The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , is an unincorporated territory and commonwealth of the United States consisting of 14 islands in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The CNMI includes the 14 northernmost islands in the Mariana Archipelago; the southernmost island, Guam, is a separate U.S. territory.
The United States Department of the Interior cites a landmass of 183.5 square miles (475.26 km2).According to the 2020 United States Census, 47,329 people were living in the CNMI at that time.The vast majority of the population resides on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. The other islands of the Northern Marianas are sparsely inhabited; the most notable among these is Pagan, which for various reasons over the centuries has experienced major population flux, but formerly had residents numbering in the thousands.