The United States is located in North America, is one of the world's territorial powers, and its capital is Washington. The territory of the United States includes the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii. The contiguous United States is located in central North America, bordered by Canada to the north, Mexico to the south, and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to the east and west, respectively.
Alaska is located in northwestern North America, bordering the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, and borders Canada to the east. The state of Hawaii includes the Hawaiian Islands, located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, about 3,700 kilometers from the contiguous United States. In terms of administrative divisions, the United States is divided into fifty states and one special district. In addition to its territory, the United States has many overseas territories, spread across the Pacific and Atlantic regions.
Overseas territories simply refer to lands controlled by a country but located outside the mainland. The countries with overseas territories in the world today are basically colonial countries in history. Such as England, France, Spain and so on. After the beginning of the Age of Discovery, these countries grabbed large tracts of land around the world through external expansion. After the end of the colonial era, most of the colonies controlled by these old colonial powers gained independence, but there were still some lands that did not become independent.
These areas, which did not have independence, became the overseas territories of these colonial powers. France, for example, was once the world's major colonial power and still has many overseas territories. Compared with the old colonial countries such as Britain, France, Spain and Portugal, the United States is a relatively young country, born out of the British North American colonies. In 1776, after the independence of the United States, the initial territory was limited to thirteen states on the Atlantic coast. Later, through foreign expansion, the United States seized large tracts of land. Most of these lands became U.S. territories, and a small portion became U.S. overseas territories. So what overseas territories does the United States have?
First, the classification of land in the United States. The land controlled by the United States can be divided into four main categories, namely incorporated territory, merged unincorporated territory, unincorporated territory, and unincorporated unincorporated territory. A consolidated territory of the United States is a land that has been incorporated into the territory of the United States and has established administrative districts. The consolidated territory of the United States is considered an integral part of the United States, which is simply the territory of the United States, including the three major parts of the United States, Alaska and Hawaii.
After the independence of the United States in 1776, it continued to expand westward, expanding its territory to the Pacific coast through purchases and wars. Later, the United States bought Alaska from Russia and annexed the Kingdom of Hawaii in the central Pacific. With the expansion of the United States, these lands were successively incorporated into the territory of the United States and became the merged territories of the United States, and later, with the development of the economy and the increase of population, the United States established administrative districts on these new lands, and these lands became the merged territories of the United States.
For example, Alaska and Hawaii are two states, Alaska was sold to the United States by Tsarist Russia as early as 1867, but there has been no administrative district. Hawaii was annexed by the United States in 1898 and no administrative districts were created, and it was not until 1959 that Alaska and Hawaii officially became a state of the United States. After 1959, the United States did not add any incorporated territories.
Second, the incorporation of unincorporated territories. The United States has only one consolidated unincorporated territory, referring to Palmyra Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. Palmyra Atoll consists of fifty islands with an area of about 11.9 square kilometers, located about 1,600 kilometers from the Hawaiian Islands.
Palmyra Atoll was historically part of the Kingdom of Hawaii, and after the annexation of Hawaii by the United States in 1898, Palmyra Atoll became a consolidated territory of the United States. However, in 1959, when the United States established the state of Hawaii, Palmyra Atoll was divided separately and was not included in the state of Hawaii, but was administered by the United States Department of the Interior. This is mainly because Palmyra Atoll is an uninhabited area with beautiful scenery and a relatively long distance from the Hawaiian Islands. In this way, the United States did not establish a structure on Palmyra Atoll, but it was still a consolidated territory of the United States.
Third, U.S. overseas territories. In addition to incorporating incorporated territories and merging unincorporated territories, the other two types of land are considered U.S. overseas territories. (1) Non-consolidated incorporated territories. Non-incorporated territories are overseas territories that have not been incorporated into the United States but have established administrative regions. Including Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands. Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are part of the Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean, but with two administrative regions. Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are part of the Atlantic Antilles and are also divided into different administrative regions.
(2) Non-consolidated and unincorporated territories. Unincorporated unincorporated territories are lands that were not incorporated into the United States and were not incorporated into administrative districts. Including American Samoa, Baker Island, Howland Island, Johnston Atoll, Midway Island, Wake Island and many more. These areas are mostly uninhabited islands, and only American Samoa has been inhabited. American Samoa is located in the South Pacific region and belongs to the Samoan Islands. In 1899, the United States occupied the eastern half of the Samoa Islands, and later the western half of the Samoa Islands established the Independent State of Samoa, while the eastern half became American Samoa. Due to its special historical background, American Samoa is unincorporated and belongs to the United States as an unincorporated and unincorporated territory. In general, the overseas territories of the United States are relatively small, but very widely distributed.