Saipan Island
26-06-2024
11:58 AM
1 min read
![Saipan Island Blog Image](https://vajiram-prod.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/Saipan_Island_f9bafd0b0d.webp)
Overview:
Julian Assange is en route to a courtroom on the Pacific island of Saipan where he is expected to plead guilty to a single criminal charge in a plea deal that will see him walk free and return home to Australia.
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.
![](https://vajiram-prod.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/Counselling_form_banner_164dd214c5.webp)
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?