Insular area
An
insular area of the
United States is a jurisdiction that is neither a part of one of the fifty
states nor a part of the
District of Columbia, America's
federal district.
Insular area is the current generic term used by the
U.S. State Department to refer to any commonwealth, freely associated state, possession or territory or Territory. In other contexts, U.S. insular areas may be described as
dependencies,
protectorates or
dependent areas. (Dependent areas need not be under the formal jurisdiction of the United States.)
Residents of insular areas are U.S.
citizens, although they cannot participate in the
U.S. presidential election nor elect voting members of the
U.S. Congress.
From
July 18,
1947, until
October 1,
1994, the
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands were considered insular areas.
Areas under U.S. control, but not considered insular areas:\n*
Guantanamo Bay: The U.S. does not claim sovereignty, but exercises permanent control and pays rent under terms of treaties with Cuba \n*
Iraq: The U.S. does not claim sovereignty over Iraq and exercises temporary military control.
Several islands in the
Pacific Ocean and
Caribbean Sea are considered insular areas of the United States:
Inhabited
\n* American Samoa (unincorporated, officially unorganized, although self-governing under authority of the U.S. Department of the Interior)\n* Guam (unincorporated, organized under Organic Act of 1950)\n* Northern Mariana Islands (unincorporated, commonwealth, organized under 1977 Covenant)\n* Puerto Rico (unincorporated, commonwealth, organized under terms of Puerto Rico-Federal Relations Act)\n* U.S. Virgin Islands (unincorporated, organized under Revised Organic Act of 1954)
Uninhabited
\nExcept for Navassa Island and Wake Island, all areas listed below are part of the National Wildlife Refuge System administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service\n* Baker Island (unincorporated)\n* Howland Island (unincorporated)\n* Jarvis Island (unincorporated)\n* Johnston Atoll (unincorporated)\n* Kingman Reef (unincorporated)\n* Midway Islands (unincorporated; administered as the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge)\n* Navassa Island (unincorporated)\n* Palmyra Atoll (incorporated, "privately owned")\n* Wake Island (unincorporated)
From July 18, 1947 until October 1, 1994, the U.S. administered the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, but recently entered into a new political relationship with all five political units (one of which is the Northern Mariana Islands listed above).
Disputed
\n* Serranilla Bank\n* Bajo Nuevo Bank
See also
\n*Political divisions of the United States\n*Insular Cases\n*Guano Islands Act\n*Incorporated territory\n*Freely associated states\n*United States Minor Outlying Islands
External link
\n*Department of the Interior Definitions of Insular Area Political Types\n*Rubin, Richard, "The Lost Islands," The Atlantic Monthly, February 2001
Category:Political divisions of the United States\n*
