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Unorganized Territory

 
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Unorganized territory
 
 
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An unorganized territory is a region of land, generally with less self-governmental powers than other regions, controlled by a specific government. The term has several denotations depending on the exact usage and context.

United States
U.S. Census Bureau
Unorganized territories, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, occur in 10 minor civil division
Minor civil division

Minor civil division is a term used by the United States Census Bureau to designate the primary governmental and/or administrative divisions of a county , such as a civil township, precinct, or magisterial district....
 (MCD) states (Arkansas
Arkansas

Arkansas is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States of the United States. Arkansas shares a border with six states, with its eastern border largely defined by the Mississippi River....
, Indiana
Indiana

The State of Indiana was the 19th U.S. state admitted into the union. It is located in the Midwestern United States of the United States of America....
, Iowa
Iowa

The State of Iowa is a U.S. state in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland." It is bordered by Minnesota to the north, Wisconsin and Illinois to the east, Nebraska and South Dakota to the west, and Missouri to the south....
, Louisiana
Louisiana

The State of Louisiana is a U.S. state located in the U.S. Southern States of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans....
, Maine
Maine

The State of Maine is a U.S. state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, New Hampshire to the southwest, the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast....
, Minnesota
Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States of the United States. The twelfth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with just over five million residents....
, North Carolina
North Carolina

North Carolina is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north....
, North Dakota
North Dakota

North Dakota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States and Western United States regions of the United States of America. North Dakota is the 19th largest state by area in the US; it is the 48th most populous, with just over 640,000 residents as of 2006....
, Ohio
Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern United States U.S. state of the United States. As part of the Great Lakes region , Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads in North America....
, and South Dakota
South Dakota

South Dakota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States of the United States of America. It is named after the Lakota people and Sioux Sioux Native Americans in the United States tribes....
) where portions of counties
County

A county is a land area of Local government government within a larger state. A county may have city and towns within its area....
 are not included in any legally established MCD or independent incorporated place.






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An unorganized territory is a region of land, generally with less self-governmental powers than other regions, controlled by a specific government. The term has several denotations depending on the exact usage and context.

United States


U.S. Census Bureau


Unorganized territories, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, occur in 10 minor civil division
Minor civil division

Minor civil division is a term used by the United States Census Bureau to designate the primary governmental and/or administrative divisions of a county , such as a civil township, precinct, or magisterial district....
 (MCD) states (Arkansas
Arkansas

Arkansas is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States of the United States. Arkansas shares a border with six states, with its eastern border largely defined by the Mississippi River....
, Indiana
Indiana

The State of Indiana was the 19th U.S. state admitted into the union. It is located in the Midwestern United States of the United States of America....
, Iowa
Iowa

The State of Iowa is a U.S. state in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland." It is bordered by Minnesota to the north, Wisconsin and Illinois to the east, Nebraska and South Dakota to the west, and Missouri to the south....
, Louisiana
Louisiana

The State of Louisiana is a U.S. state located in the U.S. Southern States of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans....
, Maine
Maine

The State of Maine is a U.S. state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, New Hampshire to the southwest, the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast....
, Minnesota
Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States of the United States. The twelfth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with just over five million residents....
, North Carolina
North Carolina

North Carolina is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north....
, North Dakota
North Dakota

North Dakota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States and Western United States regions of the United States of America. North Dakota is the 19th largest state by area in the US; it is the 48th most populous, with just over 640,000 residents as of 2006....
, Ohio
Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern United States U.S. state of the United States. As part of the Great Lakes region , Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads in North America....
, and South Dakota
South Dakota

South Dakota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States of the United States of America. It is named after the Lakota people and Sioux Sioux Native Americans in the United States tribes....
) where portions of counties
County

A county is a land area of Local government government within a larger state. A county may have city and towns within its area....
 are not included in any legally established MCD or independent incorporated place. The U.S. Census Bureau recognizes such separate pieces of territory as one or more separate county subdivisions for statistical purposes. It assigns each unorganized territory a descriptive name, followed by the designation "unorganized territory." Unorganized territories were first used for statistical purposes in conjunction with the 1960 census.

