United States territory

United States territory is any extent of region under the jurisdiction of the federal government of the United States,^[1] including all waters^[2] (around islands or continental tracts). The United States has traditionally proclaimed the sovereign rights for exploring, exploiting, conserving, and managing its territory.^[3] This extent of territory is all the area belonging to, and under the dominion of, the United States federal government (which includes tracts lying at a distance from the country) for administrative and other purposes.^[1] The United States total territory includes a subset of political divisions.

Territory of the United States

The United States territory includes any points of extended spatial location under the control of the United States federal government. Various regions, districts, and divisions are under the supervision of the United States federal government. The United States territory includes clearly defined geographical area and refers to an area of land, air or sea under jurisdiction of United States federal governmental authority (but is not limited only to these areas). The extent of territory is all the area belonging to, and under the dominion of, the United States of America federal government (which includes tracts lying at a distance from the country) for administrative and other purposes.

Constitution of the United States

Original copy of the Constitution.

Under Article IV of the United States Constitution, territory is subject to and belongs to the United States (but not necessarily within the national boundaries or any individual state). This includes tracts of land or water not included within the limits of any State and not admitted as a State into the Union.

The Constitution of the United States states^[4],

"the congress shall have power to dispose of, and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property of the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be construed, so as to preclude the claims of the United States or of any state." - Article IV

Congress of the United States

Congress possesses power to set territorial governments within the territory of the United States.^[5] The power of congress over such territory is exclusive and universal. Congress legislation is subject to no control, unless in the case of ceded territory. The U.S. Congress is granted the exclusive and universal power to set a United States territory's political divisions.

Supreme Court of the United States

All territory under the control of the federal government is considered part of the "United States" for purposes of law. The United States Supreme Court ruling from 1945 stated that the term "United States" can have three different meanings, in different contexts.

"The term 'United States' may be used in any one of several senses. It may be merely the name of a sovereign occupying the position analogous to that of other sovereigns in the family of nations. It may designate the territory over which the sovereignty of the United States extends, or it may be the collective name of the states which are united by and under the Constitution." [Hooven & Allison Co. v. Evatt, 324 U.S. 652 (1945)^[6]]

United States Department of the Interior

The Interior Department^[7] is charged with managing federal affairs within U.S. territory.^[8] The Interior Department has a wide range of responsibilities (which include the regulation of territorial governments and the basic stewardship for public lands, et al.). The United States Department of the Interior is not responsible for local government or for civil administration except in the cases of Indian reservations, through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, as well as those territories administered through the Office of Insular Affairs.

United States divisions

District, States, Counties, Cities and Townships

2000 U.S. population density in persons per sq. mile (contiguous U.S. only); This map show states and counties.

Territories are subdivided into legally administered tracts^[9][10] (e.g., non-sovereign geographic areas that have voluntarily come under the authority of a government). For example, American Samoa is a territory of the government of the United States. A U.S. state is not a "state" as viewed by international law, since the United States Constitution restricts individual states from conducting foreign relations. The District of Columbia is under the direct authority of Congress,^[11] and was established from territory ceded by the states of Maryland and Virginia, with all of the Virginia cession having since been returned to that state.

The contiguous part^[12][13] of the U.S., (along with Hawaii and Alaska), are divided into smaller administrative regions, called counties in 48 of the 50 states. (They are called boroughs in Alaska and parishes in Louisiana.) U.S. counties can include a number of cities and towns, or sometimes just a part of a city. These counties have varying degrees of political and legal significance. U.S. townships are a term of varying meaning. In some states they represent an intermediate civic designation between city and county, in others, they designate land that is not part of any city. Some townships have governments and political power, others are simply geographic designations.

History of United States territory

Territories are, at times, organized with a separate legislature under a Territorial governor and officers appointed by the President and approved by the Senate of the United States. Territory has been historically divided into organized territories and unorganized territories.^[14][15][16] Unorganized territory was generally either unpopulated or set aside for Native Americans and other indigenous peoples in the United States by the U.S. federal government until such time as the growing and restless population encroached into the areas. In recent times, unorganized refers to the degree of self-governmental authority exercised by the territory.

The 13 colonies and first western territories.

Territorial acquisitions and states.

United States territorial acquisitions.

Post-1959 situation of the United States.

As a result of some Supreme Court cases after the Spanish-American War, in which the U.S. had to determine how to deal with newly acquired territories such as the Philippines, ^[17][18] Puerto Rico,^[19] Guam,^[20][21] Wake Island and other areas that were not part of the North American continent and which were not necessarily intended to become a part of the Union of States. As a consequence of the Supreme Court decisions, the United States has since made a distinction between incorporated and unincorporated territory.^[22][23][24] Incorporated territory in essence is land that has been irrevocabably incorporated within the sovereignty of the United States and to which the full corpus of the U.S. Constitution applies. Unincorporated territory is land held by the United States, and to which U.S. Congress applies selected parts of the constitution. Currently the only incorporated territory held by the U.S. is the unorganized (and unpopulated) Palmyra Atoll.

