Northern Mariana Islands - meaning of word
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Northern Mariana Islands



The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) is a commonwealth (U.S. insular area) in political union with the United States at a strategic location in the West Pacific Ocean. It consists of 14 islands about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines, at .
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
(Flag of the Northern Mariana Islands) (Coat of arms of the Northern Mariana Islands)
''National motto: ''
Official languagesEnglish language, Chamorro language, Carolinian language
CapitalSaipan
Chief of stateGeorge W. Bush
List of Northern Mariana Islands GovernorsJuan N. Babauta
Resident Representative of the Northern Mariana IslandsPedro Agulto Tenorio
Area
 - Total
 - % water		List of countries by area
1 E8 m2 square kilometre
Negl.
Population
 - Total (2003)
 - Population density 		List of countries by population
80,006 (July 2003 est.)
168/km²
Independence none (in political union with the United States)
CurrencyUS dollar (USD)
Time zoneUTC+10
National anthemGi Talo Gi Halom Tase
Top-level domain.mp
List_of_country_calling_codes+1 670
The islands total some 1 E8 m2. An overview is presented next, with the individual islands from North to South: Saipan, Tinian, and Rota have the only ports and harbors, and are the only permanently populated islands. ==Climate and Geography== [[Image:Mpud.jpg|thumb|left|Current Northern Mariana Islands license plate.]] The islands have a tropical marine climate moderated by seasonal northeast trade winds. There is little seasonal temperature variation; the dry season runs from December to June, the rainy season from July to October can include typhoons. The southern islands are limestone with level terraces and fringing coral reefs; the northern islands are volcanic, with active volcanoes on Anatahan, Pagan Island and Agrihan. (The volcano on Agrihan is the highest elevation in the islands at 965 meters (3,165 feet)). About one-fifth of the land is arable, another tenth is permanent pasture. The primary natural resource is fish, which causes conflict with the protection of endangered species. Past development has created landfills that must be cleaned up and has caused contamination of groundwater on Saipan, which may contribute to disease. The islands have over 350 kilometers of highways, three airports with paved runways (one some 3,000 meters (9,840 feet) long, two around 2,000 (6560 feet) meters), three airports with unpaved runways (one about 3,000 meters long, two under 1,000 (3280 feet) meters), and one heliport. Anatahan Volcano is a small volcanic island located 120 km (80 miles) north of Saipan Island and 320 km (200 miles) north of Guam. The island is about 9 km (5.6 miles) long and 3 km (2 miles) wide. Anatahan began erupting suddenly from its east crater at about 5:00 p.m. on May 10, 2003. Since then it has continued to alternate between eruptive and calm periods. On April 6, 2005, approximately 50,000 cubic meters of ash and rock were ejected, causing a large, black cloud to drift southward over Saipan and Tinian. Recent eruptions have caused some commercial flights to re-route. The Northern Mariana Islands' primary export is textiles, which are made in sub-standard working conditions. The labor laws of the United States of America do not apply in this commenwealth. The strongest reason for this popularity in textile exports is that the label can say 'Made In The USA' without maintaining labor standards. ==History== The first European in these waters was Ferdinand Magellan in 1521, who landed on nearby Guam and claimed the islands for Spain. Angry at larcenous natives, he first dubbed the islands "Las Islas de los Ladrones", (The Islands of the Thieves), but in 1668 their name was changed to Las Marianas after Mariana of Austria, widow of Spain's Philip IV of Spain. Nearly all of the islands' native population died out during Spanish rule, but new settlers from modern-day Micronesia repopulated them to some extent. Sold to Germany in 1899, the Japanese took over in 1914 and turned the island into a military garrison. On June 15, 1944, during World War II, U.S. Marines landed on the islands and eventually won the bitterly fought three-week Battle of Saipan. After Japan's defeat, the islands were administered by the United States as part of the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands; thus, defense and foreign affairs are the responsibility of the U.S. The people of the Northern Mariana Islands decided in the 1970s not to seek independence, but instead to forge closer links with the U.S. Negotiations for territorial status began in 1972. A covenant to establish a commonwealth in political union with the U.S. was approved in 1975. A new government and constitution went into effect in 1978. On September 23, 2004 Congressman Richard Pombo of California