Political divisions administered by the federal government

The United States also holds several other territories, districts, and possessions. As these jurisdictions are not part of one of the various states, sovereignty of them rests solely with Congress, and they are governed by Congress in accord with its plenary power under Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution. This governing power includes extraterritorial jurisdiction in overseas military installations, American embassies and consulates located in foreign countries, and research centers and field camps in Antarctica. Additionally, it exercises concurrent jurisdiction to varying degrees with the states in many domestic federal enclaves.

District of Columbiaedit

A separate federal district, the District of Columbia (DC), which is under the direct authority of Congress, was formed by the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801 from land ceded to the Federal Government by the states of Maryland and Virginia; however, the territory ceded by Virginia was returned to that state in 1846. The District does not form part of any state and the United States Congress exercises "exclusive jurisdiction in all cases whatsoever", over the city; however, the District of Columbia Home Rule Act provides for limited home rule, including an elected mayor and city council.

•  District of Columbia (DC; D.C.)

Insular areasedit

The insular areas of the United States are those U.S. territories that are neither a part of one of the 50 states nor the federal district. They are classified by whether they are incorporated (part of the United States proper) and whether they have an organized government through an Organic Act passed by the U.S. Congress. Insular areas are administered by the Department of the Interior's Office of Insular Affairs.

Since the creation in 1787 of the first territory beyond the existing states, the Northwest Territory, the federal government has established numerous organized incorporated territories, with some political autonomy. These jurisdictions (or portions thereof) subsequently became states. Thirty-one of the current 50 states were organized incorporated territories, or part of one, before their admission to the Union. No incorporated organized territories have existed since 1959 when Alaska and Hawaii joined the Union.

Currently, five territories are self-governing. The current inhabited unincorporated territories of the United States and their ISO 3166-1 codes (in parentheses) are as follows:

•  American Samoa (AS) (unorganized; self-governing)
•  Guam (GU) (organized under Organic Act of 1950)
•  Northern Mariana Islands (MP) (commonwealth, organized under 1977 Covenant)
•  Puerto Rico (PR) (commonwealth, organized under Public Law 600 of 1950)
•  United States Virgin Islands (VI) (organized under Revised Organic Act of 1954)

Guam and Puerto Rico, both gained by the United States in the Spanish–American War, are considered part of the "United States" for purposes of law; on the other hand, the United States Supreme Court declared in a series of opinions known as the Insular Cases that the Constitution extended ex proprio vigore to the territories. However, the Court in these cases also established the doctrine of territorial incorporation. Under the same, the Constitution only applied fully in incorporated territories such as Alaska and Hawaii, whereas it only applied partially in the new unincorporated territories of Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines.

In a 2016 Supreme Court ruling called Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle, the court ruled that territories don't have their own sovereignty.

Since 1959, there has been a single incorporated territory: Palmyra Atoll (formerly part of the Hawaii Territory, but excluded from the Hawaii Admission Act). The following uninhabited territories, all of which are unorganized, form the United States Minor Outlying Islands (UM):

• Baker Island (administered as the Baker Island National Wildlife Refuge)
• Howland Island (administered as the Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge)
• Jarvis Island (administered as the Jarvis Island National Wildlife Refuge)
• Johnston Atoll (administered as the Johnston Atoll National Wildlife Refuge)
• Kingman Reef (administered as the Kingman Reef National Wildlife Refuge)
• Midway Atoll (administered as the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge; small number of contractors present)
• Navassa Island (administered as the Navassa Island National Wildlife Refuge; (disputed with Haiti)
• Palmyra Atoll (administered as the Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge; small number of people present)
• Wake Atoll (administered as the Wake Atoll National Wildlife Refuge; small number of contractors present; disputed with the Marshall Islands)

The United States government is part of several international disputes over the disposition of certain maritime and insular areas, which it claims as territories. Bajo Nuevo Bank and Serranilla Bank are two such disputed claims.

American Indian reservationsedit

American Indian reservations are areas of land managed by an American Indian tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs. There are about 310 Indian reservations in the United States. Tribes possess limited tribal sovereignty over the land in their reservation. As a result, laws on tribal lands may vary from the surrounding area. The tribal council, not the county or state government, generally has jurisdiction over reservations. Different reservations have different systems of government, which may or may not replicate the forms of government found outside the reservation. Most Indian reservations were established by the federal government; a limited number, mainly in the East, owe their origin to state recognition.

Residents of a reservation may vote as residents of a state and are required to pay federal taxes. The special status of reservations has created both opportunities (such as gambling in states that normally disallow it) and challenges (such as the unwillingness of some companies to do business in an area where they are not certain what laws will apply to them).

Former areasedit

The two former unincorporated U.S. territories are:

• Panama Canal Zone (1903–1979)
• The Philippine Islands (1898–1946)

Additionally, the United States administered the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands from July 18, 1947 until October 1, 1994. The trust territory was subsequently divided into four political entities. One, the Northern Mariana Islands, listed above, became an unincorporated U.S. territory, while three—Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, and Palau—became independent nations. All three have become freely associated with the United States under a Compact of Free Association.