Mariana Islands - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago

Archipelago

An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...

made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

between the 12th

12th parallel north

The 12th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 12 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, the Indian Ocean, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Ocean, Central America, South America and the Atlantic Ocean....

and 21st parallels north

21st parallel north

The 21st parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 21 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, North America, the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean....

and along the 145th meridian east

145th meridian east

The meridian 145° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, Australasia, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....

. They are south of Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

and north of New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

, and immediately to the east of the Philippine Sea

Philippine Sea

The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea east and north of the Philippines occupying an estimated surface area of 2 million mi² on the western part of the North Pacific Ocean...

. The south end of the Marianas chain is the island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

of Guam

Guam

Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...

. The islands were named after Spanish Queen Mariana of Austria

Mariana of Austria

Mariana of Austria was Queen consort of Spain as the second wife of King Philip IV, who was also her maternal uncle...

in the 17th century, when Spain started the colonization of the archipielago.

The islands are part of a geologic

Geology

Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...

structure known as the Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc

Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc

The Izu-Bonin-Mariana arc system is an outstanding example of a plate tectonic convergent boundary. IBM extends over 2800 km south from Tokyo, Japan, to beyond Guam, and includes the Izu Islands, Bonin Islands, and Mariana Islands; much more of the IBM arc system is submerged below sealevel...

system, and range in age from 5 million years old in the north to 30 million years old in the south (Guam). The island chain arises as a result of the western edge of the Pacific Plate

Pacific Plate

The Pacific Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate that lies beneath the Pacific Ocean. At 103 million square kilometres, it is the largest tectonic plate....

moving westward and plunging downward below the Mariana plate

Mariana Plate

The Mariana Plate is a small tectonic plate located west of the Mariana Trench and forms the basement of the Mariana Islands. It is separated from the Philippine Sea Plate by a long divergent boundary with numerous transform fault offsets. The boundary between the Mariana and the Pacific Plate to...

, a region which is the most volcanically active convergent plate boundary on Earth. This subduction

Subduction

In geology, subduction is the process that takes place at convergent boundaries by which one tectonic plate moves under another tectonic plate, sinking into the Earth's mantle, as the plates converge. These 3D regions of mantle downwellings are known as "Subduction Zones"...

region, just east of the island chain, forms the noted Mariana Trench

Mariana Trench

The Mariana Trench or Marianas Trench is the deepest part of the world's oceans. It is located in the western Pacific Ocean, to the east of the Mariana Islands. The trench is about long but has a mean width of only...

, the deepest part of the Earth's oceans and lowest part of Earth's crust. In this region, according to geologic theory, water trapped in the extensive faulting of the Pacific Plate as serpentinite

Serpentinite

Serpentinite is a rock composed of one or more serpentine group minerals. Minerals in this group are formed by serpentinization, a hydration and metamorphic transformation of ultramafic rock from the Earth's mantle...

, is heated by the higher temperatures of depth during its subduction, and the pressure from the expanding steam results in the hydrothermal activity in the area, and the volcanic activity which formed the Mariana Islands.

The Marianas Islands are the northern part of the Micronesia

Micronesia

Micronesia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It is distinct from Melanesia to the south, and Polynesia to the east. The Philippines lie to the west, and Indonesia to the southwest....

island group, although their government is under a different jurisdiction from much of the rest of geographical Micronesia. Today, the Marianas Islands are composed of two U.S. jurisdictions: the territory of Guam

Guam

and the Commonwealth

Commonwealth

Commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has sometimes been synonymous with "republic."More recently it has been used for fraternal associations of some sovereign nations...

of the Northern Mariana Islands

Northern Mariana Islands

The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , is a commonwealth in political union with the United States, occupying a strategic region of the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines...

Description

The Mariana Islands are the southern part of a submerged mountain range

Mountain range

A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...

that extends 1,565 miles (2,519 km) from Guam

Guam

to near Japan

Japan

. Geographically, the Marianas are the northernmost islands of a larger island group called Micronesia

Micronesia

, situated between 13°

13th parallel north

The 13th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 13 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, Central America, the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean....

and 21°N

21st parallel north

latitude and 144°

144th meridian east

The meridian 144° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, Australasia, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....

and 146°E

146th meridian east

The meridian 146° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, Australasia, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....

longitude.

The Mariana Islands have a total land area of 389 square miles (1007 km²).
They are composed of two administrative units, Guam

Guam

, a US territory

United States territory

United States territory is any extent of region under the jurisdiction of the federal government of the United States, including all waters including all U.S. Naval carriers. The United States has traditionally proclaimed the sovereign rights for exploring, exploiting, conserving, and managing its...

