An incorporated territory of the United States is a specific area under the jurisdiction of the United States, over which the United States Congress has determined that the United States Constitution is to be applied in its entirety, in the same manner as it applies to the individual U.S. states. In contrast, an unincorporated territory is an area under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress has determined that only select parts of the U.S. Constitution apply. Incorporated territories, therefore, are considered an integral part of the United States, as opposed to being merely possessions.

The term "incorporated" in this sense does not refer to the act of creating a civil government entity (e.g. a city or a town).

Incorporation as it applies to territories is regarded as a permanent condition. Once incorporated, an incorporated territory can no longer be de-incorporated; that is, it can never be excluded from the jurisdiction of the United States Constitution.

History

Most of the historic territories of the United States, including all the ones that eventually became U.S. states, were incorporated organized territories, that is, incorporated territories for which Congress established a local civil government. The distinction between unincorporated and incorporated territories did not arise until the 20th century, following the acquisition by the United States of possessions arising from the Spanish-American War, including the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Previously, the United States had acquired territory only through annexation, with all territories being de facto incorporated territories.

The distinction between incorporated and unincorporated territories was clarified in the 1937 United States Supreme Court case People of Puerto Rico v. Shell Oil Co., in which the Court determined that the Sherman Antitrust Act, which had referred only to "territories", applied to Puerto Rico even though it was not an incorporated territory of the United States. See also: Insular Cases, and Guano Islands Act.

In the contemporary sense, the term "incorporated territory" refers only to insular areas. There is currently only one incorporated territory, Palmyra Atoll, an archipelago of about 50 small islands about 1.56 mile² (4 km²) in area that lies about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) south of Honolulu. The atoll was acquired by the United States in the 1893 annexation of the Republic of Hawaii. When the Territory of Hawaii was incorporated on April 30, 1900, Palmyra Atoll was incorporated as part of that territory. However, when Hawaii became a state in 1959, Palmyra Atoll was explicitly separated from the state, but it remained an incorporated territory.

A territory can be organized without being an incorporated territory, a contemporary example being Puerto Rico.

Classification of current U.S. territories

Incorporated unorganized territories

• Palmyra Atoll (privately owned by the Nature Conservancy and administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, also see above for background)

Incorporated organized territories

none since 1959

Unincorporated organized territories

• Guam
• Northern Mariana Islands (commonwealth)
• Puerto Rico (commonwealth)
• United States Virgin Islands

Unincorporated unorganized territories

• American Samoa, technically unorganized, but self-governing under a constitution last revised in 1967
• Baker Island, uninhabited
• Howland Island, uninhabited
• Jarvis Island, uninhabited
• Johnston Atoll, no indigenous inhabitants, only military personnel and contractors
• Kingman Reef, uninhabited
• Midway Islands, no indigenous inhabitants, currently included in the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge
• Navassa Island, uninhabited
• Wake Island, no indigenous inhabitants, only contractor personnel

Classification of former U.S. territories & administered areas

Former unincorporated territories of the United States (incomplete)

• Territory of the Philippines (1902-1935)
• Commonwealth of the Philippines (1935-1946)

Areas formerly administered by the United States (incomplete)

• Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (1947-1986) -- included the Marshall Islands
• Federated States of Micronesia

External links

• FindLaw: People of Puerto Rico v. Shell Co., 302 U.S. 253 (1937) (http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=404&invol=558) regarding application of U.S. law to organized but unincorporated territories
• FindLaw: United States v. Standard Oil Company, 404 U.S. 558 (1972) (http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=404&invol=558) regarding application of U.S. law to unorganized unincorporated territories
• Office of Insular Affairs (http://www.doi.gov/oia/Firstpginfo/islandfactsheet.htm)