Saipan

Saipan (sī`păn, sīpän`), volcanic island (2000 pop. 62,392), 47 sq mi (122 sq km), W Pacific, capital of the Northern Mariana Islands. It is mountainous; the highest peak is Mt. Tagpochau (1,526 ft/465 m). Clothing is the main export, but sugarcane, coffee, citrus fruits, and coconuts are grown, and the island has phosphate and manganese deposits. The main campus of Northern Marianas College is on the island. Saipan, with the other Marianas, was mandated to Japan in 1920 by the League of Nations. In World War II the island (site of a Japanese airbase) was taken by U.S. forces in 1944 and became a base for air attacks on the Japanese mainland. From 1953 to 1962 Saipan was used to train Nationalist Chinese guerrillas for infiltration of the Chinese mainland.

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Saipan

Island (pop., 2000: 62,392), Northern Mariana Islands, in the western Pacific Ocean. It has an area of 42 sq mi (109 sq km). Its chief settlement, Chalan Kanoa, is the Northern Marianas' commonwealth centre. Ruled by Spain (1565–1899), it then passed to Germany (1899–1914). It was a Japanese mandate from 1920, but in 1944 during World War II it was captured by U.S. forces after fierce fighting. It subsequently was the headquarters of the U.S.-administered UN Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (terminated 1990). Copra is the island's chief product.

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Saipan

an island in the W Pacific, administrative centre of the US associated territory of the Northern Mariana Islands; captured by the Americans and used as an air base until the end of World War II. Pop.: 62 392 (2000). Area: 180 sq. km (70 sq. miles)

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Saipan 

an island of volcanic origin in the Pacific Ocean; one of the Mariana Islands. Population 10,500 (1970). Covering an area of 181 sq km, the island reaches an elevation of 465 m. Sugarcane, sweet cassava, coconuts, and bananas are cultivated on plantations. The island was discovered by Magellan in 1521.