At the 2000 census
United States Census, 2000

File:US-Census-2000Logo.svgThe Twenty-Second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the United States Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons Enumeration during the United States Census, 1990....
 there were 305 of these territories within the United States. Their total land area was 221,164.87 kmē (85,392.23 sq mi), or larger than the entire state of Idaho
Idaho

The State of Idaho is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States of America. The state's largest city and Capital is Boise, Idaho....
. There was a total population of 247,331 on these lands. South Dakota has the most unorganized territories, 102, as well as the largest amount of land under that status, 103,042.114 kmē (39,784.78 sq mi), or 52.428 percent of the state's land area. North Dakota follows with 86 territories, 52,727.67 kmē (20,358.27 sq mi), or 29.515 percent of its land area. Maine is next with 36 territories, 36,395.73 kmē (14.052.47 sq mi), or 45.534 percent of its land area. Minnesota has 71 territories, 27,329.68 kmē (10,552.05 sq mi), or 13.255 percent of its land area. The other states have very insignificant amounts of unorganized territory. However, the unorganized territory with the largest population is Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune

Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune is a major base for the United States Marine Corps and is located on the East Coast of the United States of the United States near Jacksonville, North Carolina....
, a United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing Military power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to rapidly deliver Marine Air-Ground Task Force....
 base with a census population of 34,452 inhabitants.

United States territory

Usa Territorial Growth 1830
An unorganized territory is also a United States territory for which the United States 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....
 has not enacted an organic act. In this sense, unorganized territories are lands possessed by the federal U.S. government but which are not within any of the 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 ....
 of the Union and have not been "organized" into self-governing units. Currently, all federal unorganized territory is considered to be an 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....
, 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....
, U.S. Department of the Interior. 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....
 is technically unorganized, in that Congress has not passed an organic act, but is effectively self-governing, under terms of a constitution last revised in 1967, except that its inhabitants aren't U.S. citizens. As of 2006, 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 ....
 is the only unorganized incorporated U.S. territory.
Usa Territorial Growth 1900
Historically, Unorganized Territory was a name used by the United States government to refer to the enormous territory in the Great Plains
Great Plains

The Great Plains are the broad expanse of prairie and steppe which lie west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada....
 before it was organized into smaller territories. The area was a part of the Louisiana Territory
Louisiana Territory

Louisiana Territory was a historic organized territory of the United States consisting of the portion of the Louisiana Purchase that was not partitioned off into Territory of Orleans, which later became the state of Louisiana....
 until 1812 and the Missouri Territory
Missouri Territory

The Missouri Territory was a historic, organized territory in the United States. It was originally known as the Louisiana Territory and was renamed on June 4, 1812 to avoid confusion with the U.S....
 until 1821. In 1821 the Missouri Compromise
Missouri Compromise

The Missouri Compromise was an agreement passed in 1820 between the slave state and free state factions in the United States Congress, involving primarily the regulation of slavery in the Historic regions of the United States....
 carved the State of Missouri
Missouri

Missouri is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States of the United States bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska....
 out of the territory, and the rest of the area became unorganized. The Kansas-Nebraska Act
Kansas-Nebraska Act

The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territories of Kansas Territory and Nebraska Territory, opened new lands, repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, and allowed settlers in those territories to determine if they would allow slavery within their boundaries....
 of 1854 divided the area into the Kansas and Nebraska Territories.

In modern parlance, such territory would be considered incorporated territory
Incorporated territory

Territories of the United States are one type of political division of the United States, administered by the U.S. government but not any part of a U.S....
 (i.e., part of the United States proper), yet not organized territory. However, the distinction between incorporated and non-incorporated territory did not arise until the territorial acquisitions following the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War

The Spanish?American War was an armed military conflict between Spain and the United States that took place between April and August 1898, over the issues of the liberation of Cuba....
 in 1898.

Canada

Unorganized territories also exist in certain regions of Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
, such as Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario

Northern Ontario is the part of the province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing.Northern Ontario has a land area of 802,000 km? and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it contains less than 7% of the population....
 where there is no region-wide level of government
Government

Government is the body within any organization that has the authority to make and the power to enforce laws, regulations, or rules. Typically, the government refers to a civil government -- local, provincial, or national -- but commercial, academic, religious, or other formal organizations are also administered by governing bodies....
. In Quebec
Quebec

Quebec , in French language, Qu?bec , is a Provinces and territories of Canada in the Central Canada and Eastern Canada regions of Canada....
, territory not within the border of a municipality of some sort is unorganized territory.

See also

  • Organized territory
  • Incorporated territory
    Incorporated territory

    Territories of the United States are one type of political division of the United States, administered by the U.S. government but not any part of a U.S....
  • Types of municipalities in Quebec
    Types of municipalities in Quebec

    The following is a list of the types of Local government in Quebec and Administrative subdivisions of Quebec#Supralocal level territorial units in Quebec, including those used solely for statistical purposes, as defined by the Institut de la Statistique du Qu?bec....