, and the Northern Mariana Islands

Northern Mariana Islands

(including the islands of Saipan

Saipan

Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...

, Tinian

Tinian

Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.-Geography:Tinian is about 5 miles southwest of its sister island, Saipan, from which it is separated by the Saipan Channel. It has a land area of 39 sq.mi....

and Rota

Rota (island)

Rota also known as the "peaceful island", is the southernmost island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the second southernmost of the Marianas Archipelago. It lies approximately 40 miles north-northeast of the United States territory of Guam...

) which make up a Commonwealth

Commonwealth (United States insular area)

In the terminology of the United States insular areas, a Commonwealth is a type of organized but unincorporated dependent territory.The definition of "Commonwealth" according to current U.S. State Department policy reads: "The term 'Commonwealth' does not describe or provide for any specific...

of the United States.

The island chain geographically consists of two subgroups, a northern group of ten volcanic main islands, of which only four (Agrihan

Agrihan

Agrihan is a stratovolcano which forms an island in the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The entire island is a massive volcano which rises over from the ocean floor, and is the fifth largest in the Marianas volcanic arc. At , its summit is the highest point in Micronesia...

, Anatahan

Anatahan

Anatahan is one of the most active volcanoes of the Northern Mariana Islands. The island of Anatahan is 9 kilometers long and has a land area of . Formerly inhabited, it now has no population because of the always-present danger of volcanic eruptions...

, Alamagan

Alamagan

The Northern Marianas island of Alamagan is located north from Saipan and is 11.12 km² in area. The island's volcano has a large caldera at the summit. The volcano last erupted around 870 AD, with an error bar of 100 years. It involved pyroclastic flows, and had a VEI of 4...

and Pagan

Pagan Island

Pagan is an island of the Northern Mariana Islands chain,located at , approximately 320 kilometers northof Saipan.Pagan has an area of 47.23 km² , making it the fourth largest island of the Northern Marianas, and consists of two stratovolcanoes joined by a narrow strip of land.The...

) are inhabited; and a southern group of five coralline limestone islands (Rota, Guam, Aguijan

Aguijan

Aguijan is a small bean-shaped coralline island in the Northern Mariana Islands chain situated southwest of Tinian, from which it is separated by the Tinian Channel. It is only 7.09 km² in size and is nicknamed Goat Island due to the large number of feral goats present there...

, Tinian and Saipan

Saipan

), all inhabited except Aguijan. In the northern volcanic group a maximum elevation of about 2700 feet (823 m) 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.

Near the islands can be found the lowest point in the Earth's crust, the Mariana Trench

Mariana Trench

.

All the islands except Farallon de Medinilla

Farallon de Medinilla

Farallon de Medinilla is a small island in the Northern Mariana Islands chain and is situated north of Saipan. It is the second smallest in the chain; only Zealandia Bank is smaller. It is an uninhabited coral island which is 0.845 km² in area. It is 2.8 km long from southwest to...

and Uracas or Farallon de Pajaros

Farallon de Pajaros

Farallón de Pájaros , also known as Urracas , is an uninhabited volcanic island, the northernmost island in the Northern Mariana Islands chain....

(in the northern group) are more or less densely wooded, and the vegetation is dense, much resembling that of the Carolines, and also of the Philippines, from where species of plants have been introduced. Owing to the moistness of the soil cryptogams

Cryptogams

The name cryptogams is used fairly widely as a phrase of convenience, although regarded as an obsolete taxonomic term. A cryptogam is a plant that reproduces by spores...

are numerous, as are also most kinds of grasses. 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 island groups. The climate though damp is healthy, while the heat, being tempered by the trade wind

Trade wind

The trade winds are the prevailing pattern of easterly surface winds found in the tropics, within the lower portion of the Earth's atmosphere, in the lower section of the troposphere near the Earth's equator...

s, is milder than that of the Philippines; the variations of temperature are not great.

History

Prehistory

The islands are part of a geologic

Geology

structure known as the Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc

Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc

system, and range in age from 5 million years old in the north to 30 million years old in the south (Guam). The islands are formed as the highly dense and very old western edge of the Pacific plate plunges downward to form the floor of the Mariana Trench

Mariana Trench

, and carries trapped water under the Mariana plate as it does so. This water is heated and boiled as the plate is carried further downward, and results in the volcanic activity which has formed the arc of Mariana Islands above this subduction

Subduction

region.

