Top 10 Largest Cities or Towns of Northern Mariana Islands

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1) Saipan
2) San Jose Village
3) Carolinas Heights
4) Pagan Village
5) Agrihan Village
6) Alamagan
7) Rota
8) Tinian
9) Capital Hill
10) Dandan

The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; Chamorro: Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas), is one of the five inhabited U.S. island territories (the other four are Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa). It is one of two territories with "Commonwealth" status; the other is Puerto Rico).[3] It consists of fifteen islands in the western Pacific Ocean, about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines. The United States Census Bureau reports the total land area of all islands as 183.5 square miles (475.26 km2).[4] As of the 2010 census, the Northern Mariana Islands had a population of 53,883,[5] of whom over 90% live on the island of Saipan. Of the 14 other islands, only two -- Tinian and Rota -- are permanently inhabited.

The Commonwealth's center of government is in the village of Capitol Hill on Saipan. As the island is governed as a single municipality, most publications name Saipan as the Commonwealth's capital.

The first people of the Northern Mariana Islands navigated to the islands at some period between 4000 BC to 2000 BC from Southeast Asia. They became known as the Chamorros, and spoke an Austronesian language called Chamorro. The ancient Chamorros left a number of megalithic ruins, including Latte stone. The Refaluwasch, or Carolinian, people came to the Marianas in the 1800s from the Caroline Islands.

The first European explorer of the area was Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. He landed on nearby Guam and claimed the islands for Spain. The Spanish ships were met offshore by the native Chamorros, who delivered refreshments and then helped themselves to a small boat belonging to Magellan's fleet. This led to a cultural clash: in Chamorro tradition there was little private property and taking something one needed, such as a boat for fishing, was not considered stealing. The Spanish did not understand this custom. The Spanish fought the Chamorros until the boat was recovered. Three days after he had been welcomed on his arrival, Magellan fled the archipelago under attack.

In 1565, Miguel López de Legazpi arrived in Guam and took possession of the islands in the name of the Spanish Crown.

Guam was an important stopover for the Manila Galleons, a convoy of ships carrying passengers and cargo such as silver, plants and animals from Acapulco (Mexico) to Manila. On the return trip from the Philippines to Mexico, the galleons did not call at Guam as the eastern winds were farther north, near the coast of Japan.

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