rial sea: 3 nm

_#_Climate: tropical marine; moderated by northeast trade winds,
little seasonal temperature variation; dry season December to July, rainy
season July to October

_#_Terrain: southern islands are limestone with level terraces and
fringing coral reefs; northern islands are volcanic; highest elevation is
471 meters (Mt. Tagpochu on Saipan)

_#_Natural resources: arable land, fish

_#_Land use: arable land 1%; permanent crops NA%; meadows and pastures
19%; forest and woodland NA%; other NA%

_#_Environment: Mt. Pagan is an active volcano (last erupted in
October 1988); subject to typhoons during the rainy season

_#_Note: strategic location 5,635 km west-southwest of Honolulu in the
North Pacific Ocean, about three-quarters of the way between Hawaii and
the Philippines

_*_People
_#_Population: 23,494 (July 1991), growth rate 3.4% (1991)

_#_Birth rate: 43 births/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Net migration rate: - 3 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Infant mortality rate: 17 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

_#_Life expectancy at birth: 65 years male, 70 years female (1991)

_#_Total fertility rate: 5.8 children born/woman (1991)

_#_Nationality: undetermined

_#_Ethnic divisions: Chamorro majority; Carolinians and other
Micronesians; Spanish, German, Japanese admixtures

_#_Religion: Christian with a Roman Catholic majority, although
traditional beliefs and taboos may still be found

_#_Language: English, but Chamorro and Carolinian are also spoken in
the home and taught in school

_#_Literacy: 96% (male 97%, female 96%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1980)

_#_Labor force: 12,788 local; 18,799 foreign workers (1990 est.)

_#_Organized labor: NA

_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

_#_Type: commonwealth associated with the US and administered by the
Office of Territorial and International Affairs, US Department of the
Interior

_#_Capital: Saipan

_#_Administrative divisions: none

_#_Independence: none (commonwealth associated with the US)

_#_Constitution: Covenant Agreement effective 3 November 1986

_#_Legal system: NA

_#_National holiday: Commonwealth Day, 8 January (1978)

_#_Executive branch: governor, lieutenant governor

_#_Legislative branch: bicameral Legislature consists of an upper
house or Senate a