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An insular area is a United States territory
United States territory

United States territory is any extent of region under the jurisdiction of the Federal government of the United States government of the United States, including all waters ....
, that is neither a part of one of the fifty U.S. states
U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 state of the United States that share sovereignty with the federal government of the United States . Because of this shared sovereignty, an United States is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of Domicile ....
 nor the District of Columbia
Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the Capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790....
, the federal district
Federal district

Federal districts are a type of administrative division of a federation, under the direct control of the federal government.United States...
 of the United States.

Because those insular areas that are inhabited are unincorporated territories, their native-born inhabitants are not constitutionally entitled to United States citizenship
United States nationality law

Article_I_of_the_US_Constitution#Enumerated_powers of the United States Constitution expressly gives the United States Congress the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization....
, under the Citizenship Clause
Citizenship Clause

The 'citizenship clause' refers to a provision, in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution at section one, clause 1. This clause represented United States Congress's reversal of that portion of the Dred Scott v....
. However, Congress has extended citizenship rights to all inhabited territories, with the exception of American Samoa
American Samoa

American Samoa is an Territories of the United States of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa....
 and these citizens may vote and run for office in any U.S.






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Encyclopedia


An insular area is a United States territory
United States territory

United States territory is any extent of region under the jurisdiction of the Federal government of the United States government of the United States, including all waters ....
, that is neither a part of one of the fifty U.S. states
U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 state of the United States that share sovereignty with the federal government of the United States . Because of this shared sovereignty, an United States is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of Domicile ....
 nor the District of Columbia
Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the Capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790....
, the federal district
Federal district

Federal districts are a type of administrative division of a federation, under the direct control of the federal government.United States...
 of the United States.

Because those insular areas that are inhabited are unincorporated territories, their native-born inhabitants are not constitutionally entitled to United States citizenship
United States nationality law

Article_I_of_the_US_Constitution#Enumerated_powers of the United States Constitution expressly gives the United States Congress the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization....
, under the Citizenship Clause
Citizenship Clause

The 'citizenship clause' refers to a provision, in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution at section one, clause 1. This clause represented United States Congress's reversal of that portion of the Dred Scott v....
. However, Congress has extended citizenship rights to all inhabited territories, with the exception of American Samoa
American Samoa

American Samoa is an Territories of the United States of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa....
 and these citizens may vote and run for office in any U.S. jurisdiction in which they are residents. American Samoans are U.S. nationals
United States nationality law

Article_I_of_the_US_Constitution#Enumerated_powers of the United States Constitution expressly gives the United States Congress the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization....
, but not U.S. citizens; they are free to move around and seek employment within the whole United States without immigration restrictions, but cannot vote or hold office, outside of American Samoa.

Residents of insular areas do not pay U.S. federal tax
Tax

To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon an individual or Legal person by a state or the functional equivalent of a state.Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entity....
es, but most pay taxes to the territorial governments, at the same rates as U.S. federal income taxes. Insular areas do not choose electors in U.S. presidential elections
United States presidential election

Elections for President of the United States and Vice President of the United States of the United States are indirect elections in which voters cast ballots for a slate of electors of the Electoral College , who in turn directly elect the President and Vice President....
 nor do they elect voting members of the U.S. Congress
United States Congress

The United States Congress is the Bicameralism legislature of the Federal government of the United States of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives....
. Goods manufactured in insular areas of the United States can be labeled "Made in USA
Made in USA

The Made in USA mark is a country of origin label indicating the product is "all or virtually all" made in the U.S. The label is regulated by the Federal Trade Commission ....
."

The U.S. State Department
United States Department of State

The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the United States Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States Federal government of the United States, similar to foreign ministries, foreign offices, ministries of external relations, etc....
 uses the term insular area to refer not only to these territories under the sovereignty of the United States, but also those independent nations that have signed a Compact of Free Association
Compact of Free Association

The Compact of Free Association defines the relationship that three sovereign states?the Federated States of Micronesia , the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau?have entered into as associated states with the United States....
 with the United States. While these nations participate in many otherwise domestic programs, they are legally distinct from the United States and their inhabitants are not United States citizens or nationals.

List and status of insular areas


Several islands in the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
 and the Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean situated in the mid-latitudes of the Western Hemisphere, bounded to the south and west by the Americas, with the North Atlantic Ocean proper to the northeast and the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest....
 are considered insular area
Insular area

An insular area is a United States territory, that is neither a part of one of the fifty U.S. state nor the Washington, D.C., the federal district of the United States....
s of the United States.

