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Insular area is the current generic term used by the U.S. State Department to refer to any commonwealth, freely associated state, possession or territory. In other contexts, U.S. insular areas may be described as dependencies, protectorates or dependent areas. (Dependent areas need not be under the formal jurisdiction of the United States.)

Residents of insular areas are U.S. citizens, although they cannot participate in the U.S. presidential election nor elect voting members of the U.S. Congress.

1 List and status of insular areas

Several islands in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea are considered insular areas of the United States:

1.1 Inhabited

• American Samoa (unincorporated, officially unorganized, although self-governing under authority of the U.S. Department of the Interior)
• Guam (unincorporated, organized under Organic Act of 1950 )
• Northern Mariana IslandsThe Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) is a commonwealth in political union with the United States of America at a strategic location in the West Pacific Ocean. It consists of 14 islands about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the (unincorporated, commonwealth, organized under 1977 Covenant)
• Puerto RicoThe Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ("Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico") is a self-governing unincorporated organized territory of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic. Puerto Rico, the smallest of the Gr (unincorporated, commonwealth, organized under terms of Puerto Rico-Federal Relations Act )
• U.S. Virgin IslandsThe Virgin Islands of the United States is a group of islands in the Caribbean that is a dependency of the United States. These islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands. Virgin Islands of the United States coat of arms ( In Detail) ( In Detai (unincorporated, organized under Revised Organic Act of 1954 )

1.2 Uninhabited

Except for Navassa Island and Wake Island, all of the following are part of the National Wildlife RefugeNational Wildlife Refuge is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. National Wildlife Refuge system is a network of lands and waters managed to protect wildlife and wildlife ha System administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:

• Baker IslandBaker Island is an uninhabited atoll located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean at 0 13 N, 176 31 W, about 1,600 miles (2,600 km) southwest of Honolulu. It is about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia. Baker Island National Wi (unincorporated)
• Howland IslandHowland Island is an uninhabited atoll located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean at 0 48 N, 176 38 W, about 1,600 miles (2,600 km) southwest of Honolulu. It is about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia. Howland Island Nationa (unincorporated)
• Jarvis IslandJarvis Island is an uninhabited 4. 5 square kilometer island with located at 0°22' S, 160°03' W in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to the Cook Islands. It is an unincorporated territory of the United States administered from (unincorporated)
• Johnston Atoll (unincorporated)
• Kingman Reef (unincorporated)
• Midway Islands (unincorporated; administered as the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge)
• Navassa Island (unincorporated)
• Palmyra Atoll (incorporated, owned by the Nature Conservancy but administered by the Office of Insular Affairs)
• Wake Island (unincorporated)