Insular areas

Locations of the insular areas

• Puerto Rico
• U.S. Virgin Islands
• American Samoa
• Guam
• Northern Mariana Islands
• Minor Outlying Islands
  • Baker Island
  • Howland Island
  • Jarvis Island
  • Johnston Atoll
  • Midway Islands
  • Wake Island
  • Palmyra Atoll
  • Kingman Reef
  • Navassa Island
  • Serranilla Bank
  • Bajo Nuevo Bank

Dependent areas of the United States

Several islands in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea are dependent territories of the United States.^[25][26]

The Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is administered by the U.S. under a perpetual lease, much as the Panama Canal Zone used to be before the signing of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties and only mutual agreement or U.S. abandonment of the area can terminate the lease.

From July 18, 1947 until October 1, 1994, the U.S. administered the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, but the Trust ceased to exist when the last member state of Palau gained its independence to become the Republic of Palau. The Panama canal, and the Canal Zone surrounding it, was territory administered by the United States until 1999, when control was relinquished to Panama.

The United States has made no territorial claim in Antarctica but has reserved the right to do so.

Maritime territory of the United States

The Exclusive Economic Zones of the United States.

The Government of the United States of America has claims to the oceans in accord with international law, which delineates a zone of territory adjacent to territorial lands and seas. United States protects this marine environment, though not interfering with other lawful uses of this zone. The United States jurisdiction has been established on vessels, ships, and artificial islands (along with other marine structures).

The primary enforcer of maritime law is the United States Coast Guard. Federal and state governments share economic and regulatory jurisdiction over the waters owned by the country. (See tidelands.)

International law concerning United States territory

United States is not restricted from making laws governing its own territory by international law. The United States territory can include occupied territory, which is a geographic area that claims sovereignty, but is being forcibly subjugated to the authority of the United States of America. United States territory can also include disputed territory, which is a geographic area claimed by United States of America and one (or more) rival governments.

Like most nations, America has acquired territory by force and conquest (Latin, "to seek for"). Internationally (specifically according to the Hague conventions), United States territory can include areas occupied by and controlled by a United States army. When de facto military control is maintained and exercised, occupation (and thus possession) extends to that territory. By convention, the forces in control of the territory have a responsibility to provide for the basic needs of individuals under their control (which includes food, clothing, shelter, medical attention, law maintenance, and social order). To prevent systematic abuse of puppet governments by the occupation forces, they must enforce laws that were in place in the territory prior to the occupation.

Land occupied by the United States

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Historically, all of the United States of America was originally the territory of a multitude of indigenous groups. Over time, various European powers acquired territories, either by treaty or force of arms. The current government of the United States was obviously not a party to these treaties or their cession. However much of the continental United States was acquired by treaty from various Native American tribes, European Powers such as Spain or France, or neighboring countries such as Mexico. The United States does not have a good track record for maintaining the terms of such treaties, however. Some Native Americans claim that the U.S. still illegally occupies some of their land, pointing to treaties that they say the United States later violated. It has been claimed that no treaty ratified with any Native American tribe remains unbroken in its terms.^[27]

The United States has had military forces in Japan and West Germany for several decades following the allied victory over those nations in World War II. This is not, however, the stated goal for Iraq which is a sovereign nation. ^[28] The government in Afghanistan is not yet well-established and therefore no official goal has been stated by either party.

See also

United States

• Federal enclave
• Political divisions of the United States
• Territorial evolution of the United States
• Territories of the United States
• Commonwealth (United States insular area)
• History of United States continental expansion
• History of United States overseas expansion
• The John F. Kennedy Memorial built at Runnymede in the UK is part of the U.S. territory.
• Mellander, Gustavo A.; Nelly Maldonado Mellander (1999). Charles Edward Magoon: The Panama Years. Río Piedras, Puerto Rico: Editorial Plaza Mayor. ISBN 1563281554. OCLC 42970390.
• Mellander, Gustavo A. (1971). The United States in Panamanian Politics: The Intriguing Formative Years. Danville, Ill.: Interstate Publishers. OCLC 138568.

Other

• Airspace (Controlled airspace and Uncontrolled airspace)
• United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

References

Citations and notes

General information

McFerson, Hazel M. The Racial Dimension of American Overseas Colonial Policy. 1997. Greenwood Press.

• Willoughby, W. W., & Sachs, L. (1929). The constitutional law of the United States. New York: Baker, Voorhis.
• McLaughlin, A. C., & Hart, A. B. (1914). Cyclopedia of American government. New York: D. Appleton and Co.
  • "Influence of the United states on International Law".
  • "Principles of International Law".
• Lalor, J. J. (1881). Territory. Cyclopædia of Political Science, Political Economy, and the Political History of the United States by the Best American and European Writers. New York: Maynard, Merrill, and Co., 1899.

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