 After World War II, the islands were transferred into the United Nations Trust Territory System, with the United States as Trustee.In 1976, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States entered into a covenant of political union under which commonwealth status was granted the Northern Mariana Islands and its residents received United States citizenship.The Marshall Islands are located north of Nauru and Kiribati, east of the Federated States of Micronesia and south of the U.S. territory of Wake Island.