Mariana << `mair` ee AN uh >> Islands are formed by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the Pacific Ocean. They are the southern part of a submerged mountain range that extends 1,565 miles (2,519 kilometers) from Guam almost to Japan. The Marianas are the northernmost islands of a larger island group called Micronesia, which means small islands. The Marianas have a total land area of 388 square miles (1,004 square kilometers) and a population of about 229,000. About 172,000 people live on Guam, and about 51,000 live on Saipan. The rest of the people live on other islands. Guam is a United States territory, and the rest of the Mariana Islands are a United States commonwealth.
The 10 northern Marianas are rugged islands. Some of them have volcanoes that erupt periodically. Pagan, Agrihan, and Anatahan are the largest northern islands. The limestone or reef rock terraces on volcanic slopes in the five southern Marianas show that they are older than the northern group. Guam is the largest southern island. Other important islands are Rota, Saipan, and Tinian. Tourism is the major industry of Guam and Saipan. The U.S. military employs many people on Guam. Garment manufacturing is important on Saipan.
The native islanders are called Chamorros. Their ancestors, who were among Micronesia’s earliest settlers, arrived from Asia around 3000 B.C. The Chamorros have intermarried with Europeans, Filipinos, and other peoples. Today, they practice many Western customs.
The Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan landed at Guam in 1521. He called the islands Las Islas de los Ladrones (The Islands of the Thieves), because the islanders helped themselves to articles on the ships after providing Magellan with supplies of food and water. In 1668, Spanish Jesuits renamed the islands Las Marianas in honor of Mariana of Austria, widow of King Philip IV of Spain. Spain governed the islands from 1668 to 1898.
After the Spanish-American War (1898), the United States kept Guam as a naval base. Spain sold the rest of the islands to Germany. Japan seized the German-held islands at the start of World War I (1914-1918). After the war, a League of Nations mandate gave Japan control of the Marianas except for Guam. Japan occupied Guam in 1941, during World War II (1939-1945). United States armed forces recaptured Guam and seized the rest of the Marianas in 1944 and built naval air bases on several islands. After the war, the United States governed the Marianas, except for Guam, as part of the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. In 1976, the United States agreed to form the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. This agreement went into effect in 1986. The government of the commonwealth controls its internal affairs, but the United States remains responsible for foreign affairs and defense.
