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The 'Mariana Islands' (also 'the Marianas'; up to the early 20th century sometimes called 'Ladrones Islands', from Spanish ''Islas de los Ladrones'' meaning "Islands of Thieves") are an archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east.

Contents

Description

History

Ecclesiastical history

Sources and references

Description

The Mariana Islands are the southern part of a submerged mountain range that extends 1,565 miles (2,519 km) from Guam to near Japan. Geographically, the Marianas are the northernmost islands of a larger island group called Micronesia, situated between 13° and 21° N. latitude and 144° and 146° E. longitude.
The Mariana Islands have a total land area of 389 square miles (1007 km²)^[1]
They are composed of two administrative units:

★ Guam is a US territory

★ The Northern Mariana Islands (including the islands of Saipan, Tinian and Rota) make up a Commonwealth of the United States .
It consists of two groups, a northern group of ten volcanic main islands, of which only four (Agrihan, Anatahan, Alamagan and Pagan) are inhabited; and a southern group of five coralline limestone islands (Rota, Guam, Aguijan, Tinian and Saipan), all inhabited save Aguijan. In the northern volcanic group a maximum elevation of about 2700 feet is reached; there are craters showing signs of activity, and earthquakes are not uncommon. Coral reefs fringe the coasts of the southern isles, which are of slight elevation.
All the islands except Farallon de Medinilla and Uracas or Farallon de Pajaros (in the northern group) are more or less densely wooded, and the vegetation is luxuriant, much resembling that of the Carolines, and also of the Philippines, whence many species of plants have been introduced. Owing to the moistness of the soil cryptogams are numerous, as are also most kinds of grasses. Coconut and areca palms, yams, sweet potatoes, manioc, coffee, cocoa, sugar, cotton, tobacco and mother-of-pearl are the chief products, and copra is the principal export. Agriculture is neglected, in spite of the exceptional advantages offered by the climate and soil. On most of the islands there is a plentiful supply of water.
The fauna of the Marianas, though inferior in number and variety, is similar in character to that of the Carolines, and certain species are indigenous to both colonies. Swine and oxen run wild, and are hunted when required: the former were known to the earliest inhabitants, the latter, along with most other domestic animals, were introduced by the Spaniards. The climate though damp is healthy, while the heat, being tempered by the trade winds, is milder than that of the Philippines; the variations of temperature are not great.

History

The first European to see the island group was Ferdinand Magellan who on 6 March 1521 observed the two southernmost islands and sailed between them^[2] during a Spanish expedition of world circumnavigation. Upon first landing at Umatac, Guam, Magellan's ships received fresh supplies from the native Taotaomonas, ancestors of Chamorros. The common account is that the locals, assuming that they were engaged in a trade, then took one of the Spanish landing boats. The Spanish crew, assuming that the natives were giving them the supplies, considered this theft and in retaliation attacked the Chamorros and dubbed the islands 'Islas de los Ladrones' (Islands of the Thieves). The islands are still occasionally called the Ladrones. Magellan himself styled them 'Islas de las Velas Latinas' (Islands of the Lateen Sails ). San Lazarus archipelago, Jardines and Prazeres are among the names applied to them by later navigators.
In 1667 Spain formally claimed them, established a regular colony there, and gave the islands the official title of 'Las Marianas' in honor of Spanish Queen Mariana of Austria, widow of Philip IV of Spain. They then had a population of 40-60,000 inhabitants, but the Chamorros were almost exterminated by the diseases brought by the Spanish.
The native population known to the early Spanish colonists as Hachamori has died out as a distinct people, though their descendants intermarried. At the Spanish occupation in 1668, the Chamorros were estimated at 40,000 to 60,000, but less than a century later only 1800 remained. They were characteristic Micronesians, with a considerable civilization. In the island of Tinian are some remarkable remains attributed to them, consisting of two rows of massive square stone columns, about 5 feet 4 inch broad and 14 feet high, with heavy-round capitals called latte stones. According to early Spanish accounts cinerary urns were found embedded in the capitals.
Research in the archipelago was carried out by Commodore Anson, who in August 1742 landed upon the island of Tinian^[3]. The Ladrones were visited by Byron in 1765, Wallis in 1767 and Crozet in 1772.
The Marianas and specifically the island of Guam were a stopover for Spanish galleons en route from Acapulco, Mexico to Manila, Philippines in a convoy known as the Galeon de Manila. The Marianas remained a Spanish colony under the general government of the Philippines until 1898, when, as a result of the Spanish-American War, Spain ceded Guam to the United States.
By Treaty of 12 February 1899, the remaining islands of the archipelago (except Guam, but with the Carolines and Pelew Islands) was sold by Spain to Germany for 837,500 German gold mark (about $4,100,000 at the time) and were incorporated as the German Protectorate of New Guinea; their total population around 1900 was only 2,646 inhabitants, the ten most northerly islands being actively volcanic and almost uninhabited.
Japan, a member of the Triple Entente, began to occupy the islands in 1914. After Germany and the rest of the Central Powers lost World War I, the former German islands were entrusted by the League of Nations to Japanese control as a mandate territory (not unlike a UN Trust territory).
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”.

Ecclesiastical history

The Prefecture Apostolic of the Marianas was erected on 17 September 1902, by the Constitution "Quae mari sinico" of Pope Leo XIII. The islands had previously formed part of the Philippine Diocese of Cebu. By Decree of 18 June, 1907 they were entrusted to the Capuchin Fathers of the Westphalian Province, to which order the first Prefect Apostolic, Very Rev. Paul von Kirchhausen (appointed August, 1907; residence in Saipan, Carolina Islands), belonged. There were two public schools, but accommodation was so inadequate that the boys attended in the morning and the girls in the evening. The instruction was given in English, and in addition to the usual elementary subjects, carpentry and other trades were taught. Two priests were stationed at Agana on Guam; one in each of the smaller settlements, Agat and Merizo. In addition to the churches at these places, there is a church at Samay and several little chapels in the mountains. A priest from Agana visited each month the colony where the lepers are segregated, to celebrate Mass and administer the sacraments. Catholicism was the sole—and remains the primary—religion.

Sources and references

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★ WorldStatesmen- Guam & Northern Marianas (not fully exploited)

★ Pascal Horst Lehne and Christoph Gäbler: ''Über die Marianen.'' Lehne-Verlag, Wohldorf in Germany 1972.

★ L. de Freycinet, ''Voyage autour du monde'' (Paris, 1826-1844)

★ The Marianas Islands in ''Nautical Magazsile'', xxxiv., xxxv. (London, 1865-1866)

★ 0. Finsch, ''Karolinen und Marianen'' (Hamburg, 1900); Costenoble, Die Marianen in Globus, lxxxviii. (1905).
1. ''The CIA World Factbook'' (2006).
2. Geschichte des Zei killers der Entdeckungen, , O., Peschel, , 1877,
3. Voyage round the World, book iii, , Lord Anion, George, , 1748,