Northern Mariana Islands · MP
Saipan
Capital of the Northern Marianas, scarred by 1944.
- Population
- 43,385 (2020)
- Battle
- June 15–July 9, 1944
- Joined US
- 1978
Then
- 1668
Spain formally occupies the island. The Chamorro and Carolinians are its native peoples.
- 1899
Spain sells Saipan to Germany. Japan seizes it in 1914.
- 1944
The Battle of Saipan kills 3,426 Americans. More than 1,000 Japanese civilians leap from Suicide and Banzai cliffs.
- 1978
Saipan joins the US as part of the Northern Mariana Islands.
- 2018
Typhoon Yutu makes landfall on October 18 with 130 mph winds.
Now
Saipan holds about 90 percent of the Commonwealth's people.