Mariana Archipelago. Mariana islands

Northern Mariana Islands or Community of Northern Mariana Islands- small Island state in Micronesia, in the western Pacific Ocean on the Mariana Islands archipelago. It has the status of a non-aligned territory, freely associated with the United States. Territory - 477 km². The capital is Saipan on the island of the same name.

The Mariana Islands archipelago consists of 15 islands of volcanic origin, the largest of which are Saipan, Tinian and Rota. However, only 14 islands belong to the Northern Mariana Islands, and the fifteenth is Guam, the largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands, and is considered a separate territory belonging to the United States.

The Mariana Islands is an island arc located in a tectonically active region in the western Pacific Ocean. The archipelago is located 2500 km east of the Philippines and the same distance north of Papua New Guinea. The islands are stretched for about 800 km.

Geologically, the islands can be divided into two groups: the older southern (Rota, Tinian, Agihan, Farallon de Medinilla, Saipan) and the young northern (the rest of the islands of the archipelago). All islands of the northern group are stratovolcanoes. Most of the islands are surrounded by coral reefs. The reefs of the southern islands are older and better developed. In the area of ​​the islands there are about 50 underwater volcanoes and 11 volcanoes form islands.

To the east of the islands is perhaps the most famous local geographic attraction - the Mariana Trench, with a depth of 11,775 meters.

Climate of the Northern Mariana Islands

Climate of the Northern Mariana Islands- tropical, trade wind.

The rainy season lasts from July to December, average temperature at this time +33 .. + 35 ° C. Tropical storms and typhoons hit the Pacific Ocean from August to November. The "dry" months on the islands are from December to June, due to the sea breeze, the average temperature at this time is +27 .. + 29 ° C. Average annual temperature sea ​​water+ 25 ° C.

The best time to visit the Northern Mariana Islands - from December to March, and tourist season on the island of Saipan lasts all year.

Population

Population of the Northern Mariana Islands- 88.6 thousand people (2009). The average life expectancy is 74 years for men, 79 years for women.

Ethnic composition: Asians (Filipinos, Chinese, etc.) 56.3%, Oceanic peoples (including Chamorro) 36.3%, mixed origin 4.8%, white 1.8%, other 0.8%.

Most of the believers on the islands are Catholics (Roman Catholic Christianity). Part of the population refers to themselves as confessions of East Asian origin.

Official languages: English, Chamorro, Caroline.

Currency

Currency: US Dollar (USD), 1 USD = 100 cents. In circulation there are bills in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 dollars, coins - penny (1 cent), nickel (5 cents), dime (10 cents), quarter (25 cents), half dollar (50 cents), as well as 2 and 1 dollar.

Japanese yen and Korean won are accepted almost everywhere.

Bank branches are open from Monday to Thursday, from 10.00 to 15.00, on Fridays - from 10.00 to 18.00. Some bank offices in the outer islands may operate on their own schedule.

Most hotels, restaurants, car rental agencies and diving centers in Saipan, Tinian and Rota accept credit cards. ATM machines can be found in branches of banks and large shopping centers... On remote islands, one may encounter problems when trying to pay for something with a plastic card, because often small private shops simply do not accept card payments.

Traveler's checks in US dollars are accepted everywhere for payment, and it is not at all necessary to visit a bank branch, since most hotels, restaurants and large stores cash them on the spot. If during the trip you are going to visit small islands, we recommend that you still stock up on the necessary amount of cash in advance.

VAT and Tax-Free

When paying for services at hotels, a hotel tax of 10% will be charged. There are no other commercial taxes, including VAT.

Communication and communications

Telephone code: 1 - 670

Internet domain: .mp

Ambulance, Police, Fire Department: 911

How to call

To call from Russia to the Northern Mariana Islands, you need to dial: 8 - dial tone - 10 - 1 - 670 - subscriber's number.

To call from the Northern Mariana Islands to Russia, you need to dial: 011 - 7 - area code - subscriber number.

Fixed connection

You can find pay phones everywhere. All of them work with telephone cards, which are sold at post offices, newspaper and tobacco kiosks. You can make local, long-distance and international calls from any pay phone. Some phones accept credit cards.

mobile connection

cellular covers almost all southern islands and part of the northern ones. Roaming with local networks (GSM 850/1900 standards) is available to subscribers of the largest Russian cellular companies through the networks of other operators in the region.

Internet

Internet cafes are few and far between, mostly concentrated in Saipan, but almost all large hotels and business centers have their own access points, including those equipped with Wi-Fi equipment.

