Northern Mariana Islands

Constituent / territory of United States.

OceaniaCapital city: SaipanCapital metro: SaipanGovernor: David M. Apatang
2026 population
47K
Rank #222 globally
Area
464 km² (179 sq mi)
Metros tracked
1
102% of population in metros
Composite score
0.5
Rank #206 globally

population: 2020 census (1 Apr 2020) · indicators as of 2026-09-05 · 1 metros tracked

🗺️ Geography1 metro

Northern Mariana Islands metro footprint, shaded by composite tier.

Loading map…
1 polygons

Hover for rank, click to open the metro page. Boundaries derived from Overture Maps administrative divisions; metros without source coverage are omitted.

🏙️ 1 tracked metro
1 metros
#1882Saipan★ Capital▲ Largest
0.5
🗂️ Municipalities

3 entries listed under Northern Mariana Islands. Click any to see its metros and footprint.

3 total
📋 At a glance
Official languages
English, Carolinian, Chamorro
Legislature
Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature
Demonym
Northern Mariana Islanders
Time zones
Chamorro Time Zone, UTC+10:00
Driving side
Right
Calling code
+1670
Internet TLD
.mp
ISO 3166
MP
Established
1898
Highest point
Mount Agrihan
National anthem
Gi Talo Gi Halom Tasi

Facts via Wikidata.

💹 Economy and developmentHigh income
GDP
$1.1B
World Bank · 2022
GDP per capita
$23.8k
World Bank · 2022
Life expectancy
78.9 yrs
World Bank · 2024
Median age
36.1 yrs
UN WPP · 2023
Urban population
92%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. growth
-1.7%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. density
98/km²
World Bank · 2023
Foreign-born
49.7%
World Bank · 2024

Ranks are among sovereign countries with data; ★ marks a top-5% finish. Sources: World Bank Open Data and Our World in Data (UNDP, UN WPP, V-Dem, Global Carbon Budget, Ember, Energy Institute; CC BY 4.0). Each card credits its originating body. Renewable share is of electricity generation, not of primary energy. Each figure is the most recent year available.

🏛️ Leadership History1 leaders · click to expand

marks a leader associated with atrocities or defiance of law, systemic subversion of democratic institutions, or a criminal conviction. Convictions arising from political persecution, and annulled convictions, are excluded. denotes a monarch. These are editorial designations, applied per entry rather than derived automatically.

David M. Apatang✦ Current

2025Present

Governor

Republican
👥 Population over time
Population 2023
45k
#214 in the world
Since 1800
13×
from 3k
Past its peak
−33.9%
peaked at 68k in 2000
Share of world
0.00%
0.00% in 1800
17k34k51k68k18001850190019502000
Northern Mariana Islands · people, 1800–2023 · dashed to 2026 is projected

Our World in Data population (CC BY): UN WPP 2024 from 1950, Gapminder v7 1800-1949, HYDE 3.3 earlier; today's borders. Figures above are as of 2023, the last year that is estimated rather than forecast. The dashed tail to 2026 is a UN WPP medium-variant projection. It is drawn because the line should reach the present, and drawn differently because it has not happened yet: no rank, peak or share on this page uses it. Before 1950 the series is reconstruction rather than contemporaneous statistics, which is worth knowing when a country’s peak sits back there. The current population shown elsewhere on this page comes from the workbook and is unchanged by this. Northern Mariana Islands is past its peak, which is less unusual than it sounds: the two lines here can point in opposite directions, and for most of Europe and East Asia they now both point down.

👥 To 2100

The UN’s probabilistic projection for Northern Mariana Islands: the median with its 80% and 95% bands, the UN’s own high, low and zero-migration scenarios beside it. Not this site’s model; the site reads it and says what it implies.

Peak
2000
68k; already passed
2050
43k
95% band 16k to 154k
2100
42k
95% band 4k to 559k
2100 against 2025
0.96×
median falling from 2090
Deaths outnumber births
from 2087
on the UN medium path; migration decides the rest
147k293k440k587k1950197520002025205020752100

Tap or drag across the chart to read any year: the estimate to 2023, then the UN median, its bands and the scenarios.

estimateUN median80% and 95% bandshigh and low fertilityzero migration

What drives it

Births, deaths and net migration on the UN medium path, with fertility, life expectancy and median age, every decade from 1950.

1950
319 born · 71 died · -125 net migration
TFR 6.08 · life expectancy 58.2 · median age 18.2
1960
302 born · 68 died · +17 net migration
TFR 5.96 · life expectancy 61.4 · median age 13.7
1970
422 born · 62 died · +480 net migration
TFR 7.44 · life expectancy 64.8 · median age 14.3
1980
491 born · 85 died · +1k net migration
TFR 3.65 · life expectancy 68.3 · median age 18.8
1990
1k born · 181 died · +266 net migration
TFR 2.34 · life expectancy 70.0 · median age 26.3
2000
2k born · 180 died · -950 net migration
TFR 1.64 · life expectancy 74.9 · median age 27.8
2010
1k born · 158 died · -2k net migration
TFR 2.98 · life expectancy 77.8 · median age 32.6
2020
736 born · 197 died · -755 net migration
TFR 2.49 · life expectancy 78.0 · median age 33.6
Show all 16 decades
2030
438 born · 281 died · -306 net migration
TFR 2.12 · life expectancy 79.8 · median age 41.0
2040
566 born · 425 died · -52 net migration
TFR 1.97 · life expectancy 81.3 · median age 39.0
2050
472 born · 551 died · +38 net migration
TFR 1.91 · life expectancy 82.7 · median age 39.7
2060
399 born · 560 died · +8 net migration
TFR 1.87 · life expectancy 84.0 · median age 41.8
2070
465 born · 461 died · -13 net migration
TFR 1.84 · life expectancy 85.3 · median age 42.4
2080
427 born · 380 died · +48 net migration
TFR 1.82 · life expectancy 86.5 · median age 42.8
2090
368 born · 398 died · +10 net migration
TFR 1.79 · life expectancy 87.6 · median age 45.9
2100
380 born · 502 died · 0 net migration
TFR 1.78 · life expectancy 88.7 · median age 48.2

Every country to 2100 →

Source: United Nations, DESA, Population Division. World Population Prospects 2024. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 IGO. Estimates to 2023; projections 2024 to 2100, medium variant and probabilistic intervals. The UN revises every two years; this is the WPP 2024 revision.

🏆 National Teams

Northern Mariana Islands on the international stage. Click a card for the full record.