什麼是北馬裏亞納羣島

美國在西太平洋的自治聯邦（2000年人口約72,000）。由關島北方二十二座島嶼組成（不包括關島），延伸720公里，陸地面積約477平方公里。首府爲位於塞班島的查蘭卡諾亞（Chalan Kanoa）。塞班島、蒂尼安島、羅塔島爲主要島嶼，其他有人居住的島嶼還有阿里馬罕（Alamagan）島和阿格里漢（Agrihan）島。原住民是密克羅尼西亞人，其餘爲查莫羅人（Chamorro）和菲律賓人，帕甘島上的居民在1981年火山爆發後已全部撤出。1521年被麥哲倫發現，1668年西班牙開始在此地殖民，1899年被賣給德國。1914年日本佔領此地，1919年後成爲國際聯盟的日本託管地。第二次世界大戰中這裏有過激戰，蒂尼安島成爲美國空軍基地，轟炸廣島和長崎的飛機就是從這裏起飛的。1947年成爲聯合國授予美國的太平洋島嶼託管地的一部分，1978年取得自治，1986年成爲聯邦的一州，居民全部成爲美國公民。1990年結束聯合國託管。

Northern Mariana Islands

Self-governing commonwealth (pop., 1994 est.: 46,000) in political union with the U.S., in the western Pacific Ocean. Composed of 22 islands north of Guam, the islands extend 450 mi (720 km) and have an area of 184 sq mi (477 sq km). The capital, Chalan Kanoa, is on saipan. Saipan, Tinian, and Rota are the principal islands and, together with Alamagan and Agrihan, are inhabited. The indigenous people are Micronesian; other inhabitants are Chamorro and Filipino. Pagan was evacuated in 1981 after a volcanic eruption. The islands were discovered by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. They were colonized by Spain in 1668. Sold by Spain to Germany in 1899, they were occupied by Japan in 1914 and became a Japanese mandate from the League of Nations after 1919. They were the scene of fierce fighting in World War II; Tinian was the base for U.S. planes that dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They were granted to the U.S. in 1947 by the UN as a trust territory, became self-governing in 1978, and became a commonwealth under U.S. sovereignty in 1986, when its residents became U.S. citizens. The UN trusteeship ended in 1990.