Territories of the United States

Territories of the United States are subnational geographical and political areas governed as administrative divisions and dependent territories under the sovereignty of the United States. Although all are subject to the constitutional and territorial jurisdiction of the U.S. federal government, territories differ from states and Indian reservations in that they are not inherently sovereign. While states have dual sovereignty and Native American tribes have tribal sovereignty in relation to the federal government, the self-governing powers of territories ultimately derive from the U.S. Congress, as per the Territorial Clause in Article IV of the U.S. Constitution. Territories are classified as "organized" or "unorganized" depending on whether they operate under an organic act, and "incorporated" or "unincorporated" depending on whether the U.S. Constitution applies fully or partially to them. As areas belonging to, but not integral parts of, the U.S., territories are their own distinct nations centered around a collective identity based on their land, history, ethnicity, culture, and language.

All territories of the U.S. are insular areas. The U.S. has sovereignty over three archipelagos or islands in the Caribbean Sea and eleven in the Pacific Ocean. Five territories (American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands) are permanently inhabited, unincorporated territories; the other nine, known as the United States Minor Outlying Islands, are small islands, atolls, and reefs with no native (or permanent) population. Of the 14, only one is classified as an incorporated territory (Palmyra Atoll). Two additional territories (Bajo Nuevo Bank and Serranilla Bank) are claimed by the U.S. but administered by Colombia. Historically, territories were created to administer newly acquired land, and most eventually attained statehood. The most recent territory to become a U.S. state was Hawaii on August 21, 1959.

Residents of the U.S. territories cannot vote in United States presidential elections, and they have only non-voting representation in the U.S. Congress. According to 2012 data, territorial telecommunications and other infrastructure are generally inferior to that of the continental U.S. and Hawaii. Poverty rates are higher in the territories than in the states, though poverty thresholds for U.S. territories had not been constructed as of 2009. Three of the territories, namely the United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Guam, are on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories maintained by the Special Committee on Decolonization.

The territories have embraced a variety of strategies towards their relationship with the United States, with some advocating for closer integration into the United States, and others opting to remain as independent as possible. Several territories retain collective or trust ownership of native or indigenous lands, speak their indigenous or native languages, and retain indigenous cultural practices which might not survive under full incorporation to the United States framework. Residents of some U.S. territories enjoy a high quality of life, for instance in Guam, which has comparable health to the United States, and American Samoa, which has a crude death rate of 7.2 per 1,000, compared to the United States rate of 9.2 per 1,000. Research suggests that indigenous diets and lifestyles play a positive role in Samoans' health, particularly neonatal mortality rates.