Permanently inhabited territories

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 four inhabited territories, Congress has passed no legislation granting birthright citizenship to American Samoans.note In 2019, a federal court ruled that American Samoans are U.S. citizens, but the judge put the ruling on hold, and the litigation is ongoing.

Each territory is self-governing with three branches of government, including a locally elected governor and a territorial legislature. Each territory elects a non-voting member (a non-voting resident commissioner in the case of Puerto Rico) to the U.S. House of Representatives. They "possess the same powers as other members of the House, except that they may not vote on the floor when the House is meeting as the House of Representatives"; they debate, are assigned offices and staff funding, and nominate constituents from their territories to the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, Air Force and Merchant Marine academies. They can vote in their appointed House committees on all legislation presented to the House, they are included in their party count for each committee, and they are equal to senators on conference committees. Depending on the Congress, they may also vote on the floor in the House Committee of the Whole.

As of the 116th Congress (January 3, 2019 – January 3, 2021) the territories are represented by Amata Coleman Radewagen (R) of American Samoa, Michael San Nicholas (D) of Guam, Gregorio Sablan (D) of Northern Mariana Islands, Jenniffer González-Colón (R) of Puerto Rico and Stacey Plaskett (D) of U.S. Virgin Islands. The District of Columbia's delegate is Eleanor Holmes Norton (D); like the district, the territories have no vote in Congress and no representation in the Senate. Additionally, the Cherokee Nation has delegate-elect Kimberly Teehee, who has not been seated by Congress.

Every four years, U.S. political parties nominate presidential candidates at conventions which include delegates from the territories. U.S. citizens living in the territories cannot vote in the general presidential election, and non-citizen nationals in American Samoa cannot vote for president.

The territorial capitals are Pago Pago (American Samoa), Hagåtña (Guam), Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands), San Juan (Puerto Rico) and Charlotte Amalie (U.S. Virgin Islands). Their governors are Lolo Matalasi Moliga (American Samoa), Lou Leon Guerrero (Guam), Ralph Torres (Northern Mariana Islands), Wanda Vázquez Garced (Puerto Rico) and Albert Bryan (U.S. Virgin Islands).

Among the inhabited territories, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is available only in the Northern Mariana Islands;note however in 2019 a U.S. judge ruled that the federal government's denial of SSI benefits to residents of Puerto Rico is unconstitutional.

American Samoa is the only U.S. territory with its own immigration system (a system separate from the United States immigration system). American Samoa also has a communal land system in which ninety percent of the land is communally owned; ownership is based on Samoan ancestry.

Overview of populated American territories

Name (Abbreviation)	Location	Area	Population (2020)	Capital	Largest town	Status	Acquired
American Samoa (AS)	Polynesia (South Pacific)	197.1 km2 (76 sq mi)	49,437	Pago Pago	Tafuna	Unincorporated, unorganizednote	April 17, 1900
Guam (GU)	Micronesia (North Pacific)	543 km2 (210 sq mi)	168,485	Hagåtña	Dededo	Unincorporated, organized	April 11, 1899
Northern Mariana Islands (MP)	Micronesia (North Pacific)	463.63 km2 (179 sq mi)	51,433	Saipannote	Saipannote	Unincorporated, organized (commonwealth)	November 4, 1986note
Puerto Rico (PR)	Caribbean (North Atlantic)	9,104 km2 (3,515 sq mi)	3,193,694	San Juan	San Juan	Unincorporated, organized (commonwealth)	April 11, 1899
U.S. Virgin Islands (VI)	Caribbean (North Atlantic)	346.36 km2 (134 sq mi)	106,235	Charlotte Amalie	Charlotte Amalie	Unincorporated, organized	March 31, 1917

