Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of 44.55 sq mi (115.4 km2). The 2000 census population was 62,392. The Northern Mariana Islands has a population of 80,362 (2005 estimate).