Incorporated (integral part of United States)


Inhabited
  • none


Uninhabited
  • Palmyra Atoll
    Palmyra Atoll

    Palmyra Atoll is an incorporated territory atoll administered by the Federal government of the United States. The atoll is 4.6 square miles , and it is located in the Northern Pacific Ocean at ....
     (uninhabited, owned by The Nature Conservancy
    The Nature Conservancy

    The Nature Conservancy is a US charitable environmental organization working to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive....
     but administered by the Office of Insular Affairs
    Office of Insular Affairs

    The Office of Insular Affairs is a unit of the United States Department of the Interior that oversees federal administration of several United States possessions....
    ; part of the United States Minor Outlying Islands
    United States Minor Outlying Islands

    The United States Minor Outlying Islands, a statistical designation defined by the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 3166-1 code, consists of nine United States insular areas....
    )


Unincorporated (United States' possessions)


Inhabited
  • American Samoa
    American Samoa

    American Samoa is an Territories of the United States of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa....
     (officially unorganized, although self-governing under authority of the U.S. Department of the Interior
    United States Department of the Interior

    The United States Department of the Interior , also called the Interior Department, is the United States federal executive departments of the Federal government of the United States responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and the administration of programs relating to Native Americans in the United States, A...
    )
  • Guam
    Guam

    Guam , officially the Territory of Guam, is an island in the western Pacific Ocean and is an organized, unincorporated insular area of the United States....
     (organized under Organic Act of 1950)
  • Northern Mariana Islands
    Northern Mariana Islands

    The Northern Mariana Islands , officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , is a commonwealth in political union with the United States, occupying a strategic region of the western Pacific Ocean....
     (commonwealth, organized under 1977 Covenant)
  • Puerto Rico
    Puerto Rico

    Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is a Autonomy Territories of the United States of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands....
      (territory with commonwealth status, organized under terms of Puerto Rico-Federal Relations Act)
  • United States Virgin Islands
    United States Virgin Islands

    The United States Virgin Islands is a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles....
     (organized under Revised Organic Act of 1954)
  • Wake Island
    Wake Island

    Wake Island is a coral atoll having a coastline of 12 miles in the North Pacific Ocean, located about two-thirds of the way from Honolulu to Guam ....
     (unorganized)


Uninhabited
Along with Palmyra Atoll and Wake Island, these form the United States Minor Outlying Islands
United States Minor Outlying Islands

The United States Minor Outlying Islands, a statistical designation defined by the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 3166-1 code, consists of nine United States insular areas....
:
  • Baker Island
    Baker Island

    Baker Island is an uninhabited atoll located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean about 3,100 kilometers southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii....
  • Howland Island
    Howland Island

    Howland Island is an uninhabited coral island located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean, about 3,100 km southwest of Honolulu....
  • Jarvis Island
    Jarvis Island

    Jarvis Island is an uninhabited 4.5 square kilometer coral island located in the South Pacific Ocean at , about halfway between Hawaii and the Cook Islands....
  • Johnston Atoll
    Johnston Atoll

    Johnston Atoll is a 130 km? atoll in the Pacific Ocean at , about 1400 kilometers west of Hawaii. There are four islands located on the coral reef platform, two natural islands, Johnston Island and Sand Island, which have been expanded by coral dredging, as well as North Island and East Island , an additional two artificial islands...
  • Kingman Reef
    Kingman Reef

    Kingman Reef is a largely submerged uninhabited tropical atoll located in the North Pacific Ocean, roughly half way between the Hawaiian Islands and American Samoa at ....
  • Midway Atoll
    Midway Atoll

    Midway Atoll is a 2.4 square mile atoll located in the North Pacific Ocean , about one-third of the way between Honolulu and Tokyo. Midway Atoll is an unorganized territory, unincorporated territory of the United States....
     (administered as a National Wildlife Refuge
    National Wildlife Refuge

    National Wildlife Refuge is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service....
    )
  • Navassa Island
    Navassa Island

    Navassa Island is a small, uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea, and is an Incorporated territory of the United States, which administers it through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service....


From July 18, 1947 until October 1, 1994, the U.S. administered the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands

The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from July 18, 1947, comprising the former South Pacific Mandate, a League of Nations Mandate administered by Empire of Japan and taken by the U.S....
, but later entered into a new political relationship with all four political units (one of which is the Northern Mariana Islands listed above, the others being the three freely associated states
Associated state

An associated state is the minor partner in a formal, free relationship between a political territory with a degree of statehood and a nation, for which no other specific term, such as protectorate, is adopted....
 noted below).