Where to stay

Prices for hotel accommodation on the island of Saipan are quite high, especially during the holiday season for the Japanese (the Northern Mariana Islands are visited by up to 0.5 million tourists a year, mainly from Japan). There are few cheap hotels on the islands, there are no hostels.

Sea and beaches

On the islands of the Southern group ( Saipan, Tinian and Rota)- beaches with fine white sand. Northern group islands - beaches here with black volcanic sand.

History

The Mariana Islands were discovered by the Magellan expedition on March 6, 1521. The Chamorro natives, who lived at the stage of the primitive communal system, stole a boat from the Spaniards, and Magellan called these islands Las Islas de los Ladrones - that is, the Islands of Thieves or the Robber Islands.

Although these islands were declared possession of Spain in the 16th century, the Spaniards began to establish practically control over them only from 1668. Spanish Jesuit monks landed there, renaming the islands Mariana, Las Islas Marianas or Las Marianas in honor of Marianne of Austria, and began converting the natives to Christianity. This provoked fierce resistance from the natives, and as a result, almost the entire male population of the islands was destroyed by Spanish soldiers accompanying the monks. Subsequently, the population of the Mariana Islands increased again due to the offspring of Aboriginal women from Spanish soldiers and monks.

The Spanish colonialists practically did not develop the islands, and at the end of the 19th century Germany became very interested in the Pacific territories. As a result, under an agreement dated February 12, 1899, Germany bought the Mariana Islands from Spain for an amount equivalent to $ 4.5 million (except for Guam, annexed by the United States - the largest and southernmost island Mariana Archipelago).

The Germans began to create plantations on the islands, but their dominion was short-lived - in the First world war The Mariana Islands (like the neighboring Caroline and Marshall Islands, also bought by Germany from Spain in 1899) were occupied by Japan, which received them under the Treaty of Versailles as a League of Nations mandate.

The Japanese actively developed sugarcane plantations on the islands, as well as coconut palms, tobacco and citrus fruits, and pursued a deliberate policy of settling the islands by the Japanese and forcibly assimilated the aborigines (including the method of forced physical mixing of aboriginal women with Japanese settlers).

During World War II, American troops captured the Mariana and other Pacific Islands, after the war, Japanese settlers were deported to Japan, and the Caroline, Marshall and Mariana Islands were transferred to the custody of the United States in 1947 by the decision of the UN.

The Northern Mariana Islands Community was formed in 1976 as part of the division of the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Unlike the Marshall and Caroline Islands, the Marianas decided to abandon state independence, preferring only internal self-government.

On November 4, 1986, the final agreement on the political union of the Northern Mariana Islands with the United States came into force.

In 2007-08, changes were made to the political alliance agreement between the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States, bringing the laws of the commonwealth closer to the requirements of the United States. Including on a gradual increase in the minimum wage to the levels established in the United States, on the election of a delegate to the House of Representatives in the US Congress and changes in immigration laws (the latest changes took effect on November 28, 2009).

Entertainment

Popular in the Northern Mariana Islands are - diving, snorkeling, trekking, windsurfing and golf.

Diving- the main dive site of Saipan "Grotto" (underwater access to the ocean through underwater grottoes) - is the most unique in the world for the beauty of underwater architecture. The water temperature in the coastal waters of the islands is comfortable all year round and does not change depending on the time of day. Perfect transparency allows you to see all the beauty of the underwater world.

Snorkeling- the best places for snorkelling: Saipan - Managaha Island, Tinian - Tachona Beach, Rota - Corell Gardens in Sasanaya Bay.

Trekking- all three main islands of the archipelago are good for hiking... The main route in Saipan is the Laderana-Tangka trail through the Marpi Commonwealth forest. Tinian has a beautiful route along the Kammer and Taga banks south of San Jose.

Windsurfing – the best place for surfing - Mikro beach in Saipan.

Golf- Several golf clubs are open on Saipan: Kingfisher Golf Links, Coral Ocean Point, Lao Lao Bay Golf Resort("Lau Lay Bay Golf Club"), Marianas Country Club ("Marianas Country Golf Club").

The golf courses of the island are very different from each other technically, but they are similar in one thing - beautiful views of the ocean and gorgeous tropical nature. The clubs here require the same punctuality as most clubs elsewhere in the world. All clubs are required to dress appropriately for golf. Camis and flip flops are not welcome.

