Saipan ( Chamorro: Sa’ipan, Carolinian: Seipél, formerly in Spanish: Saipán, and in Japanese: 彩帆島, romanized: Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a commonwealth of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 estimates by the United States Census Bureau, the population of Saipan was 43,385, a decline of 10% from its 2010 count of 48,220.The legislative and executive branches of Commonwealth government are located in the village of Capitol Hill on the island while the judicial branch is headquartered in the village of Susupe. Since the entire island is organized as a single municipality, most publications designate Saipan as the Commonwealth's capital.
As of 2015, Saipan's mayor is David M. Apatang and the governor of the Northern Mariana Islands is Ralph Torres.