Long-form name: Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

Type: commonwealth associated with the US

Capital: Saipan

Administrative divisions: none

Independence: none (commonwealth associated with the US)

Constitution: Covenant Agreement effective 3 November 1986

National holiday: Commonwealth Day, 8 January (1978)

Branches: executive (governor elected by popular vote); bicameral legislature (nine-member Senate elected for a four-year term, 15-member House of Representatives elected for a two-year term); judiciary (US District Court, Commonwealth Trial Court, Commonwealth Appeals Court)

Leaders: @m5Chief of State--President George Herbert Walker BUSH (since 20 January 1989); Vice President James Danforth QUAYLE (since 20 January 1989); @m5Head of Government--Governor Pedro P. TENORIO (since 1978); Lieutenant Governor Pedro A. TENORIO

Suffrage: over 18 years

Elections: 1989

Political parties and leaders: Democratic Party, Antonio S. Guerrero; Republican Party, Alonso Igisomar

Note: administered by the Office of Territorial and International Affairs, US Department of Interior; indigenous inhabitants are US citizens and elect a nonvoting delegate to the US House of Representatives

Diplomatic representation: none

Flag: blue with a white five-pointed star superimposed on the gray silhouette of a latte stone (a traditional foundation stone used in building) in the center

NOTE: The information regarding Northern Mariana Islands on this page is re-published from the 1989 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Northern Mariana Islands Government 1989 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Northern Mariana Islands Government 1989 should be addressed to the CIA.