Saipan Island

About Saipan Island:

• It is located in the Western Pacific Ocean.
• It is the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands (NMI), a US commonwealth in the western Pacific which beginsroughly 70 km (44 miles) north of Guam and stretches across 14 islands.
• It was a colony of Spain, Germany and then Japan, the United States took control of the island in World War Two.
• Like territories such as Guam or Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands are part of the US without the full status of a state.
• In 1975 residents of this island voted to join the United States as a territory. The territory has a permanent delegate in the US House of Representative, although they cannot vote.
• Highest point: Mount Tapochau
• Economy: Tourism is the mainstay of the economy and it is popular with Korean and Chinese tourists.
• It is the only part of the United States that Chinese citizens can enter without a visa.

Q1: What is an Island?

Any area of land smaller than a continent and entirely surrounded by water is called an Island. Islands may occur in oceans, seas, lakes, or rivers. A group of islands is called an archipelago.

Source: Why is Julian Assange flying to the remote Pacific island of Saipan?

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