Freely associated states

The freely associated states are the three sovereign states with which the United States has entered into a Compact of Free Association
Compact of Free Association

The Compact of Free Association defines the relationship that three sovereign states?the Federated States of Micronesia , the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau?have entered into as associated states with the United States....
. They have not been within U.S. jurisdiction since they became sovereign; however, many considered them to be dependent territories
Dependent territory

A dependent territory, dependent area or dependency is a Territory that does not possess full political independence or sovereignty as a State....
 of the United States, until each was admitted to the United Nations
United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, Social change, human rights and achieving world peace....
 in the 1990s.
  • Republic of the Marshall Islands
    Marshall Islands

    The Marshall Islands , officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands , is a Micronesian island nation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator....
  • Federated States of Micronesia
    Federated States of Micronesia

    The Federated States of Micronesia is an island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, north of Papua New Guinea. The country is a sovereign state in Associated state with the United States....
  • Republic of Palau
    Palau

    Palau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an borderless country in the Pacific Ocean, some 500 miles east of the Philippines and 2,000 miles south of Tokyo....


Disputed

  • Navassa Island
    Navassa Island

    Navassa Island is a small, uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea, and is an Incorporated territory of the United States, which administers it through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service....
     (with Haiti)
  • Wake Island
    Wake Island

    Wake Island is a coral atoll having a coastline of 12 miles in the North Pacific Ocean, located about two-thirds of the way from Honolulu to Guam ....
     (with Marshall Islands)
  • Serranilla Bank
    Serranilla Bank

    Serranilla Bank is an uninhabited reef, with small islets, in the western Caribbean Sea, about 210 miles north-northeast of Nicaragua at ....
     (with Colombia)
  • Bajo Nuevo Bank
    Bajo Nuevo Bank

    The Bajo Nuevo Bank is a small, uninhabited reef with some small islets, covered with grass, located in the western Caribbean Sea at , with a lighthouse on Low Cay at ....
     (with Jamaica)


Former colonies

  • Philippines
    Philippines

    The Philippines, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
    , granted to U.S. through the Treaty of Paris
    Treaty of Paris (1898)

    The Treaty of Paris of 1898, signed on December 10, 1898, ended the Spanish-American War.American and Spanish delegates met in Paris on October 1, 1898 to produce a treaty that would bring an end to the war after six months of hostilities....
     in 1898, achieved independence on July 4, 1946.
  • Cuba
    Cuba

    The Republic of Cuba is a country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba , the island of Isla de la Juventud, and several adjacent small islands....
    , granted to U.S. through the Treaty of Paris
    Treaty of Paris (1898)

    The Treaty of Paris of 1898, signed on December 10, 1898, ended the Spanish-American War.American and Spanish delegates met in Paris on October 1, 1898 to produce a treaty that would bring an end to the war after six months of hostilities....
     in 1898, achieved independence on May 20, 1902.


See also

  • Dependent territory
    Dependent territory

    A dependent territory, dependent area or dependency is a Territory that does not possess full political independence or sovereignty as a State....
  • Commonwealth (United States insular area)
    Commonwealth (United States insular area)

    In the terminology of the United States insular areas, a Commonwealth is a type of organized territory but Unincorporated territories of the United States dependent territory....
  • Territories of the United States
  • Unorganized territory
    Unorganized territory

    An unorganized territory is a region of land, generally with less self-governmental powers than other regions, controlled by a specific government....
  • Guano Islands Act
    Guano Islands Act

    The Guano Islands Act is List of United States federal legislation passed by the Congress of the United States, on August 18, 1856. It enables citizens of the United States to take possession of islands containing guano deposits....
  • Guantanamo Bay
    Guantanamo Bay Naval Base

    Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located on the shore of Guant?namo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba and has been used by the United States Navy for more than a century....
  • Insular Cases
    Insular Cases

    The Insular Cases are several Supreme Court of the United States cases decided early in the 20th century. The cases were in essence the court's response to a major issue of the United States presidential election, 1900 and the American Anti-Imperialist League, summarized by the phrase "Does the United States Constitution follow the Flag of t...
  • Political divisions of the United States
    Political divisions of the United States

    The political units and divisions of the United States include:*The 50 U.S. state , which are typically divided into county and sometimes township , and further divided into municipal corporation city, towns, villages, and other types of municipalities, and other autonomous or subordinate public works and institutions....
  • Territorial acquisitions of the United States
    Territorial acquisitions of the United States

    This is a simplified list of United States territorial acquisitions, beginning with American Revolutionary War. Note that this list primarily concerns land acquired from other nation-states; the numerous territorial acquisitions from Native Americans in the United States are not listed here....


External links

  • , The Atlantic Monthly
    The Atlantic Monthly

    The Atlantic is an United States magazine founded in Boston in 1857. Originally created as a literature and culture commentary magazine, its current format is of a general editorial magazine....
    , February 2001
  • , U.S. Census Bureau, Geographic Areas Reference Manual