Historyedit

• American Samoa: territory since 1900; after the end of the Second Samoan Civil War, the Samoan Islands were divided into two regions. The U.S. took control of the eastern half of the islands. In 1900, the Treaty of Cession of Tutuila took effect. The Manuʻa islands became part of American Samoa in 1904, and Swains Island became part of American Samoa in 1925. Congress ratified American Samoa's treaties in 1929. For 51 years, the U.S. Navy controlled the territory. American Samoa is locally self-governing under a constitution last revised in 1967.note The first elected governor of American Samoa was in 1977, and the first non-voting member of Congress was in 1981. People born in American Samoa are U.S. nationals, but not U.S. citizens. American Samoa is technically unorganized, and its main island is Tutuila.
• Guam: territory since 1899, acquired at the end of the Spanish–American War. Guam is the home of Naval Base Guam and Andersen Air Force Base. It was organized under the Guam Organic Act of 1950, which granted U.S. citizenship to Guamanians and gave Guam a local government. In 1968, the act was amended to permit the election of a governor.
• Northern Mariana Islands: A commonwealth since 1986, the Northern Mariana Islands were part of the Spanish Empire until 1899 and part of the German Empire from 1899 to 1919. They were administered by Japan as a League of Nations mandate until the islands were captured by the United States in the Battle of Saipan and Battle of Tinian (June-August 1944) and the surrender of Aguigan (September 1945) during World War II. They became part of the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) in 1947, administered by the United States as U.N. trustee. The other constituents of the TTPI were Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands. A covenant to establish the Northern Mariana Islands as a commonwealth in political union with the United States was negotiated by representatives of both political bodies; it was approved by Northern Mariana Islands voters in 1975, and came into force on March 24, 1976. In accordance with the covenant, the Northern Mariana Islands constitution partially took effect on January 9, 1978, and became fully effective on November 4, 1986. In 1986, the Northern Mariana Islands formally left U.N. trusteeship. The abbreviations "CNMI" and "NMI" are both used in the commonwealth. Most residents in the Northern Mariana Islands live on Saipan, the main island.
• Puerto Rico: unincorporated territory since 1899; Puerto Rico was acquired at the end of the Spanish–American War, and has been a U.S. commonwealth since 1952. Since 1917, Puerto Ricans have been granted U.S. citizenship. Puerto Rico was organized under the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950 (Public Law 600). In November 2008, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that a series of Congressional actions have had the cumulative effect of changing Puerto Rico's status from unincorporated to incorporated. The issue is proceeding through the courts, however, and the U.S. government still refers to Puerto Rico as unincorporated. A Puerto Rican attorney has called the island "semi-sovereign". Puerto Rico has a statehood movement, whose goal is to make the territory the 51st state. See also Political status of Puerto Rico.
• U.S. Virgin Islands: purchased by the U.S. from Denmark in 1917 and organized under the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands in 1954. U.S. citizenship was granted in 1927. The main islands are Saint Thomas, Saint John and Saint Croix.

Statisticsedit

Except for Guam, the inhabited territories lost population in 2020. Although the territories have higher poverty rates than the mainland U.S., they have high Human Development Indexes. Four of the five territories have another official language, in addition to English.

Statistical overview of American territories

Territory	Official language(s)	Pop. change (2020)	Poverty rate	Life expectancy in 2018–2020 (years)	HDI	GDP ($)	Traffic flow	Time zone	Area code (+1)	Largest ethnicity
American Samoa	English, Samoan	–1.4%	65% (2017) note	74.8	0.827	$636 million	Right	Samoan Time (UTC−11)	684	Pacific Islander (Samoan)
Guam	English, Chamorro	+ 0.2%	22.9% (2009)	79.86	0.901	$5.92 billion	Right	Chamorro Time (UTC+10)	671	Pacific Islander (Chamorro)
Northern Mariana Islands	English, Chamorro, Carolinian	–0.55%	52.3% (2009)	76.1	0.875	$1.323 billion	Right	Chamorro Time	670	Asian
Puerto Rico	English, Spanish	–1.59%	43.1% (2018)	79.78	0.845	$104.98 billion	Right	Atlantic Time (UTC−4)	787, 939	Hispanic / Latino (Puerto Rican)note
U.S. Virgin Islands	English	–0.37%	22.4% (2009)	79.57	0.894	$3.85 billion	Left	Atlantic Time	340	African-American

The territories do not have administrative counties.note The U.S. Census Bureau counts Puerto Rico's 78 municipalities, the U.S. Virgin Islands' three main islands, all of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands' four municipalities, and American Samoa's three districts and two atolls as county equivalents. The Census Bureau also counts each of the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands as county equivalents.

For statistical purposes, the U.S. Census Bureau has a defined area called the "Island Areas" which consists of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (every major territory except Puerto Rico). The U.S. Census Bureau often treats Puerto Rico as its own entity or groups it with the states and D.C. (for example, Puerto Rico has a QuickFacts page just like the states and D.C.) Puerto Rico data is collected annually in American Community Survey estimates (just like the states), but data for the other territories is collected only once every ten years.

