Mariana Islands
From Free net encyclopedia
The Mariana Islands (also the Marianas; up to the early 20th century sometimes called Islas de los Ladrones meaning "Islands of Thieves") are an archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the western Pacific Ocean.
They are the southern part of a submerged mountain range that extends 1,565 miles (2,519 km) from Guam to near Japan. The Marianas are the northernmost islands of a larger island group called Micronesia. The Marianas have a total land area of 396 square miles (1026 km²) and are composed of two administrative units:
- Guam is a US territory
- the Northern Mariana Islands (including the islands of Saipan, Tinian and Rota) comprise a Commonwealth of the United States .
The first European to discover the island group was Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. In 1667 Spain formally claimed them, and named them after Spanish Queen Mariana of Austria.
Following the Spanish-American War, Spain ceded Guam to the United States, and sold the northern remainder to Germany. Japan began to occupy the islands in 1914 and, after World War I, the former German islands were entrusted by the League of Nations to Japanese control.
The island chain saw fighting between the US and Japanese forces in 1944 during World War II. The United States wanted to capture the islands for use as a bombing base to raid the Japanese mainland.
Once captured, the islands of Saipan and Tinian were used extensively by the United States military as they finally put mainland Japan within round-trip range of American bombers. In fact, both the Enola Gay and the Bockscar (which dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively) flew their missions from Tinian’s “North Field.”
Template:Northern Mariana Islands
Template:Oceania-geo-stubde:Marianen et:Mariaanid es:Islas Marianas eo:Marianoj fr:Îles Mariannes gl:Illas Marianas he:איי מריאנה nl:Marianen ja:マリアナ諸島 pl:Mariany pt:Ilhas Marianas ru:Марианские острова simple:Mariana Islands sk:Mariány fi:Mariaanit sv:Marianerna tl:Marianas uk:Маріанські острови zh:马里亚纳群岛