Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands
Saipan is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 estimates by the United States Census Bureau, the population of Saipan was 43,385. Its people have been United States citizens since the 1980s. Saipan is one of the main homes of the Chamorro and the Carolinian, the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands.
From the 17th century, the island experienced Spanish occupation and rule until the Spanish–American War of 1898, when Saipan was briefly occupied by the United States, before being formally sold to Germany. About 15 years of German rule were followed by 30 years of Japanese rule, which was ended by the Battle of Saipan, as the United States began to take control of the Philippine Sea. Following World War II, Saipan became part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and was administered by the United States, along with the rest of the Northern Marianas. In 1978, Saipan formally joined the United States as part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Today, Saipan is home to about 90% of the population of the Northern Mariana Islands. It hosts many resorts, golf courses, beaches, nature sites, and World War II historical sites. The legislative and executive branches of Commonwealth government are located in the village of Capitol Hill on the island while the judicial branch is headquartered in the village of Susupe. Since the entire island is organized as a single municipality, most publications designate Saipan as the Commonwealth's capital., Saipan's mayor is Ramon Camacho and the governor of the Northern Mariana Islands is David M. Apatang.
Saipan was hit by Super Typhoon Yutu in 2018, which caused widespread damage. It was previously hit in 2015 by Super Typhoon Soudelor, causing extensive damage to houses and commercial property.
Etymology
In the Chamorro language, the island is called Saipan. Carolinian people who wished to claim prior inhabitance of the island have asserted that the name derives from the Carolinian word sááypéél, in reference to a legendary Carolinian voyage of discovery of the primordial island.History
Prehistory
Traces of human settlements on Saipan have been found by archaeologists ranging over 4,000 years, including petroglyphs, ancient Latte Stones, and other artifacts pointing to cultural affinities with Melanesia and with similar stone monuments in Micronesia and Palau.Spanish colonial period
Saipan, together with Tinian, was possibly first sighted by Europeans during the Spanish expedition of Ferdinand Magellan, when it made a landing in the southern Marianas on March 6, 1521. It is likely Saipan was sighted by Gonzalo Gómez de Espinosa in 1522 on board the Spanish ship Trinidad, which he commanded after the death of Ferdinand Magellan in the Battle of Mactan in Cebu, Philippines. This is likely to have occurred after the sighting of the Maug Islands between the end of August and the end of September 1522.Gonzalo de Vigo deserted in the Maugs from Gómez de Espinosa's Trinidad and during the next four years, living with the local indigenous Chamorro people, visited thirteen main islands in the Marianas and possibly Saipan among them. The first clear evidence of Europeans arriving to Saipan was by the Manila galleon Santa Margarita commanded by Juan Martínez de Guillistegui, that wrecked on the island in February 1600 and whose survivors stayed on it for two years, until 250 were rescued by the Santo Tomás and the Jesús María.
The Spanish formally occupied the island in 1668, with the missionary expedition of Diego Luis de San Vitores who named it San José. After 1670, it became a port of call for Portuguese, Spanish, occasional English, Dutch and French ships as a supply station for food and water. The native population shrank dramatically due to European-introduced diseases and conflicts over land. The Chamorros were forcibly relocated to Guam fearing the spread of leprosy in 1720 for better control and assimilation. Under Spanish rule, the island was developed into ranches for raising cattle and pigs, which were used as provision for Spanish galleons originating from the Philippines on their way to Mexico and vice versa.
Around 1815, many Carolinians from Satawal settled Saipan during a period when the Chamorros were imprisoned on Guam, which resulted in a significant loss of land and rights for the Chamorro natives. The Caroline Islands had suffered a devastating typhoon that destroyed their crops. The leader of this company was an individual named "Chief Aghurubw," who sailed to Guam to ask the Spanish governor permission to settle on the islands. The Spaniards allowed Chief Aghurubw to settle on the island of Saipan. The Marianas archipelago was under the protectorate of the Spanish General Government of the Philippines; the Civil Guard and soldiers of the city of Macabebe in the province of Pampanga frequently made port calls to the islands to ensure law and order.
German colonial period
After the Spanish–American War of 1898, Saipan was occupied by the United States. However, it was then sold by Spain to the German Empire under the terms of the German–Spanish Treaty of 1899.The island was administered by Germany as part of German New Guinea, but during the German period, there was no attempt to develop or settle the island, which remained under the control of its Spanish and mestizo landowners.
