Northern Mariana Islands

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Lore & Background

The Mariana Islands were the first islands settled by humans in Remote Oceania. Their settlement was the first and longest of the ocean-crossing voyages of the Austronesian peoples, separate from the later Polynesian settlement of the rest of Remote Oceania. The islands were first settled around 1500 to 1400 BC by people from the Philippines. This was followed by a second migration from the Caroline Islands by the first millennium AD, and a third migration from Maritime Southeast Asia (likely the Philippines or eastern Indonesia) by 900 AD. The ancient people of the Marianas raised colonnades of megalithic-capped pillars called latte stones upon which they built their homes. The Spanish reported that by their arrival, the largest of these was already in ruins and that the Chamorros believed the ancestors who had erected the pillars lived in an era when people possessed supernatural abilities. In 2013 archaeologists posited that the first people to settle in the Marianas may have made what was at that point the longest uninterrupted ocean-crossing voyage in human history. Archeological evidence indicates that Tinian may have been the first Pacific island to be settled. Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, sailing under the Spanish flag, arrived in 1521. He and his crew were the first Europeans to arrive in the Mariana Islands. He landed on Guam, the southernmost island of the Marianas, and claimed the archipelago for Spain. In 1668, Father Diego Luis de San Vitores renamed the islands Las Marianas in honor of his patroness, the Spanish regent Mariana of Austria (1634–1696), widow of Felipe IV. Most of the islands' native population (90–95%) died from European diseases carried by the Spaniards or married non-Chamorro settlers under Spanish rule. New settlers from the Philippines and the Caroline Islands were brought to repopulate the islands. During the 17th century, Spanish colonists forcibly moved the Chamorros to Guam, to encourage assimilation and conversion to Roman Catholicism. By the time they were allowed to return to the Northern Marianas, many Carolinians from present-day eastern Yap State and western Chuuk State had settled in the Marianas. In 1720 the Spanish moved the remaining islanders, whose population had been decimated by diseases, from the Marianas to Guam. By 1741, there were about 5000 remaining Chamorros. In 1899 Spain sold the Northern Marianas to Germany in the Spanish-German Treaty of 1899, while Guam went to the United States. At the end of World War I, with the defeat of Germany, the islands became a part of the Japanese Mandate under the League of Nations, starting in 1918. The islands were liberated from the Japanese in the Battle of Saipan in 1944, and after the war, became part of the UN Trust Territory called the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI). Over the decades, integration with Guam was rejected, and eventually, the islands left the TTPI and became a part of the US in 1986. The Northern Marianas then became the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and its residents are US citizens. In 2009, they elected a non-voting delegate to the US Congress.

Reader's Guide

The Northern Mariana Islands hold significance as a unique political entity—an unincorporated territory and commonwealth of the United States, whose residents are U.S. citizens. Their history reflects a pattern of colonial control by Spain, Germany, and Japan, followed by U.S. administration under a UN trust, culminating in formal U.S. territorial status in 1986. The islands were the first in Remote Oceania to be settled by humans, with archaeological evidence suggesting Tinian may have been the first Pacific island settled. The ancient latte stone pillars remain a distinctive cultural marker. The population today is concentrated on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota, with the administrative center at Capital Hill on Saipan. The islands' legacy includes the near-total loss of the indigenous Chamorro population due to European diseases and forced relocations, followed by repopulation from the Philippines and Caroline Islands. The Carolinian sub-ethnicity, known as Refaluwasch, maintains its language and traditions. The CNMI elects a non-voting delegate to the U.S. Congress as of 2009. The 1981 volcanic eruption on Pagan rendered that island largely uninhabited.

Did You Know?

• The Northern Mariana Islands were listed by the United Nations as a non-self-governing territory until 1990.
• The ancient people of the Marianas raised colonnades of megalithic-capped pillars called latte stones upon which they built their homes.
• In 2013 archaeologists posited that the first people to settle in the Marianas may have made what was at that point the longest uninterrupted ocean-crossing voyage in human history.
• The current governor of the CNMI is David M. Apatang, who was elevated from lieutenant governor on July 23, 2025, following the death in office of Arnold Palacios.
• The 1981 volcanic eruption on Pagan rendered that island largely uninhabited.