Territories of the United States
Name Location Area Status Notes
Baker Island Polynesia ( North Pacific ) 2.1 km ( 0.81 sq mi ) Unincorporated , unorganized Claimed under the Guano Islands Act on October 28 , 1856 . Annexed on May 13 , 1936 , and placed under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of the Interior
Howland Island Polynesia ( North Pacific ) 4.5 km ( 1.7 sq mi ) Unincorporated , unorganized Claimed under the Guano Islands Act on December 3 , 1858 . Annexed on May 13 , 1936 , and placed under the jurisdiction of the Interior Department
Jarvis Island Polynesia ( South Pacific ) 4.75 km ( 1.83 sq mi ) Unincorporated , unorganized Claimed under the Guano Islands Act on October 28 , 1856 . Annexed on May 13 , 1936 , and placed under the jurisdiction of the Interior Department
Johnston Atoll Polynesia ( North Pacific ) 2.67 km ( 1.03 sq mi ) Unincorporated , unorganized Last used by the U.S. Department of Defense in 2004
Kingman Reef Polynesia ( North Pacific ) 18 km ( 6.9 sq mi ) Unincorporated , unorganized Claimed under the Guano Islands Act on February 8 , 1860 . Annexed on May 10 , 1922 , and placed under the jurisdiction of the Navy Department on December 29 , 1934
Midway Atoll Polynesia ( North Pacific ) 6.2 km ( 2.4 sq mi ) Unincorporated , unorganized Territory since 1859 ; primarily a National Wildlife Refuge and previously under the jurisdiction of the Navy Department
Navassa Island Caribbean ( North Atlantic ) 5.4 km ( 2.1 sq mi ) Unincorporated , unorganized Territory since 1857 ; also claimed by Haiti
Palmyra Atoll Polynesia ( North Pacific ) 12 km ( 5 sq mi ) Incorporated , unorganized Partially privately owned by the Nature Conservancy , with much of the rest owned by the federal government and managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service . It is an archipelago of about fifty small islands with a land area of about 1.56 sq mi ( 4.0 km ) , about 1,000 miles ( 1,600 km ) south of Oahu . The atoll was acquired through the annexation of the Republic of Hawaii in 1898 . When the Territory of Hawaii was incorporated on April 30 , 1900 , Palmyra Atoll was incorporated as part of that territory . When Hawaii became a state in 1959 , however , an act of Congress excluded the atoll from the state . Palmyra remained an incorporated territory , but received no new , organized government . U.S. sovereignty over Palmyra Atoll ( and Hawaii ) is disputed by the Hawaiian sovereignty movement
Wake Island Micronesia ( North Pacific ) 7.4 km ( 2.9 sq mi ) Unincorporated , unorganized Territory since 1898 ; host to the Wake Island Airfield , administered by the U.S. Air Force . Wake Island is claimed by the Marshall Islands
Minor Outlying Islands
The United States Minor Outlying Islands are small islands , atolls and reefs . Palmyra Atoll , Baker Island , Howland Island , Jarvis Island , Johnston Atoll , Kingman Reef , Midway Atoll and Wake Island are in the Pacific Ocean , and Navassa Island is in the Caribbean Sea . The additional disputed territories of Bajo Nuevo Bank and Serranilla Bank are also located in the Caribbean Sea . Palmyra Atoll ( formally known as the United States Territory of Palmyra Island ) [ 103 ] is the only incorporated territory , a status it has maintained since Hawaii became a state in 1959 . [ 15 ] The status of several territories is disputed . Navassa Island is disputed by Haiti , [ 104 ] Wake Island is disputed by the Marshall Islands , [ 105 ] Swains Island ( a part of American Samoa ) is disputed by Tokelau , [ 106 ] [ 2 ] and Bajo Nuevo Bank and Serranilla Bank ( both administered by Colombia ) are disputed by Colombia , Jamaica , Honduras , and Nicaragua . [ 13 ] [ 107 ] They are uninhabited except for Midway Atoll , whose approximately 40 inhabitants are employees of the U.S . Fish and Wildlife Service and their services provider ; [ 108 ] Palmyra Atoll , whose population varies from four to 20 Nature Conservancy and Fish and Wildlife staff and researchers ; [ 109 ] and Wake Island , which has a population of about 100 military personnel and civilian employees . [ 105 ]
Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions overseen by the United States government. The various U.S. territories differ from the U.S. states and Native American tribes in that they are not sovereign entities. (Each state has individual sovereignty by which it delegates powers to the federal government; each federally recognized tribe possesses limited tribal sovereignty as a dependent sovereign nation. )[note 2] They are classified by incorporation and whether they have an organized government through an organic act passed by Congress. All U.S. territories are part of the United States (because they are under U.S. sovereignty), but the unincorporated territories are not considered to be integral parts of the United States, and the Constitution of the United States applies only partially in those territories. The U.S. currently has fourteen territories in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. [note 3][note 4] Five territories (American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) are permanently inhabited, unincorporated territories; the other nine are small islands, atolls and reefs with no native (or permanent) population. Of the nine, only one is classified as an incorporated territory (Palmyra Atoll). Two additional territories (Bajo Nuevo Bank and Serranilla Bank) are claimed by the United States but administered by Colombia. Territories were created to administer newly acquired land, and most eventually attained statehood. Others, such as the Philippines, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau, later became independent. [note 5]
 Many organized incorporated territories of the United States existed from 1789 to 1959.