March 24, 2013 - Commonwealth Covenant Day in Northern Marianas

Indid not know that the people of the Northern Mariana Islands are U.S.ncitizens!
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nItnturns out that the fifteen Northern Mariana islands, located in thenwestern Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and the Philippines,nare one of two Commonwealths of the United States. (The other isnPuerto Rico.) Apparently, the Northern Marianas are completely uniquenbecause they “were not conquered, annexed, or purchased by the United States.” Instead,nthe people of these islands negotiated with the U.S. to get thencommonwealth relationship that the majority wanted.

nThennatives of the Marianas arrived at the islands around 2000 BCE, butnthey almost died out from diseases after Spaniards discovered andnsettled the islands. (Some remnants of the native populationnremained, and they have since repopulated three of the islands, along withnother groups.) Germany won control of the islands for a while, andnJapan later invaded and occupied them. Finally, at the end of WorldnWar II, the U.S. military invaded the Marianas and liberated themnfrom the Japanese. Many territories liberated by the U.S. during thenwar have become independent nations, but the people of the NorthernnMarianas chose instead to establish close political ties with thensuper-power.

nThese Commonwealth citizens can elect someone to be part of Congress, but their Congressional Representative can only vote in committee, not on the floor. Also, the people of the Northern Marianas cannot vote for president.

nThe Northern Marianas Islands can be divided into two groups. The southern islands are madenof limestone (a sedimentary rock laid down in layers from the skeletons of sea creatures) and fringed with corals (which are livingncreatures that create reefs, which become home to many more livingncreatures). The three islands that are inhabited (where peoplenactually live) are all this limestone type.

nThennorthern islands are volcanoes. And some of these volcanoes arenactive, which means that they can and sometimes do erupt! Nobodynlives on these islands.

Tonthe east of the Northern Mariana Islands is the Mariana Trench—thendeepest part of the Earth’s oceans. The trench plunges more thann36,000 feet (almost seven miles) down. (In metric terms, that isnalmost 11 kilometers.) Weird giant one-celled organisms live in thisntrench. They can reach as large as four inches long!

nYounmay wonder why a critter only four inches long gets to be calledn“giant,” but remember that it is onlynone cell! The biggestncell in the human body can barely be seen with a human eye—and mostncells can only be seen with a microscope. So a four-inch cell isngiant!

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Ifnyou ever want to stump your friends, learn the name of this giantnone-celled creature: an Xenophyophore. Learn how to pronounce itnhere.

nAccordingnto Geek O System, xenophyophores eat dirt and even “tolerate high levels of heavy metals like uranium.” They ooze a kind of cementnfrom their bodies…and they build their bodies “out of whatever is lying around nearby.”

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