Japanese colonial period
In 1914, during World War I, the island was captured by the Empire of Japan. Japan was awarded formal control of the island in 1919 by the League of Nations as a part of its mandated territory of the South Seas Mandate. Militarily and economically, Saipan was one of the most important islands in the mandate and became the center of subsequent Japanese settlement, growing sugarcane to be refined and then shipped to elsewhere. Immigration began in the 1920s by ethnic Japanese, Koreans, Taiwanese and Okinawans, who developed large-scale sugar plantations. The South Seas Development Company built sugar refineries and—under Japanese rule—extensive infrastructure development occurred, including the construction of port facilities, waterworks, power stations, paved roads and schools, along with entertainment facilities and Shinto shrines. By October 1943, Saipan had a civilian population of 29,348 Japanese settlers and 3,926 Chamorro and Carolinian Islanders.World War II
Japan considered Saipan to be part of the last line of defenses for the Japanese homeland, and thus had strongly committed to defending it. The Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy garrisoned Saipan heavily from the late 1930s, building numerous coastal artillery batteries, shore defenses, underground fortifications and an airstrip. In mid-1944, nearly 30,000 troops were based on the island.The Battle of Saipan, from June 15 to July 9, 1944, was one of the major campaigns of World War II. The United States Marine Corps and United States Army landed on the beaches of the south-western side of the island and, after more than three weeks in heavy fighting, captured the island from the Japanese. The battle cost the Americans 3,426 killed and 10,364 wounded.
Of the estimated 30,000 Japanese defenders, only 921 were taken prisoner. The weapons used, and the tactics of close quarter fighting, also resulted in high civilian casualties. Some 20,000 Japanese civilians perished during the battle, including over 1,000 who jumped from "Suicide Cliff" and "Banzai Cliff" rather than be caught and taken prisoner.
Seabees of the U.S. Navy also landed, to initiate construction projects. With the capture of Saipan, the American military was only
from the Japanese home islands, which placed most Japanese cities within striking distance of United States' B-29 Superfortress bombers. The loss of Saipan was a heavy blow to both the military and civilian administration of Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō, who was forced to resign.
The wartime history is interpreted on Saipan at American Memorial Park and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Museum of History and Culture. After the war, nearly all of the surviving Japanese settlers were repatriated to Japan.
U.N. trust territory
After World War II, Saipan became part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, administered by the United States.The U.S. bases on Saipan closed or were converted to other purposes, for example the Naval Advance Base Saipan from 1962 to 1986 was the headquarters for the U.N Trusteeship. East Field airbase was used as an airport until the 1960s, after its military use ended in 1946. Later on the area was made into a golf course.
United States commonwealth
The Northern Mariana islanders voted to join the United States in 1975, and the island became a municipality of the newly-formed Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in 1978. On November 4, 1986, the islanders of the Northern Marianas including Saipan became United States citizens and the Northern Marianas formally became a part of the United States of America. This meant that U.S. citizens could visit or live in Saipan and the rest of the CNMI without a passport and vice versa.Geography
Saipan is the largest island in the Northern Mariana Islands. It is about north of Guam and northeast of Tinian, from which it is separated by the Saipan Channel. Saipan is about long and wide, with a land area of.The western side of the island is lined with sandy beaches and an offshore coral reef creates a large lagoon. The eastern shore is composed primarily of rugged rocky cliffs and a reef. A narrow underwater bank of Marpi Reef lies north of the Saipan, and CK Reef lies in the west of the island.
The highest elevation on Saipan is a limestone-covered mountain called Mount Tapochau at. Unlike many of the mountains in the Mariana Islands, it is not an extinct volcano but is a limestone formation.
To the north of Mount Tapochau towards Banzai Cliff, is a ridge of hills. Mount Achugao, situated about 2 miles north, has been interpreted to be a remnant of a stratified composite volcanic cone whose Eocene center was not far north of the present peak.
Saipan has some additional semi-attached islets, one of which being Bird Island, which is a nature reserve for birds. It is connected to Saipan only at low tide. Forbidden Island is similar, but larger on the south east side of Saipan.
Mañagaha is a small 100 acre island off the west coast, and is a popular tourist destination. Access is by ferry, which is about ten minutes from the mainland.
An underwater limestone cavern called the Grotto, is up to 20 meters deep in the deepest sections. A common location for Scuba diving and other recreational water activities. The cavern reaches out to the sea in two distinct sections with large boulders as well as a large abundance of wildlife.