Northern Mariana Islands

'''Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

(In Detail)

Official languages English, Chamorro, Carolinian. Capital Saipan Head of State George W. Bush Governor Benigno R. Fitial Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Villagomez Resident Representative Pedro Agulto Tenorio Area
- Total
- % water Ranked 195th
477 km²
Negl. Population
- Total (2005)
- Density Ranked 198th
80,801 (July 2005 est.)
168/km² Independence none (in political union with the USA) Currency Dollar Time zone UTC+10 National anthem Gi Talo Gi Halom Tase (Chamorro)
Satil Matawal Pacifico (Carolinian) Internet TLD .mp Calling Code +1 670 The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), is a commonwealth in political union with the United States of America at a strategic location in the West Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines, at . It has a population (2005 est) of 80,362. The official 2000 census count was 69,221 ^*.

Geography and climate

Together with Guam to the south, also a United States territory, the Northern Mariana Islands make up the island arc of the Mariana Islands.

The northern maritime boundary of the island chain connects with the southern maritime boundary of Japan's outermost islands.

The southern islands are limestone with level terraces and fringing coral reefs; the northern islands are volcanic, with active volcanoes on Anatahan, Pagan and Agrihan. The volcano on Agrihan is the highest elevation in the islands at 965 meters. 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.

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 on May 10, 2003 at about 5:00 p.m. (17h). 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 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, and the rainy season from July to October can include typhoons.

Politics

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. Federal funds to the Commonwealth are administered by the Office of Insular Affairs of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Political Status

In 1947, the Northern Mariana Islands became part of the post-World War II United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI). The United States became the TTPI's administering authority under the terms of a trusteeship agreement. In 1976, Congress approved the mutually negotiated Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) in Political Union with the United States. The CNMI Government adopted its own constitution in 1977, and the constitutional government took office in January 1978. The Covenant was fully implemented on November 3, 1986, pursuant to Presidential Proclamation no. 5564, which conferred United States citizenship on legally qualified CNMI residents.

On December 22, 1990, the Security Council of the United Nations terminated the TTPI as it applied to the CNMI and five other Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia (Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei and Yap) of the TTPI's original seven districts.

Under the Covenant, in general, Federal law applies to CNMI. However, the CNMI is outside the customs territory of the United States and, although the internal revenue code does apply in the form of a local income tax, the income tax system is largely locally determined. According to the Covenant, the federal minimum wage and federal immigration laws "will not apply to the Northern Mariana Islands except in the manner and to the extent made applicable to them by the Congress by law after termination of the Trusteeship Agreement" ^*

Economy

The Northern Mariana Islands had successfully exploited its position as a free trade area with the US, while at the same time not being subject to the same labor laws as it: The minimum wage in the Commonwealth is lower than in the US and some other worker protections are weaker leading to lower production costs. This allows garments to be labelled "Made in USA" while being produced under sweatshop conditions. A different immigration régime meant that a large number of Chinese migrant workers were employed in the Islands' garment trade. However, the lifting of World Trade Organisation restrictions on Chinese imports to the US has put the Commonwealth-based trade under severe pressure, leading to a number of factory closures.

Agricultural production, primarily of cattle, coconuts, breadfruit, tomatoes and melons exists, but is of relatively minor economic import.

The islands have over 350 kilometers of highways, three airports with paved runways (one some 3000 meters (9840 feet) long; two around 2000 meters (2km) (6560 feet)), three airports with unpaved runways (one about 3000 meters (3km) long; two under 1000 meters (1km) (3280 feet)), and one heliport.

Islands, island groups and municipalities

The islands total some 477 square kilometers. An overview is presented next, with the individual islands from North to South: 1

Farallon de Pajaros (Urracas)	2.0	0	319
2	Maug Islands	2.0	occupied 1939-44	227	(North Island)
3	Asuncion	7.4	0	891
4	Agrihan (Agrigan)	40.0	evacuated 1990	965	Mount Tapochao
5	Pagan	46.6	evacuated 1990	579	Mount Pagan
6	Alamagan	11.0	6	744	Bandeera
7	Guguan	4.0	0	301
8	Zealandia Bank	>0.0	0	>0
9	Sarigan	4.9	formerly inhab.	549
10	Anatahan	30.8	evacuated 1990	787
11	Farallon de Medinilla	0.9	0	81
12	Saipan	122.9	62 392	474	Mount Tagpochau
13	Tinian	102.0	3 540	170	Kastiyu (Lasso Hill)
14	Aguijan (Agiguan)	7.0	0	157
15	Rota	95.7	3 283	491	Sabana
	NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS	477.2	69 221	965	Mount Tapochao	14°08' to 20°33'N, 144°54° to 146°04'E

Administratively, the CNMI is divided into four municipalities:

Islands 1 through 11 are collective known as the Northern Islands, together forming the Northern Islands Municipality. Islands 12 through 15 are collectively known as the Southern Islands, with the municipalities Saipan, Tinian, and Rota (uninhabited Aguijan is part of Tinian municipality).

Because of volcanic threat, the northern islands have been largely evacuated, with just six people remaining on Alamagan island (Census of 2000), and with the Mayor of the Northern Islands Municipality residing in "exile" on Saipan.

Saipan, Tinian, and Rota have the only ports and harbors, and are the only permanently populated islands.

From the CIA World Factbook 2000.

External links

Insular areas of the United States | Micronesia | Northern Mariana Islands | Archipelagoes | Island nations