Spanish exploration and control

The first European to see the island group was Ferdinand Magellan

Ferdinand Magellan

Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer. He was born in Sabrosa, in northern Portugal, and served King Charles I of Spain in search of a westward route to the "Spice Islands" ....

who on 6 March 1521 observed the two southernmost islands and sailed between them during a Spanish expedition of world circumnavigation. Upon first landing at Umatac, Guam

Umatac, Guam

Umatac is a village on the south-western coast of the island of Guam. The month of March in Chamorro is "Umatalaf," or "to catch guatafi," which is believed to be the root word of Umatac. The village's population has decreased since the island's 2000 census...

, Magellan's ships received fresh supplies from the native Chamorros. The common account is that the Chamorros, assuming that they were engaged in a trade, then took one of the Spanish landing boats. The Spanish crew, however, considered this theft and in retaliation attacked the Chamorros and dubbed the islands Islas de los Ladrones (Islands of the Thieves). However, according to Antonio Pigafetta's diary, there was no evidence that the natives thought that the Spaniards were engaging in trade and that they therefore had the implicit right to take the things from Magellan's ships. Pigafetta writes,

And the captain-general wished to approach the largest of these three islands to replenish his provisions. But it was not possible, for the people of those islands entered the ships and robbed us so that we could not protect ourselves from them. And when we wished to strike and take in the sails so as to land, they stole very quickly the small boat called a skiff which was fastened to the poop of the captain's ship. At which he, being very angry, went ashore with forty armed men. And burning some forty or fifty houses with several boats and killing seven men of the said island, they recovered their skiff.

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

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

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

Mariana of Austria

Mariana of Austria was Queen consort of Spain as the second wife of King Philip IV, who was also her maternal uncle...

, widow of Philip IV of Spain

Philip IV of Spain

Philip IV was King of Spain between 1621 and 1665, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, and King of Portugal until 1640...

. They then had a population of more than 50,000 inhabitants, but many Chamorros

Chamorros

The Chamorro people, or Chamoru people, are the indigenous peoples of the Mariana Islands, which include the American territory of Guam and the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Micronesia. Today, significant Chamoru populations also exist in several U.S. states...

died from the infectious disease

Infectious disease

Infectious diseases, also known as communicable diseases, contagious diseases or transmissible diseases comprise clinically evident illness resulting from the infection, presence and growth of pathogenic biological agents in an individual host organism...

s brought by the Spanish.

The native population, who referred to themselves as "Tao Tao Tano" (people of the land) but were 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 50,000, but a century later only 1,800 natives remained, as the majority of the population was of mixed Spanish-Chamorro blood or mestizo

Mestizo

Mestizo is a term traditionally used in Latin America, Philippines and Spain for people of mixed European and Native American heritage or descent...

. They were characteristic Micronesians, with a considerable civilization. In the island of Tinian

Tinian

are some remarkable remains attributed to them, consisting of two rows of massive square stone columns, about 5 in 4 in (1.63 m) broad and 14 feet (4.3 m) high, with heavy-round capital

Capital (architecture)

In architecture the capital forms the topmost member of a column . It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's supporting surface...

s 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

George Anson, 1st Baron Anson

Admiral of the Fleet George Anson, 1st Baron Anson PC, FRS, RN was a British admiral and a wealthy aristocrat, noted for his circumnavigation of the globe and his role overseeing the Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War...

, who in August 1742 landed upon the island of Tinian. The Ladrones were visited by Byron

John Byron

Vice Admiral The Hon. John Byron, RN was a Royal Navy officer. He was known as Foul-weather Jack because of his frequent bad luck with weather.-Early career:...

in 1765, Wallis

Samuel Wallis

Samuel Wallis was a Cornish navigator who circumnavigated the world.Wallis was born near Camelford, Cornwall. In 1766 he was given the command of HMS Dolphin to circumnavigate the world, accompanied by the Swallow under the command of Philip Carteret...

in 1767 and Crozet

Crozet Islands

The Crozet Islands are a sub-antarctic archipelago of small islands in the southern Indian Ocean. They form one of the five administrative districts of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.-Geography:...

in 1772.

The Marianas and specifically the island of Guam

Guam

were a stopover for Spanish galleons en route from Acapulco, Mexico to Manila, Philippines in a convoy known as the Galeon de Manila

Manila Galleon

The Manila galleons or Manila-Acapulco galleons were Spanish trading ships that sailed once or twice per year across the Pacific Ocean between Manila in the Philippines, and Acapulco, New Spain . The name changed reflecting the city that the ship was sailing from...

Loss from Spain, and split in governance

The Marianas remained a Spanish colony under the general government of the Philippines until 1898, when, as a result of the Spanish-American War

Spanish-American War

The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...

, Spain ceded Guam to the United States. Guam has retained a different political character from the remaining islands since this time.