The Northern Mariana Islands, which actually and legally belong to the territory of the United States of America (like the entire Mariana Archipelago), are presented here as a separate direction. This was not done by chance: the very nature of the rest, and many of the nuances of staying here are completely different than on the rest of the American beach resorts... For a tourist, the Northern Mariana Islands is an untouched and very beautiful tropical nature, many historical sites associated with the battles for the Pacific during the Second World War, fantastic coral reefs, sea fishing with a rich and varied catch, golf, surfing, diving, snorkeling and good conditions for a beach holiday.

How to get there

There is no direct flight from Russia to the islands. You can fly to Saipan with a connection in Shanghai (China Eastern), Tokyo (Japan Airlines and Northwest Airlines) or Seoul (Asiana Air). The duration of the flight (excluding connections) is about 16 hours.

In the case of a flight through Tokyo, tourists will need to apply for a transit visa.

Search for flights to Saipan (closest airport to the Northern Mariana Islands)

Visa for the Northern Mariana Islands

Until October 1, 2019 Russian citizens will not need a visa to enter the Mariana Islands for up to 45 days for tourism purposes. From the beginning of October, you will have to obtain a B1 / B2 visa, which allows multiple entries to the United States within 180 days.

Customs

Import and export of national and foreign currency is not limited. Any amount can be imported in cash, traveller's checks and payment cards. Only amounts over 10,000 USD are required to declare. When importing gold, a declaration is required. Personal items are not subject to duty, the import of perishable products (meat, vegetables, fruits, etc.), weapons and drugs into the country is prohibited. The export of corals and other local marine life is prohibited.

Prices on the page are for September 2018.

Useful phone numbers

All emergency services (ambulance, police, firefighters): 911

Roaming on the islands is not yet available to subscribers of Russian operators, but they can rent a cell phone there. Phone calls to Russia are best made through a phone card from public telephones in hotels, on the streets and in shops. Calls from hotel rooms are much more expensive.

Northern Mariana Islands Maps

Electricity

Mains voltage 110 V, 60 Hz. The standard of the sockets is American.

Weather in Northern Mariana Islands

Money

Travelers' checks of tourists in American dollars are accepted everywhere, except for the most remote islands. It is not necessary to exchange them: most hotels, restaurants and large shops accept them as cash. There are commercial banks in Saipan, Roth and Tinian. On other islands, tourists will have to carry enough cash to pay for goods and services, as small private shops do not accept travelers' checks. This also applies to renting boats and yachts, as well as paying for the services of guides and guides. Major credit cards (especially Mastercard and Visa) are also accepted for payment almost everywhere, but again - only on the large islands.

Tipping is optional and remains entirely at the discretion of the tourist. There is no generally accepted size of tips, according to tradition, in bars and restaurants, foreign tourists leave "tea" no more than 10% of the bill, and porters and maids in hotels are usually given 1 USD.

Shopping and shops

Prices in all stores are fixed, bargaining is not accepted.

Popular hotels in Northern Mariana Islands

Entertainment and attractions of the Northern Mariana Islands

Best snorkeling spots: Saipan - Managaha Island, Tiniana - Tachona Beach, Rota - Corell Gardens in Sasanaya Bay. All three main islands of the archipelago are good for hiking. The main route in Saipan is the Laderana-Tangka trail through the Marpi Commonwealth forest. Tinian has a beautiful route along the Kammer and Taga banks south of San Jose.

Other ways of recreation: windsurfing, which is popular here (the best place for it is Mikro Beach on Saipan), tennis, golf and short underwater excursions in the lagoon between Saipan and Managaha Island, where at the bottom of the sea, in addition to its many inhabitants, you can see traces of Japanese ship wrecks and American "B-29".

Citizens of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus need a visa to travel to the Northern Mariana Islands in 2020. Visa-free regime entry to the Northern Mariana Islands as well as Guam and Saipan was canceled on 3 October 2019.

The Mariana Trench and Everest are the names most people remember from their school geography course. The first is the deepest point on the planet, the second is the most high mountain... Height and depth are measured from ocean level. In absolute value, the deepest depression overtakes highest peak by a significant margin.

Mariana Trench on the world map it is to be found in the Pacific Ocean northeast of the Philippine archipelago (southeast of the Japanese Islands), it is a semicircular trench with a length of about 1,500 km, its convex part directed to the east. The deepest point of the trench is called the "Challenger Abyss" and has a depth of 10,994 meters.

