Saipan << sy PAN >> is the capital and largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, in the Pacific Ocean. It lies about 1,600 miles (2,570 kilometers) east of Luzon Island in the Philippines, and about the same distance southeast of Tokyo. Saipan has an area of 46 square miles (120 square kilometers) and a population of about 51,000. Its largest town, Garapan, was destroyed in World War II (1939-1945), but has since been rebuilt. Garapan has the best harbor in the Northern Marianas.
Saipan belonged to Spain until 1899, when Germany bought it. Japan seized the island from Germany at the start of World War I in 1914. After the war ended in 1918, a League of Nations mandate gave Japan control of Saipan. The Japanese developed the island’s fishing and sugar industries. Saipan was the scene of heavy fighting during World War II. United States forces landed there in June 1944 and captured the island after several weeks of fighting. Saipan then became an important U.S. air base for further attacks on Japan. After the war, the Northern Marianas, including Saipan, became part of the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands under U.S. control. In 1986, the Northern Marianas became a self-governing commonwealth of the United States. Today, tourism and garment manufacturing are Saipan’s major economic activities.
See also Saipan, Battle of.
