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Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions overseen by the United States government. The various U.S. territories differ from the U.S. states and Native American tribes in that they are not sovereign entitiesnote (each state has individual sovereignty alongside the federal government; each federally recognized tribe possesses limited tribal sovereignty as a "dependent sovereign nation"). Territories are classified by incorporation and whether they have an "organized" government through an organic act passed by the Congress. U.S. territories are under U.S. sovereignty and, consequently, may be treated as part of the United States proper in some ways and not others. Unincorporated territories in particular are not considered to be integral parts of the United States, and the Constitution of the United States applies only partially in those territories. The U.S. currently administers three territories in the Caribbean Sea and eleven

The U.S. has had territories since its beginning. In the chapter of US federal law on immigration and nationality, the term "United States" (used in a geographical sense) is defined, unless otherwise specified, as "the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands of the United States, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands". A 2007 executive order on environmental, energy, and transportation management defined American Samoa as part of the US "in a geographical sense". Organized territories are lands under federal sovereignty (but not part of any state) which were given a measure of self-governance by Congress through an organic act subject to the Congress's plenary powers under the territorial clause of the Constitution's Article Four, section 3.

The U.S. has five permanently inhabited territories: Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands in the North Pacific Ocean, and American Samoa in the South Pacific Ocean.note American Samoa is in the Southern Hemisphere, while the other four are in the Northern Hemisphere. About 3.56 million people in these territories are U.S. citizens, and citizenship at birth is granted in four of the five territories (granted by Congress).note Citizenship at birth is not granted in American Samoa—American Samoa has about 32,000 non-citizen U.S. nationals. Under U.S. law, "only persons born in American Samoa and Swains Island are non-citizen U.S. nationals" in its territories. Because they are U.S. nationals, American Samoans are under U.S. protection, and can travel to the rest of the U.S. without a visa. However, to become U.S. citizens, American Samoans must become naturalized citizens, like foreigners.note Unlike the other fou

The United States Minor Outlying Islands are small islands, atolls and reefs. Palmyra Atoll, Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll and Wake Island are in the Pacific Ocean, and Navassa Island is in the Caribbean Sea. The additional disputed territories of Bajo Nuevo Bank and Serranilla Bank are also located in the Caribbean Sea. Palmyra Atoll (formally known as the United States Territory of Palmyra Island) is the only incorporated territory, a status it has maintained since Hawaii became a state in 1959. The status of several territories is disputed. Navassa Island is disputed by Haiti, Wake Island is disputed by the Marshall Islands, Swains Island (a part of American Samoa) is disputed by Tokelau, and Bajo Nuevo Bank and Serranilla Bank (both administered by Colombia) are disputed by Colombia, Jamaica, Honduras, and Nicaragua. They are uninhabited except for Midway Atoll, whose approximately 40 inhabitants are employees of the U.S

Congress decides whether a territory is incorporated or unincorporated. The U.S. Constitution applies to each incorporated territory (including its local government and inhabitants) as it applies to the local governments and residents of a state. Incorporated territories are considered to be integral parts of the U.S., rather than possessions. The U.S. Supreme Court, in its 1901–1905 Insular Cases, ruled that the constitution extended to U.S. territories. The court also established the doctrine of territorial incorporation, in which the constitution applies fully to incorporated territories (such as the territories of Alaska and Hawaii) and partially in the unincorporated territories of Puerto Rico, Guam and, at the time, the Philippines (which is no longer a U.S. territory). In the 1901 Supreme Court case Downes v. Bidwell , the court said that the U.S. Constitution did not fully apply in unincorporated territories because they were inhabited by "alien races". The U.S. had n

Organized incorporated territories edit (All areas that have become U.S. states outside of the Thirteen Colonies) Unincorporated territories edit Corn Islands (1914–1971): leased for 99 years under the Bryan–Chamorro Treaty, but returned to Nicaragua when the treaty was annulled in 1970 Line Islands: disputed claim with the United Kingdom. U.S. claim to most of the islands was ceded to Kiribati upon its independence in 1979, but the U.S. retained Kingman Reef, Palmyra Atoll and Jarvis Island   Panama Canal Zone (1903–1979): sovereignty returned to Panama under the Torrijos–Carter Treaties of 1978. The U.S. retained a military base and control of the canal until December 31, 1999. Philippines (1898–1946): military government, 1898–1902; insular government, 1901–1935; commonwealth government, 1935–1942 and 1945–1946 (islands under Japanese occupation, 1942–1945); granted independence on July 4, 1946 Phoenix Islands: disputed claim with the United Kingdom; U.S. claim ceded to Kirib