In the Treaty of 12 February 1899

German-Spanish Treaty (1899)

The German–Spanish Treaty of 1899 was a treaty between the German Empire and Kingdom of Spain, with the latter selling the remainder of its Pacific Ocean islands to Germany for 25 million pesetas or respectively 17 million Marks.-History:...

, the remaining islands of the Mariana archipelago (except Guam

Guam

) were sold by Spain to Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

for 837,500 German gold mark

German gold mark

The Goldmark was the currency used in the German Empire from 1873 to 1914.-History:Before unification, the different German states issued a variety of different currencies, though most were linked to the Vereinsthaler, a silver coin containing 16⅔ grams of pure silver...

s (about $4,100,000 at the time). Along with 6000 islands in other island groups, such as the Carolines and Pelew Islands, all formerly under Spanish control but now indefensible by Spain, these islands were now incorporated as a small part of the larger German Protectorate of New Guinea. The total population in the Northern Marianas portion of these islands around this time was only 2,646 inhabitants; the ten most northerly islands being actively volcanic, and almost uninhabited.

Japan

Japan

, a member of the Triple Entente

Triple Entente

The Triple Entente was the name given to the alliance among Britain, France and Russia after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907....

, began to occupy the islands in 1914. After Germany and the rest of the Central Powers

Central Powers

The Central Powers were one of the two warring factions in World War I , composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria...

lost World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, all formerly German-controlled islands in the Pacific were entrusted by the League of Nations

League of Nations

The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...

to Japanese control, as mandate territories (similar to modern United Nations Trust Territories

United Nations Trust Territories

United Nations trust territories were the successors of the remaining League of Nations mandates and came into being when the League of Nations ceased to exist in 1946. All of the trust territories were administered through the UN Trusteeship Council...

). These islands included the Northern Mariana Islands, but not Guam.

The island chain saw fighting between the US and Japanese forces in 1944

Mariana and Palau Islands campaign

The Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, also known as Operation Forager, was an offensive launched by United States forces against Imperial Japanese forces in the Mariana Islands and Palau in the Pacific Ocean between June and November, 1944 during the Pacific War...

during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Guam, a U.S. possession from 1898, was captured by Japan in an attack that began on the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor

Attack on Pearl Harbor

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...

. The United States recaptured it in July 1944. The remaining islands were desired by the U.S. as bombing bases to reach the Japanese mainland, with Saipan

Saipan

attacked even before Guam. Once captured, the islands of Saipan and Tinian

Tinian

were used extensively by the United States military as they finally put mainland Japan within round-trip range of American bombers. In response, Japanese forces attacked the bases on Saipan and Tinian

Japanese air attacks on the Mariana Islands

During World War II, a series of Japanese air attacks on the Mariana Islands took place between November 1944 and January 1945. These raids targeted United States Army Air Forces bases and sought to disrupt the bombing of Japan by B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers operating from the islands...

from November 1944 to January 1945. Both the Enola Gay
Enola Gay
Enola Gay is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, mother of the pilot, then-Colonel Paul Tibbets. On August 6, 1945, during the final stages of World War II, it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb as a weapon of war...

and the Bockscar
Bockscar
Bockscar, sometimes called Bock's Car or Bocks Car, is the name of the United States Army Air Forces B-29 bomber that dropped the "Fat Man" nuclear weapon over Nagasaki on 9 August 1945, the second atomic weapon used against Japan....

(which dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima

Hiroshima

is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...

and Nagasaki, respectively) flew their missions from Tinian’s “North Field”.

The direct result of this conflict was that after the war, the Northern Mariana Islands came under U.S. control in the same way they had earlier come under control of Japan after World War I. They have not united with the territory of Guam, in part due to residual post-war tensions resulting from the very different histories of Guam (occupied by Japan for only 31 months, in wartime) and the Northern Mariana Islands (more peacefully occupied by Japan, for about 30 years).

Ecclesiastical history

The Prefecture Apostolic of the Marianas was erected on 17 September 1902, by the Constitution "Quae mari sinico" of Pope Leo XIII

Pope Leo XIII

Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...

. The islands had previously formed part of the Philippine Diocese of Cebu

Cebu

Cebu is a province in the Philippines, consisting of Cebu Island and 167 surrounding islands. It is located to the east of Negros, to the west of Leyte and Bohol islands...

. By Decree of 18 June 1907 they were entrusted to the Capuchin Fathers of the Westphalia

Westphalia

Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Minden and Münster.Westphalia is roughly the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River. No exact definition of borders can be given, because the name "Westphalia"...

n 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

Agat, Guam

Agat is a village on the island of Guam, an unincorporated territory of the United States. It is located south of Apra Harbor on the island's western shore. The village's population has decreased since the island's 2000 census....

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

WorldStatesmen- Guam & Northern Marianas
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).

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