Governments and legislaturesedit

See also: Politics of American Samoa, Politics of Guam, Politics of the Northern Mariana Islands, Politics of Puerto Rico, and Politics of the U.S. Virgin Islands

The five major inhabited territories contain the following governments and legislatures:

Governments and legislatures of the U.S. territories

Government	Legislature	Legislature form
Government of American Samoa	American Samoa Fono	Bicameral
Government of Guam	Legislature of Guam	Unicameral
Government of the Northern Mariana Islands	N. Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature	Bicameral
Government of Puerto Rico	Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico	Bicameral
Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands	Legislature of the Virgin Islands	Unicameral

Political party statusedit

The following is the political party status of the governments of the U.S. territories following completion of the 2020 United States elections. Instances where local and national party affiliation differs, the national affiliation is listed second. Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands have unicameral territorial legislatures.

Territory	2016 presidential election	Governor	Territory Senate	Territory House	U.S. House of Representatives
American Samoa	None	Non-Partisan Democratic	Non-Partisan	Non-Partisan	Republican
Guam	None	Democratic	Democratic 8–7		Democratic
Northern Mariana Islands	None	Republican	Republican 5–1–3	Split 9–8–3a	Independent Democratic
Puerto Rico	None	New Progressive Democratic	Popular Democratic 12–9–2–1–1–1b	Popular Democratic 26–21–2–1–1c	New Progressive Republican
U.S. Virgin Islands	None	Democratic	Democratic 10–0–5		Democratic

Courtsedit

Each of the five major territories has its own local court system:

• High Court of American Samoa
• Supreme Court of Guam
• Supreme Court of the Northern Mariana Islands
• Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
• Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands

Of the five major territories, only Puerto Rico has an Article III federal district court (i.e., equivalent to the courts in the fifty states); it became an Article III court in 1966. This means that, unlike other U.S. territories, federal judges in Puerto Rico have life tenure. Federal courts in Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands are Article IV territorial courts. The following is a list of federal territorial courts, plus Puerto Rico's court:

• District Court of Guam (Ninth Circuit)
• District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands (Ninth Circuit)
• District Court for the District of Puerto Rico (not a territorial court) (First Circuit)
• District Court of the Virgin Islands (Third Circuit)

American Samoa does not have a federal territorial court, and so federal matters in American Samoa are sent to either the District court of Hawaii or the District court of the District of Columbia. American Samoa is the only permanently inhabited region of the United States with no federal court.

Demographicsedit

See also: Demographics of American Samoa, Demographics of Guam, Demographics of the Northern Mariana Islands, Demographics of Puerto Rico, and Demographics of the U.S. Virgin Islands

While the U.S. mainland is majority non-Hispanic white, this is not the case for the U.S. territories. In 2010, American Samoa's population was 92.6% Pacific Islander (including 88.9% Samoan); Guam's population was 49.3% Pacific Islander (including 37.3% Chamorro) and 32.2% Asian (including 26.3% Filipino); the population of the Northern Mariana Islands was 34.9% Pacific Islander and 49.9% Asian; and the population of the U.S. Virgin Islands was 76.0% African-American. In 2019, Puerto Rico's population was 98.9% Hispanic or Latino, 67.4% white, and 0.8% non-Hispanic white.

Throughout the 2010s, the U.S. territories (overall) lost population. The combined population of the five inhabited territories was 4,100,594 in 2010, and 3,569,284 in 2020.

The U.S. territories have high religiosity rates—American Samoa has the highest religiosity rate in the United States (99.3% religious and 98.3% Christian).

Economiesedit

See also: Economy of American Samoa, Economy of Guam, Economy of the Northern Mariana Islands, Economy of Puerto Rico, and Economy of the U.S. Virgin Islands

The economies of the U.S. territories vary from Puerto Rico, which has a GDP of $104.989 billion in 2019, to American Samoa, which has a GDP of $636 million in 2018. In 2018, Puerto Rico exported about $18 billion in goods, with the Netherlands as the largest destination.

Guam's GDP shrank by 0.3% in 2018, the GDP of the Northern Mariana Islands shrank by 19.6% in 2018, Puerto Rico's GDP grew by 1.18% in 2019, and the U.S. Virgin Islands' GDP grew by 1.5% in 2018. In 2017, American Samoa's GDP shrank by 5.8%, but then grew by 2.2% in 2018.

American Samoa has the lowest per capita income in the United States—it has a per capita income comparable to that of Botswana. In 2010, American Samoa's per capita income was $6,311. As of 2010, the Manu'a District in American Samoa had a per capita income of $5,441, the lowest of any county or county-equivalent in the United States. In 2018, Puerto Rico had a median household income of $20,166 (lower than the median household income of any state). Also in 2018, Comerío Municipality, Puerto Rico had a median household income of $12,812 (the lowest median household income of any populated county or county-equivalent in the U.S.) Guam has much higher incomes (Guam had a median household income of $48,274 in 2010.)