Set at , astir 200 kilometre (Long hundred mi) northerly of Guam, Saipan is about Twenty klick (Xii.Quintuplet mi) hanker & Ix kilometre (Five.Quintuplet mi) wide. the american side of the isl& has beaches and a coral reef, while a eastern shore is comprised primarily of rugged jolty drop-off. Its greatest point is the out volcano Mount Tapochau at 474 m (1,554 ft). Despite an annual rain of 80-100", the water utility company on Saipan, which unlike Guam with its limestone aquifers, is unable to deliver 24-hour-a-day potable water to its customers. As a result, several of the large hotels use desalination plants to produce fresh water for their customers and most homes and small businesses have cisterns to store rainwater.

Spain originally claimed Saipan as part of its claim to the Marianas. Around 1815, many Carolineans from atolls near Chuuk (formerly Truk) settled in Saipan. Saipan was under German rule from 1899 to 1914, when the Japanese took over the island. The Japanese developed both fishing and sugar industries, and in the 1930s garrisoned Saipan heavily, with nearly 30,000 troops on the island by 1941.

During World War II, the U.S. Marines landed on June 15, 1944, on the beaches of the southwestern side of the island, and spent more than three weeks in hard fighting to secure it in the battle of Saipan.

Despite its status as a U.S. Commonwealth, Saipan is exempt from some federal laws, including key labor and immigration laws. As a result, a number of garment factories with wages around half of the U.S. minimum wage have been set up on the island to supply the U.S. market. Goods manufacured in U.S. Commonwealths, including Saipan, may be labeled "Processed in the America".

In January 1999, a coalition of U.S.-based pressure groups and labor unions began a class action lawsuit on behalf of around 30,000 garment-industry workers who they claimed had been mistreated in such factories, being submitted to what was, in effect, indentured servitude. In April 2003, a settlement worth $20 million was reached with 27 garment manufacturers and 27 leading retailers, including The Gap, Tommy Hilfiger, and Polo Ralph Lauren. The firm of Levi Strauss & Co. refused to settle, however; in January 2004, the case against the company was dismissed.

Garapan is the largest village and the center of the tourism industry on the island.