Background: Austronesian people settled the Northern Mariana Islands around 1500 B.C. These people became the indigenous Chamorro and were influenced by later migrations, including 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 there. By the time they returned, many other Micronesians, including Chuukese and Yapese, had already settled on their islands. In 1898, Spain ceded Guam to the US after 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 later administered them 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, which Guam rejected in 1969. In 1978, the Northern Mariana Islands was granted self-governance separate from the rest of the TTPI, and in 1986, islanders were granted US citizenship, with the territory coming 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.

Area
Total: 464 km²
Land: 464 km²
Water: 0 km²
Note: consists of 14 islands including Saipan, Rota, and Tinian
Comparative: 2.5 times the size of Washington, D.C.

Land boundaries
Total: 0 km

Coastline: 1,482 km

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate: tropical marine; moderated by northeast trade winds, little seasonal temperature variation; dry season December to June, rainy season July to October

Terrain: the southern islands in this north-south trending archipelago are limestone, with fringing coral reefs; the northern islands are volcanic, with active volcanoes on several islands

Elevation
Highest point: Agrihan Volcano 965 m
Lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m

Land use
Agricultural land: 1.2% (2023 est.)
Arable land: 0.2% (2023 est.)
Permanent crops: 0.2% (2023 est.)
Permanent pasture: 0.8% (2023 est.)
Forest: 53% (2023 est.)
Other: 45.9% (2023 est.)

Irrigated land: 1 km² (2012)

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

Geography
Note: strategic location in the North Pacific Ocean

Population
Total: 51,118 (2024 est.)
Male: 27,044
Female: 24,074
Distribution: approximately 90% of the population lives on the island of Saipan
Growth rate: -0.34% (2024 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)

Age structure
0-14 years: 22.1% (male 6,066/female 5,231)
15-64 years: 67.7% (male 18,206/female 16,377)
65 years and over: 10.2% (2024 est.) (male 2,772/female 2,466)

Dependency ratios
Total dependency ratio: 47.8 (2024 est.)
Youth dependency ratio: 32.7 (2024 est.)
Elderly dependency ratio: 15.1 (2024 est.)
Potential support ratio: 6.6 (2024 est.)

Median age
Total: 32.4 years (2024 est.)
Male: 31.8 years
Female: 33.2 years

Population growth rate: -0.34% (2024 est.)

Birth rate: 15.7 births/1,000 population (2024 est.)

Death rate: 5.7 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.)

Population distribution: approximately 90% of the population lives on the island of Saipan

Urbanization
Urban population: 92.1% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization: 0.36% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Major urban areas
Population: 51,000 SAIPAN (capital) (2018)

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.17 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.16 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.11 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.12 male(s)/female
Total population: 1.12 male(s)/female (2024 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 11.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.)
Male: 14.4 deaths/1,000 live births
Female: 9 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 77.1 years (2024 est.)
Male: 75 years
Female: 79.5 years

Total fertility rate: 2.56 children born/woman (2024 est.)

Drinking water source
Total: 0% of population (2022 est.)

Sanitation facility access
Total: 0.6% of population (2022 est.)

Capital
Name: Saipan
Geographic coordinates: 15 12 N, 145 45 E
Time difference: UTC+10 (15 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Etymology: the origin of the name is unclear; it probably comes from a local word meaning 'deserted' or 'uninhabited,' but stories vary on how it came to be used

Administrative divisions: no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US government, but 4 municipalities are considered second-order: Northern Islands, Rota, Saipan, Tinian

Legal system: the laws of the US apply, except for customs and some aspects of taxation

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Donald J. TRUMP (since 20 January 2025)
Head of government: Governor David M. APATANG (since 24 July 2025)
Cabinet: Sworn in by CNMI Chief Justice Alexandro Castro on Thursday, 24 July 2025
Election/appointment process: president and vice president indirectly elected on the same ballot by an Electoral College of electors chosen from each state; president and vice president serve a 4-year term (eligible for a second term); under the US Constitution, residents of the Northern Mariana Islands do not vote in elections for US president and vice president; however, they may vote in Democratic and Republican party presidential primary elections; governor directly elected by absolute majority vote in 2 rounds, if needed
Most recent election date: 8 November 2022, with a runoff held on 25 November 2022
2022: Arnold PALACIOS elected governor in second round; percent of vote in first round - Ralph TORRES (Republican) 38.8%; Arnold PALACIOS (independent) 32.2%, Tina SABLAN (Democrat) 28%; percent of vote in second round - Arnold PALACIOS 54%, Ralph TORRES 46%; David APATANG (independent) elected lieutenant governor
2018: Ralph TORRES elected governor; percent of vote - Ralph TORRES (Republican) 62.2%, Juan BABAUTA (independent) 37.8%; Arnold PALACIOS elected lieutenant governor
Expected date of next election: 2026

Legislative branch
Note: the Northern Mariana Islands delegate to the US House of Representatives can vote when serving on a committee and when the House meets as the 'Committee of the Whole House,' but not when legislation is submitted for a “full floor” House vote

Flag description: blue with a five-pointed white star on a gray latte stone (a traditional foundation stone) in the center, surrounded by a mwáár or head lei (wreath)

National anthem
Title: 'The Star-Spangled Banner'
Lyrics/music: Francis Scott KEY/John Stafford SMITH
History: official anthem, as a US commonwealth

Real gdp growth rate: 16.6% (2022 est.); 5% (2021 est.); -29.1% (2020 est.)
Note: annual GDP % growth based on constant local currency

Real gdp per capita: 16.6% (2022 est.); 5% (2021 est.); -29.1% (2020 est.)
Note: annual GDP % growth based on constant local currency

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

Budget
Revenues: $389.6 million (2016 est.)
Expenditures: $344 million (2015 est.)

Exports: $244 million (2022 est.); $55 million (2021 est.); $128 million (2020 est.)
Note: GDP expenditure basis - exports of goods and services in current dollars
Commodities: scrap iron, refined petroleum, scrap copper, hydraulic engines, integrated circuits (2021); top five export commodities based on value in dollars

Imports: $777 million (2022 est.); $666 million (2021 est.); $556 million (2020 est.)
Note: GDP expenditure basis - imports of goods and services in current dollars
Commodities: refined petroleum, cars, jewelry, trunks and cases, flavored water (2023)

Electricity
Access electrification - total population: 100% (2022 est.)

Telephones
Fixed lines total subscriptions: 20,000 (2021 est.)
Fixed lines subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 42 (2022 est.)
Mobile cellular total subscriptions: 20,474 (2004 est.)
Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 28 (2004)

Internet
Users percent of population: 25.1% (2021 est.)

Airports: 4 (2025)

Heliports: 7 (2025)