Saipan

Saipan (IPA: in English) is the largest island and site of the capital of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, (a chain of 14 tropical islands in the western Pacific Ocean) with a total area of 120 km² (46.5 sq mi). The 2000 estimated population was 62,392.

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Located at , about 200 km (120 mi) north of Guam, Saipan is about 20 km (12.5 mi) long and 9 km (5.5 mi) wide. The western side of the island has beaches and a coral reef, while the eastern shore is comprised primarily of rugged rocky cliffs. Its highest point is the extinct volcano Mount Tapochau at 474 m (1,554 ft). Despite an annual rainfall of 80-100", the water utility company on Saipan, which unlike Guam with its limestone aquifers, is unable to deliver 24-hour-a-day potable water to its customers. As a result, several of the large hotels use desalination plants to produce fresh water for their customers and most homes and small businesses have cisterns to store rainwater.

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Spain originally claimed Saipan as part of its claim to the Marianas. Around 1815, many Carolineans from atolls near Chuuk (formerly Truk) settled in Saipan. Saipan was under German rule from 1899 to 1914, when the Japanese took over the island. The Japanese developed both fishing and sugar industries, and in the 1930s garrisoned Saipan heavily, with nearly 30,000 troops on the island by 1941.

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During World War II, the U.S. Marines landed on June 15, 1944, on the beaches of the southwestern side of the island, and spent more than three weeks in hard fighting to secure it in the battle of Saipan.

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Despite its status as a U.S. Commonwealth, Saipan is exempt from some federal laws, including key labor and immigration laws. As a result, a number of garment factories with wages around half of the U.S. minimum wage have been set up on the island to supply the U.S. market. Goods manufacured in U.S. Commonwealths, including Saipan, may be labeled "Made in the USA".

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In January 1999, a coalition of U.S.-based pressure groups and labor unions began a class action lawsuit on behalf of around 30,000 garment-industry workers who they claimed had been mistreated in such factories, being submitted to what was, in effect, indentured servitude. In April 2003, a settlement worth $20 million was reached with 27 garment manufacturers and 27 leading retailers, including The Gap, Tommy Hilfiger, and Polo Ralph Lauren. The firm of Levi Strauss & Co. refused to settle, however; in January 2004, the case against the company was dismissed.

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Garapan is the largest village and the center of the tourism industry on the island.

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IPA: REDIRECT International Phonetic Alphabet...

Island: An island or isle is any piece of land smaller than a continent and larger than a rock that is completely surrounded by water. Very small islands are called islets. Although seldom adhered to, it is also proper to call an emergent land feature on an atoll an islet, since an atoll is a type of islan...

Capital: :This article concerns places that serve as centers of government and politics. For alternative meanings see capital (disambiguation)...