Saipan (pronounce /saɪˈpæn/, /saɪˈpɑn/, or /ˈsaɪpæn/ in English) is the largest island and capital 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 (15°10’51”N, 145°45’21”E) with a total area of 115.39 km² (44.55 sq mi). The 2000 census population was 62,392.