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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...

Further information: Fauna of the United States: territories The territories of the United States have many plant and animal species found nowhere else in the United States. All U.S. territories have tropical climates and ecosystems. Forests edit The USDA says the following about the U.S. territories (plus Hawaii): The U.S. territories, plus Hawaii include virtually all the Nation's tropical forests as well as other forest types including subtropical, coastal, subalpine, dry limestone, and coastal mangrove forests. Although distant from America's geographic center and from each other—and with distinctive flora and fauna, land use history, and individual forest issues—these rich and diverse ecosystems share a common bond of change and challenge. Forests in the U.S. territories are vulnerable to invasive species and new housing developments. El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico is the only tropical rain forest in the United States National Forest system. American Samoa has ...

In The Not-Quite States of America , his book about the U.S. territories, Doug Mack said: It seemed that right around the turn of the twentieth century, the territories were part of the national mythology and the everyday conversation   ... A century or so ago, Americans didn't just know about the territories but cared about them, argued about them. But what changed? How and why did they disappear from the national conversation? The territories have made us who we are. They represent the USA's place in the world. They've been a reflection of our national mood in nearly every period of American history. Organizations such as Facebook view U.S. territories as not being part of the United States—instead, they are viewed as equivalent to foreign countries. In response to Facebook's view, former Guam representative Madeleine Bordallo said, "It is an injustice that Americans living in the U.S. territories are not treated as other Americans living in the states. ... Tr...

Members of the House of Representatives edit Amata Coleman Radewagen (R), (American Samoa) Michael San Nicolas (D), (Guam) Gregorio Sablan (I), (Northern Mariana Islands) Jenniffer González (R), (Puerto Rico) Stacey Plaskett (D), (U.S. Virgin Islands) Territorial governors edit Lolo Matalasi Moliga (D), (American Samoa) Lou Leon Guerrero (D), (Guam) Ralph Torres (R), (Northern Mariana Islands) Wanda Vázquez Garced (R), (Puerto Rico) Albert Bryan (D), (U.S. Virgin Islands) Satellite images edit Inhabited territories edit Tutuila and Aunu'u (American Samoa) Guam Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands) Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands Uninhabited territories (minor outlying islands) edit Baker Island Howland Island Jarvis Island Johnston Atoll Kingman Reef Midway Atoll Navassa Island Palmyra Atoll Wake Island Maps edit American Samoa ...