{ "Introduction": { "Background": { "text": "
The Northern Mariana Islands were settled by Austronesian people around 1500 B.C. These people became the indigenous Chamorro and were influenced by later migrations, including of 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 on Guam and prevented them from returning to their home islands. By the time the Northern Mariana Islands’ Chamorro returned, many other Micronesians, including Chuukese and Yapese, had already settled on their islands.
In 1898, Spain ceded Guam to the US following 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 administered them post-World War II 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, although Guam rejected it in 1969. In 1978, the Northern Mariana Islands was granted self-government separate from the rest of the TTPI and in 1986, islanders were granted US citizenship and the territory came 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.
NA
" }, "Exchange rates": { "text": "the US dollar is used
" } }, "Energy": { "Electricity access": { "electrification - total population": { "text": "100% (2020)" } }, "Coal": { "production": { "text": "0 metric tons (2020 est.)" }, "consumption": { "text": "0 metric tons (2020 est.)" }, "exports": { "text": "0 metric tons (2020 est.)" }, "imports": { "text": "0 metric tons (2020 est.)" } }, "Petroleum": { "total petroleum production": { "text": "0 bbl/day (2021 est.) Data represented includes both Guam and Northern Mariana Islands" }, "refined petroleum consumption": { "text": "2,100 bbl/day (2019 est.) Data represented includes both Guam and Northern Mariana Islands" }, "crude oil and lease condensate exports": { "text": "0 bbl/day (2018 est.) Data represented includes both Guam and Northern Mariana Islands" }, "crude oil and lease condensate imports": { "text": "0 bbl/day (2018 est.) Data represented includes both Guam and Northern Mariana Islands" }, "crude oil estimated reserves": { "text": "0 barrels (2021 est.) Data represented includes both Guam and Northern Mariana Islands" } }, "Natural gas": { "production": { "text": "0 cubic meters (2021 est.)" }, "consumption": { "text": "0 cubic meters (2021 est.)" }, "exports": { "text": "0 cubic meters (2021 est.)" }, "imports": { "text": "0 cubic meters (2021 est.)" }, "proven reserves": { "text": "0 cubic meters (2021 est.)" } }, "Carbon dioxide emissions": { "total emissions": { "text": "0 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)" }, "from coal and metallurgical coke": { "text": "0 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)" }, "from consumed natural gas": { "text": "0 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)" } }, "Energy consumption per capita": { "Total energy consumption per capita 2019": { "text": "0 Btu/person (2019 est.)" } } }, "Communications": { "Telephones - fixed lines": { "total subscriptions": { "text": "20,000 (2021 est.)" }, "subscriptions per 100 inhabitants": { "text": "40 (2021 est.)" } }, "Telephones - mobile cellular": { "total subscriptions": { "text": "20,474 (2004 est.)" }, "subscriptions per 100 inhabitants": { "text": "28 (2004)" } }, "Telecommunication systems": { "general assessment": { "text": "digital fiber-optic cables and satellites connect the islands to worldwide networks; demand for broadband growing given that mobile services are the source for Internet across region; future launch of 5G (2020)" }, "domestic": { "text": "fixed-line teledensity is 40 per 100 persons; mobile cellular subscriptions are 28 per 100 (2021)" }, "international": { "text": "country code - 1-670; landing points for the Atisa and Mariana-Guam submarine cables linking Mariana islands to Guam; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) (2019)" } }, "Broadcast media": { "text": "1 TV broadcast station on Saipan; multi-channel cable TV services are available on Saipan; 9 licensed radio broadcast stations (2009)" }, "Internet country code": { "text": ".mp" }, "Internet users": { "total": { "text": "12,299 (2021 est.)" }, "percent of population": { "text": "25.1% (2021 est.)" } } }, "Transportation": { "Airports": { "text": "5 (2021)" }, "Airports - with paved runways": { "text": "3", "note": "note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)" }, "Airports - with unpaved runways": { "text": "2", "note": "note: unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control" }, "Heliports": { "text": "1 (2021)" }, "Roadways": { "total": { "text": "536 km (2008)" } }, "Ports and terminals": { "major seaport(s)": { "text": "Saipan, Tinian, Rota" } } }, "Military and Security": { "Military - note": { "text": "defense is the responsibility of the US" } }, "Transnational Issues": { "Disputes - international": { "text": "none identified
" } } }