The Mariana Trench is named after the adjacent Mariana Islands, which stretch along the western part of the trench. The island of Guam, the closest to the Challenger Abyss, is located 340 km northeast of it. Coordinates of the deepest point of the world's oceans: 11 ° 22'23.9 ″ N, 142 ° 35'30.1 ″ E.

The trench is located at the junction of two tectonic plates, and its relief is a relatively flat strip of the bottom no wider than 5 km between two steep slopes. In some places along its length, the bottom has a stepped structure and mountain ranges... The water pressure at the lowest point is approximately 108 MPa, which is 1,072 times higher than normal atmospheric pressure.

For the first time the depression was discovered by the English sailing-steam corvette "Challenger" during the world's first complex oceanographic expedition in 1875. The depth was then determined twice with the results of 8 367 m and 8 184 m, which made it possible to call this depression the deepest on the planet. In 1951, the British research vessel Challenger II conducted ocean research in these places.

The echo sounder recorded a depth of 10 899 m. This point was given the name of the ship. Over the next years, new measurements were carried out, the depth was corrected several times in both directions, the last value of 10,994 m was recorded in 2011.

The difficulty of measuring the depth of such scales with an echo sounder is the dependence of the speed of sound waves in water, on its properties (density, temperature, chemical composition, impurities). These properties are different depending on the depth. To obtain accurate values, it is necessary to take water samples from different depths, analyze them and take the data into account in subsequent measurements.

For the first time, the Trieste bathyscaphe with two researchers on board (US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and Swiss oceanographer Jacques Picard) sank to the bottom of the depression (10,915 m) in 1960. Then several times autonomous dives were made by unmanned vehicles, and the Japanese Kaiko probe in 1995 took the first soil samples from a depth of 10,911 m.

In 2012, famous director James Cameron dived to the bottom for the first time in history, staying there for a total of 6 hours. Subsequently, a 3D film about the history of this dive was released under the title "Challenge to the Abyss". It is worth mentioning that famous traveler Fedor Konyukhov in 2020 also announced his intention to dive to the bottom of this depression.

Fauna of the Mariana Trench

Sunlight cannot penetrate to a depth of over 1000 m, eternal darkness reigns there. Together with colossal pressure, this makes living conditions in the depths extremely difficult. Nevertheless, the Mariana Trench is inhabited. The bottom is covered with silt, which, as shown by the first samples taken, is saturated with shell organisms; here they also found huge armored amoebas (up to 10 cm in diameter).

In addition to the simplest barophilic bacteria, crayfish, gastropods, sea cucumbers, fish live here. Even during the first visual observations from the Trieste bathyscaphe, small fish resembling a flounder were seen. The specificity of the conditions makes the appearance of many local fish amazing: they have huge teeth, eyes rotating in different directions (or their absence), instead of fins there are sharp spines.

There are also unidentified worms up to 2 m long. There are no algae at such depths, and the food for the protozoa is the remains falling to the bottom (detritus). Recent studies have shown that the bodies of local small crustaceans contain many heavy metals, which are extremely toxic to ordinary living cells.

In general, the fauna of the Mariana Trench is poorly studied; many scientists believe that species that have long been extinct on Earth can be found there.

For example, teeth of a giant shark - megalodon were recently found. It is believed that these monsters, weighing up to 100 tons, became extinct about 2 million years ago, while the age of the teeth found is from 11 to 24 thousand years.

The research was constantly accompanied by various mysterious stories: vague huge shadows resembling dragons appear on the monitors, there is a loud metallic grinding, and one day, according to a team of German deep-sea vehicle"Highfish", on the monitor of the infrared camera, they saw a creature gripping its teeth in the bathyscaphe, it had to be scared off with an electric discharge.

Large islands there are 15, there are also several small rocks and reefs. The population is about 215,000 people. The nationality of the indigenous people is Chamorro, and their language is also called. It is believed that the Chamorro are descendants of the ancient settlers from the Philippines. Currently, there are practically no true representatives of this people, all who call themselves Chamorro are mestizos.

Nationality The Mariana Islands are not as easy to define as it might seem. The southernmost island, Guam, has an independent status, it is an unincorporated organized territory of the United States, that is, the island is not included in the United States, but its territory is considered American, and the islanders (more than 180,000 people) have US citizenship. The capital is the city of Hagatna, located on the west bank.

The Northern Mariana Islands constitute a separate administrative entity - the Commonwealth, the state status is completely similar to Guam (freely associated with the United States). Main island- Saipan, the capital is called the same.

