Saipan serves as the capital for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a collection of islands northeast of Australia in the South Pacific Ocean.

Saipan is an island. Since it is organized as a single municipality, Saipan is often considered as the Commonwealth’s capital city.

Research website numbeo lacks sufficient data to rank Saipan on its comprehensive global quality of life rating which benchmarks 250 cities worldwide. Numbeo does evaluate the Northern Mariana Islands on several individual factors. For instance, Northern Mariana Islands’ pollution score ranks in the cleanest 19% while its safety score is among the 30% safest. On the negative side, the health care rating for the Northern Mariana Islands is the off-the-charts worst.
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Saipan was recognized by the Guinness World Records as the site of one of the highest death tolls from mass suicide ever. In July 1944, an estimated 7,000 Japanese committed suicide during the American assault of Saipan. Many of the deaths resulted from Japanese soldiers jumping from Saipan’s cliffs.

Historic landmarks in Saipan are Micro Beach, American Memorial Park, underwater limestone cavern known as The Grotto, Mount Tapochau, Banzai Cliff and Suicide Cliff. The latter has a grim World War II memorial.

From an international trade perspective, Northern Mariana Islands exported an estimated US$4.8 million worth of goods around the globe in 2019. Its most valuable exports include iron scrap (29.3% of Northern Mariana Islands’ global total), copper scrap (22.2%), aluminum scrap (9%), air conditioning machines (3.8%), computers (3.7%), diagnostic or laboratory reagents (1.1%), printing machinery (1.1%), miscellaneous plastic items (also 1.1%), and electric generating sets and converters (1%) according to the International Trade Centre.

Capital Facts for Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands: Quick Reference

 
Northern Mariana Islanders celebrate Commonwealth Day as a national holiday each January 8.

Saipan’s land area measures 44.55 square miles (115.4 square kilometers) with an estimated population of 52,000.

At the country level, Northern Mariana Islands’ land area covers 178 square miles (460 square kilometers). The nation’s population count was 57,615 million inhabitants at August 28, 2020.

Population density is more concentrated for Saipan averaging 1,174 residents per square mile (453 per square kilometer).

Zooming out to Northern Mariana Islands overall land boundaries, population density drops to an average 324 people per square mile (125 per square kilometer).