Northern Mariana Islands
_(small_islands_magnified).svg1911.png")
![Colonial tower, vestige of the ex-Spanish colony.](/Images/godic/202501/30/Old_Spanish_Church_Tower1911.JPG")
![Saipan under the administration of Japan](/Images/godic/202501/30/Korean_Cafe_in_Saipan1911.JPG")
![Marine infantrymen in Garapan, Saipan](/Images/godic/202501/30/Marine_infantrymen_on_Saipan1911.jpg")
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; Chamorro:Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas), is one of five inhabited American insular areas. It is one of two territories with US "commonwealth" status; the other is Puerto Rico. It consists of fifteen islands in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The CNMI and Guam together comprise the Marianas archipelago.