The first Europeans to discover these lands were members of Magellan's crew, who dropped anchor here in 1521. The meeting with the natives ended with the loss of the ship's boat. Frustrated Magellan gave the archipelago the name "Island of Thieves" (de los Ladrones, Ladronsky), which existed until the beginning of the twentieth century.

The islands were immediately declared the property of Spain. A few decades later, colonialists began to come here. As so often, the missionaries arrived first. They gave the territories modern name in honor of the Spanish Queen Marianne, since then the Mariana Islands on the map are called that way. Colonization did not go smoothly. As a result of armed clashes and prolonged repression, the indigenous population, 200 years after visiting Magellan, decreased 30 times.

In 1899, the Northern Mariana Islands were sold to Germany, and at the beginning of the First World War, the entire archipelago was occupied by Japan. In 1944, US troops landed on the island of Saipan, long bloody battles began with numerous casualties, only local residents approximately 40,000 people died.

The Americans equipped a military base on the island of Tinian, from which bombers took off, dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After the end of the war, the archipelago was under the control of the UN for some time, and in 1947 it was transferred to the custody of the United States.

US citizens do not need a visa to visit the Mariana Islands, and the presence of an American visa in their passport serves as a pass to these territories for citizens of other countries.

The monetary currency is the US dollar.

Official name - Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands(Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands).

Located in the western part of the Pacific Ocean. The area is 477 km2, the population of the Mariana Islands is 80 thousand people. (2003). The state language is English. Administrative center Mariana Islands - Saipan Island (over 50 thousand people, 2003). National holiday - Commonwealth Day on January 8 (1978). The monetary unit of the Mariana Islands is the US dollar.

Member of the Pacific Community (formerly UTK, since 1983).

The Mariana Islands are located between 13 ° and 31 ° north latitude and 144 ° and 146 ° east longitude on 14 islands of the Mariana archipelago, stretching 685 km from north to south. It borders on Guam in the south (the 15th island in the Mariana Ridge, which turns into the deepest Mariana Trench on the planet - 10,900 m).

All islands are volcanic and mountainous. Length coastline- 1482 km. The northern islands (9) are younger. Active volcanoes remain on Pagan and Agrikhan (unnamed peak 965 m - highest point Micronesia). Ma-uh and Guguan - reserves wildlife, Thousands of seabirds nest in the trees on the tops of the cliffs. Sarigan is rich in tropical vegetation, home to a large colony of wild goats. The southern islands (5), including the largest (Saipan, 125 km2, Tinian, 105 km2, and Rota, 101 km2), are older. On calcareous soils there grow coconut trees, heat-resistant grains, sugarcane, etc. Saipan has 6 different landscapes: from volcanic hills to humid lowlands and sandy beaches.

Natural resources: fish stocks in a 200-mile economic zone.

The climate of the Mariana Islands is tropical, even throughout the year, with an average temperature of + 30 ° C, drier than in other places in Micronesia. The amount of precipitation is small - within 250 mm per year. Monsoon season: July - November. At this time, there are typhoons.

The population of the Mariana Islands is growing rapidly (3-4% per year), incl. due to immigration. Most of the population is made up of Micronesian peoples (Chamorro, Caroline, etc.), there are Europeans, Japanese, Chinese, Filipinos and Koreans. The Chamorro language (mainly oral) and Caroline are widespread. Less than 15% of the population speaks English in families. Most Chamorrans speak a little Japanese to communicate with tourists. Literate 97% of the adult population of the Mariana Islands. Life expectancy for men is 73 years, for women - 79 years. Child mortality 5.5 per 1000 newborns.

Most of the population of the Mariana Islands is concentrated on the island of Saipan, 5 more islands are inhabited.

The dominance of the Catholic religion is combined with the preservation of adherence to traditional legends, beliefs and taboos.

F. Magellan discovered the Mariana Islands in 1521. Their colonization in the 17th century. accompanied by armed clashes between the Spaniards and the indigenous people - Chamorro, most of whom were exterminated. Received their name in honor of Marianne of Austria - widow Spanish king Philip IV. Spain sold them to Germany in 1899. After World War I, under the mandate of the League of Nations, the islands came under Japanese control. In 1947, the United States received Mariana as one of the UN Trust Territories. Access to the islands was restricted due to US military installations. Most of Tinian (from here the B-29 planes took off for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki) is still reserved for use by the US Armed Forces. In 1972, negotiations began between representatives of the islands and the US government on the future status of the Marian. In 1975 they signed the Agreement on the creation of the Commonwealth of the Mariana Islands, which are "in a political alliance" with the United States. Since 1978, after being approved in a referendum, the Marian Constitution came into effect, on the basis of which the first legislative and executive elections were held. In 1986, the aforementioned Agreement also came into effect. In 1990, the UN Ground Force abolished the status of the Mandatory Territory in relation to the Commonwealth of the Mariana Islands.

