Overview#

Insular Areas are United States Territories that are neither a part of one of the 50 states nor the federal district and are further 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 United States Congress.

Currently, there are 5 inhabited Insular Areas and they are are self-governing Unincorporated territory United States Territories as follows:(ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 in parentheses)

• American Samoa (US-AS)
• Guam (US-GU)
• Northern Mariana Islands (US-MP)
• Puerto Rico (US-PR)
• United States Virgin Islands (US-VI)

United States Citizenship at birth is granted in these five major territories except that "only persons born in American Samoa/Swains Island are NOT citizens

Insular Areas are established by an Act of Congress though an Organic Act

Insular Areas are further Classified as:

• unincorporated territory
• incorporated territory
• organized territory - A United States Insular Areas for which the United States Congress has enacted an Organic Act.
• unorganized territory - An Unincorporated territory Insular Areas for which the United States Congress has NOT enacted an Organic Act.
• commonwealth - An organized territory United States Insular Areas, which has established with the Federal Government, a more highly developed relationship, usually embodied in a written mutual agreement.
  Currently, two United States insular areas are commonwealths, the Northern Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico.

Insular areas are administered by the United States Department of the Interior's Office of Insular Affairs.

More Information#

There might be more information for this subject on one of the following:

• American Samoa
• Commonwealth
• Guam
• Indian Reservation
• Northern Mariana Islands
• Organic Act
• Organized territory
• Palmyra Atoll
• Puerto Rico
• United States
• United States Department of the Interior
• United States Minor Outlying Islands
• United States Postal Service
• United States Territories
• United States Virgin Islands
• Virgin Islands, U.S.

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• [#1] - Insular_area - based on information obtained 2018-10-27-
• [#2] - Definitions of Insular Area Political Organizations - based on information obtained 2018-10-27-