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The Office of Insular Affairs is a unit of the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 Department of the Interior that oversees federal administration of several United States possessions. It is the successor to the Bureau of Insular Affairs
Bureau of Insular Affairs

The Bureau of Insular Affairs was a division of the United States War Department that oversaw United States administration of certain territory from 1902 until the 1930's....
 of the War Department, which administered certain territories from 1902 to 1939, and the Office of Territorial Affairs
Office of Territorial Affairs

The Office of Territorial Affairs was an office within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administration of certain United States territories....
 (formerly the Division of Territories and Island Possessions and then the Office of Territories) in the Interior Department, which was responsible for certain territories from the 1930s to the 1990s.

Currently, the Office of Insular Affairs has administrative responsibility for coordinating federal policy in the territories 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....
, 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....
, the U.S.






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The Office of Insular Affairs is a unit of the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 Department of the Interior that oversees federal administration of several United States possessions. It is the successor to the Bureau of Insular Affairs
Bureau of Insular Affairs

The Bureau of Insular Affairs was a division of the United States War Department that oversaw United States administration of certain territory from 1902 until the 1930's....
 of the War Department, which administered certain territories from 1902 to 1939, and the Office of Territorial Affairs
Office of Territorial Affairs

The Office of Territorial Affairs was an office within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administration of certain United States territories....
 (formerly the Division of Territories and Island Possessions and then the Office of Territories) in the Interior Department, which was responsible for certain territories from the 1930s to the 1990s.

Currently, the Office of Insular Affairs has administrative responsibility for coordinating federal policy in the territories 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....
, 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....
, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and oversight of federal programs and funds in the freely associated 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....
, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.

Some ambiguity exists regarding the role of the Office of Insular Affairs in relation to some of the technically independent states of the Pacific. The United States typically prefers to deal substantially with former US trust territories such as the Republic of Palau and the Republic of the Marshall Islands through the Office of Insular Affairs, rather than through the State Department. This raises the question as to whether from a de facto perspective the US Government truly regards these small countries as independent, despite their nominal and de jure status as such.

In addition, the territorial claim [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/wq.html#Issues] by the Republic of the Marshall Islands on 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 ....
 leaves a certain amount of ambiguity regarding the actual or hypothetical role of the US military, responsible under agreement for the defence of Marshallese territory, in the event of any strategic crisis or hostilities involving Wake. The Atoll was formally annexed by the US in the 19th century and is still administered by the Office of Insular Affairs at the US Department of the Interior.

See also

  • 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....
  • Protectorate
    Protectorate

    A protectorate, in international law, is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity, in exchange for which the protectorate usually accepts specified obligations, which may vary greatly, depending on the real nature of their relationship....
  • Colonial Office
    Colonial Office

    Colonial Office is the government agency which serves to oversee and supervise their colony* Colonial Office - The British Government department...


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