The Mariana Islands is a self-governing Commonwealth "in political alliance" with the United States, which controls foreign relations and defense. The head of state is the President of the United States. Indigenous population has American citizenship, but does not participate in the American elections. Federal financing of the Marian economy is the responsibility of the US Department of the Interior.

The country has no administrative division, but there are 4 municipalities ( Northern islands, Saipan, Tinian and Rota).

Executive power is exercised by the Governor (Juan N. Wabauta) and the Lieutenant Governor (Diego T. Venevente), elected by direct universal suffrage for 4 years. The next elections are in 2005. The bicameral Legislature has 9 senators (elected for 4 years) and 18 members of the House of Representatives (for 2 years). The population of the islands also elects a "permanent representative" in the United States with a residence in Washington (unlike Guam, which has a delegate to the US House of Representatives).

Political parties: by analogy with the United States - Republican (its members are the current governor and permanent representative in Washington, 4 senators and 16 deputies of the lower house) and Democratic (3 senators and a deputy), Reform Party (senator), Agreement Party (deputy).

The Mariana Islands have no diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation.

GDP per capita 12.5 thousand US dollars. The main sectors of the economy are the rapidly growing clothing industry and tourism. About 50% of the workforce is employed in the tourism industry (25% of GDP), another 35% (mainly Chinese) in the garment industry. The number of foreign workers is more than 4 times higher than the number of local workers, among whom unemployment is high - 30%.

Role Agriculture small. Small farms grow coconut trees, breadfruit, vegetables and fruits. The ranch breeds cattle. Fishing and processing of fish (mainly tuna) are of some importance.

Length highways- about 400 km. 2 seaports- on Saipan and Tinian. Of the 6 airports, 3 have hard-surface runways and a helipad.

500 thousand or more foreign tourists visit the islands per year (Japanese predominate, Mariana - the nearest Pacific islands for them and memorable places battles of World War II).

Financial assistance from the United States is important for the Marian economy, but its share in the country's budget is last years declined as the local revenue base increased.

The main export item is garment products. Food, fuel, Construction Materials and equipment. The main partners are the USA and Japan.

The school system includes public (primary and secondary schools) and private schools. You can continue your studies at the Northern Marian College, as well as in US educational institutions.

The Northern Mariana Islands is a state in the Pacific Ocean, of several volcanic islands rising from the depths of the Pacific Ocean. Nearby is the world's deepest Mariana Ocean Trench, which plunges eleven kilometers into the depths. In this trench, one lithospheric plate dives under another, being processed into magma, which will then pour out through the volcanoes.

(Use + and - to zoom in and out on the map)

The Mariana Islands were discovered by Magellan in 1521, however, despite the fact that he was greeted there very warmly, he sailed from there very unhappy. The natives did not understand that it was impossible to take someone else's and took full hands of everything they could reach when they climbed onto the ship. And then they dragged the boat away, for which Magellan called these islands "islands of thieves", and so he marked it on the map. The islands were not too interested in the Spanish crown, which was the ruler of this territory, in fact, only nominally. Nevertheless, missionaries periodically came here, whom the local population did not like and the merchants whom they loved, even adored. And they strove to put the girl more beautifully, because the merchants always presented them with various useful things and children.

And everything would be fine, but the islands were sold to Germany. The Germans began to create a German order there, but they quickly got bogged down in wars on the continent and no attention was left on the islands. During the Second World War, the Japanese captured the islands and immediately began to actively plant on them. And even more actively, to participate in the breeding program, forcibly marrying their colonists to aboriginal women. However, this violence was forced - almost all the aborigines died out from simple European diseases, so many mestizos were required, resistant to diseases.

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Mariana Islands, traditional tourism center. Honeymoon trips are eagerly held here. It is easy to order a banquet on the honeymoon mountain, which hints at a honeymoon. Of course, river cruises are inaccessible here, due to the absence of more or less significant rivers, but renting a motor ship can be easily arranged, just pay for rest and increased exoticism.