriates & immigrants and Korean Americans reside in the Marianas, which have remained under U.S. control, while only around two hundred South Korean expatriates reside in the independent countries of Micronesia.
The following is an alphabetical list of articles related to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Rugby union in the northern Mariana Islands is a minor but growing sport.
Arnold Indalecio Palacios is the 12th and current lieutenant governor of the Northern Mariana Islands, serving since 2019. He previously represented Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands Senate. Formerly a member of the Republican Party, he is currently an independent candidate for Governor in the 2022 election.
Marianas Variety is a daily newspaper published in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, five times per week. It is owned by Younis Art Studio Inc. Marianas Variety is a member of the Associated Press, Reuters, and the Pacific Islands News Association.
The Saipan Tribune is a newspaper published online seven days a week and in print from Monday to Friday in the Northern Mariana Islands. The Saipan Tribune is headquartered in Saipan. The newspaper is owned by Pacific Publications and Printing Inc., which is an affiliate of the Tan Holdings Corporation. Its main competitor is the Marianas Variety News & Views.
Valentine Namio Sengebau was a poet from Palau. He lived on the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands. There is a poetry competition with his name which is open to middle school and high school students, and aims to support young poets.
The recreational and medicinal use of cannabis in the Northern Mariana Islands has been legal since September 2018. House Bill 20-178 was signed into law by Gov. Ralph Torres, becoming Public Law 20-66. The cannabis legalization bill was introduced as the "Taulamwaar Sensible CNMI Cannabis Act of 2018," named in honor of David Kapileo Peter or Taulamwaar, who advocated cannabis legalization over four years ago. The first dispensary opened to the public on July 16, 2021.
The 2022 Northern Mariana gubernatorial election will take place in 2022 to elect the governor of the Northern Mariana Islands and the lieutenant governor of the Northern Mariana Islands to a four-year term in office. In the Northern Mariana Islands, if no candidate receives 50% of the vote in the general election for a statewide office, the two highest-placing candidates will advance to a runoff election.
The Marianas tropical dry forests is a tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests ecoregion on the Marianas Islands in the western Pacific Ocean.
The Mariana Islands consist of 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. As of December 31, 2019, the LDS Church reported 2,550 members in one stake, five congregations, one mission, and one temple under construction in Guam. There are 865 members in a ward in the Northern Mariana Islands. There are two family history centers, one in Guam and one at the Saipan Ward building in the Northern Mariana Islands.