Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, USA

Saipan is the largest and most populous island in the Northern Mariana Islands, a self-governing U.S. commonwealth in the western Pacific Ocean. The island serves as the commonwealth’s political and commercial center, with the seat of government located at Capitol Hill and major population centers including Garapan, Susupe and Chalan Kanoa. Indigenous Chamorro and Carolinian communities have lived in the Mariana Islands for centuries, and Saipan later came under Spanish, German and Japanese administration before U.S. forces captured it during a major World War II battle in 1944. The Northern Mariana Islands entered into political union with the United States in the 1970s, and residents are U.S. citizens. Saipan Municipality had 43,385 residents in the 2020 census, accounting for most of the commonwealth’s population.