introduced H.R. 5135 - the ''Northern Mariana Islands Delegate Act''. The bill, had it become law, would have allowed CNMI to elect a non-voting delegate to the United States House of Representatives starting with the U.S. House election, 2006. The bill died at the end of the 108th Congress. But, on February 18, 2005, the ''Delegate Act'' was reintroduced by Pombo with a new number, H.R. 873. [http://www.resrep.gov.mp/press%20releases/873%20drop.htm] {| border=1 rules="rows" cellpadding="5" cellspacing=0 style="border:2px solid #ffffcc;border-collapse: collapse;margin-left:3px ! No. || Island || Area (km2) || Population || Height (m) || Highest Peak || Location |- | align="right" | 1 || Farallon de Pajaros (Uracas) || align="right" | 2.0 || uninhabited || align="right" | 319 || || |- | align="right" | 2 || Maug Islands || align="right" | 2.0 || occupied 1939-1944 || align="right" | 227 || (North Island) || |- | align="right" | 3 || Asuncion Island || align="right" | 7.4 || uninhabited || align="right" | 891 || || |- | align="right" | 4 || Agrihan (Agrigan) || align="right" | 40.0 || evacuated 1990 || align="right" | 965 || Mount Tapochao || |- | align="right" | 5 || Pagan Island || align="right" | 46.6 || small || align="right" | 579 || Mount Pagan || |- | align="right" | 6 || Alamagan || align="right" | 11.0 || small || align="right" | 744 || Bandeera || |- | align="right" | 7 || Guguan || align="right" | 4.0 || uninhabited || align="right" | 301 || || |- | align="right" | 8 || Zealandia Bank || align="right" | >0.0 || uninhabited || align="right" | >0 || || |- | align="right" | 9 || Sarigan || align="right" | 4.9 || formerly inhabitated || align="right" | 549 || || |- | align="right" | 10 || Anatahan || align="right" | 30.8 || evacuated 1990 || align="right" | 787 || || |- | align="right" | 11 || Farallon de Medinilla || align="right" | 0.9 || uninhabited || align="right" | 81 || || |- | align="right" | 12 || Saipan || align="right" | 122.9 || ... || align="right" | 474 || Mount Tagpochau || |- | align="right" | 13 || Tinian || align="right" | 102.0 || ... || align="right" | 170 || Kastiyu (Lasso Hill) || |- | align="right" | 14 || Aguijan (Agiguan) || align="right" | 7.0 || uninhabited || align="right" | 157 || || |- | align="right" | 15 || Rota || align="right" | 95.7 || ... || align="right" | 491 || Sabana || |- | || Northern Mariana Islands || align="right" | 477.2 || ... || align="right" | 965 || Mount Tapochao || 14°08' to 20°33'N,
144°54° to 146°04'W |} :''From the CIA World Factbook 2000. Little Wikification.'' == See also == *Demographics of the Northern Mariana Islands *Politics of the Northern Mariana Islands *Economy of the Northern Mariana Islands *Communications on the Northern Mariana Islands *Music of the Northern Mariana Islands ==External links== *[http://www.gov.mp/ Northern Mariana Islands Official Site] *[http://www.saipansucks.com/ Negative site about life in CNMI] *[http://www.southpacific.org/micro.html Moon Handbooks Micronesia] *[http://www.mymicronesia.com/northernmarianas/ myMicronesia/Northern Marianas section] *[http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/pacific/northern_mariana_islands/history.htm www.lonelyplanet.com] *[http://www.theorator.com/bills109/hr873.html H.R. 873 - the Northern Mariana Islands Delegate Act] *[http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/viewrecord?25329 Satellite Image of Anatahan Ash Plume] Insular areas of the United States Northern Mariana Islands Micronesia zh-min-nan:Pak Mariana Kûn-tó

Northern Mariana Islands



As the page I linked to indicates, the islands were inhabitated around 1500 BC by Chamorros, way before the US existed. I therefore find strange that the article does not cover at all history before the US invasion. :Well, the article was probably derived from the public domain CIA factbook. You welcome to update it. User:Bkonrad≠User talk:Bkonrad 23:30, 12 Jul 2004 (UTC) == Section edit == There seems to be some problem with aligning the table and still retaining the section edit tags. I've fixed the alignment problems, but the section edit tags have been left out. If someone can find a way to incorporate them, they are welcome. User talk:iKato == ChamorroBible.org == I have removed think link to [http://www.Chamorrobible.org ChamorroBible.org]. While Chamorro is spoken in the CNMI (and Guam), I feel it's Link spam. - User:HoshieUser_talk:Hoshie 03:00, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Northern Mariana Islands



Insular areas of the United States Micronesia

Northern Mariana Islands




{| align="center" class="toccolours" style="text-valign: center;" ! !bgcolor="#ccccff"| Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
Economy of the Northern Mariana Islands | Mariana Islands | Marianas Campaign | Politics of the Northern Mariana Islands |- !Capital: || Saipan |- !Smaller Cities: || Saipan |- |}

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