By Gemma Q. Cassas
SAIPAN, CNMI (Marianas Variety, Dec. 28) – The U.S. Census Bureau says the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands population is projected to maintain double-digit growth and will reach 91,000 within the next five years.
The commonwealth’s neighboring island of Guam is projected to have a 14 percent population growth over the same period or from 155,000 people in 2000 to 181,000 in 2010.
According to the 2000 Census, the population of the Northern Marianas was 69,221 — with more than half being non-resident workers.
Despite the economic slowdown and the hiring moratorium law, the CNMI population grew by at least 2,000 people every year from 2001 to 2003, when it reached 76,000.
By 2010, the CNMI’s population is projected to grow by 23 percent and will total 91,000.
Census Bureau records show that the Northern Marianas had the smallest population among U.S. jurisdictions in 1970.
During that period, the islands...