MP-AT LARGE 2022 redistricting
CNMI congressional district represents 47,000 people on 14 islands where 75% of GDP depends on tourism now running at half pre-pandemic levels.
The CNMI at-large congressional district encompasses the entire Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. Commonwealth roughly 3,000 miles west of Hawai'i and 1,500 miles south of Japan. With a population of approximately 47,000 spread across 14 islands, the territory elects a single non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, reflecting its small-population status within American political structures.
The district's economic profile shows extreme tourism dependency: the sector contributes over 75% of GDP and employs more than half the workforce. Yet tourism in 2023-2024 operated at roughly half of pre-pandemic 2019 levels. Direct flights from Japan ceased in 2005, Chinese tourists became politically unwelcome amid U.S.-China tensions, and the territory now relies primarily on South Korean visitors. Federal relief funds have supplemented the weakened private sector.
The geopolitical reframing is stark: Governor Arnold Palacios describes the islands as "America's Asian border," citing national security considerations due to proximity to Guam, the major U.S. military hub in the Western Pacific. This positions the CNMI as a security asset rather than purely a tourism destination, though converting that strategic value into economic development remains challenging. The population has shrunk as economic opportunities contracted, creating a feedback loop where reduced population makes airline service less viable, which further reduces visitor access and economic activity.