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The political units and divisions of the United States include:
- The 50 states (4 of these being officially styled as Commonwealths), which are typically divided into counties and townships, and incorporated cities, towns, villages, and other types of municipalities, and other autonomous or subordinate public authorities and institutions. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Politics of the United States takes place in the framework of a presidential, Federal republic where the President of the United States (the Head of The federal government of the United States is the central United States Governmental body established by the United States Constitution. The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme Law of the United States. Taxation in the United States is a complex system which may involve payment to at least four different levels of government and many methods of taxation The United States Congress is the bicameral Legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses The United States House of Representatives is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate. The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives is the presiding officer&mdashor speaker &mdashof the United States House of Representatives. Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives are elected by their respective parties in a closed-door (private Caucus. This is a complete list of congressional districts for representation in the United States House of Representatives. The United States Senate is the Upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the Lower house being the House of Representatives The President pro tempore of the Senate is the second-highest-ranking official of the United States Senate and the highest-ranking senator The Senate Majority and Minority Leaders (also called Senate Floor Leaders) are two United States Senators who are elected by the party conferences The President of the United States is the Head of state and Head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by The Vice President of the United States is the first person in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new President of the United States upon the death The United States Cabinet (usually simplified as "the Cabinet" is composed of the most senior appointed officers of the Executive branch of the Federal government This is an incomplete list of United States federal agencies. The United States federal courts are the system of Courts organized under the Constitution and laws of the Federal government of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. The United States courts of appeals (or circuit courts) are the intermediate appellate courts The United States district courts are the general Trial courts of the United States federal court system. The United States has a federal government, with elected officials at federal (national state and local level Elections for President and Vice President of the United States are This article presents the main political parties in United States politics. The Democratic Party is one of two major Political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. See also Third party (United States presidential candidates 2008 The term third party is used in the United States for a political party other than one State governments in the United States (sometimes referred to as "The State" is generally structured in accordance with the laws of the various individual states The following is a list of incumbent United States Governors. In the United States of America, a state legislature is a generic term referring to the legislative body of any of the country's 50 states. Each State in the United States has a Legislative branch as part of its form of civil government In the United States, a state court has Jurisdiction over disputes with some connection to a U Local government in the United States is generally structured in accordance with the laws of the various individual states. Information on politics by country is available for every Country, including both De jure and De facto independent A US state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of the United States of America that share Sovereignty with the federal government Four of the constituent states of the United States officially designate themselves Commonwealths: Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania A county of the United States is a local level of government created as a subdivision of a state by the state government or by the federal or territorial government as a subdivision A township in the United States refers to a small geographic area A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to cities, counties, Towns A city is an Urban area with a large Population and a particular Administrative, Legal, or Historical status A town is a type of settlement ranging from a few to several thousand (occasionally hundreds of thousands inhabitants although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet, but smaller than a Town or City. A municipality is an administrative entity composed of a clearly defined territory and its population and commonly denotes a City, Town, or Village, or Public works are the construction or engineering projects carried out by the State on behalf of the Community. With the exception of the original 13, each state was admitted to the Union at a specific time by an act of the U. The Thirteen Colonies were part of what became known as British America, a name that was used by Great Britain until the Treaty of Paris (1783 recognized the Wikipedia_talkFeatured_lists#Proposed_change_to_all_featured_lists for an explanation of this and other inclusion tags below -->This is a list of U S. Congress.
- The District of Columbia, which constitutes the city of Washington, the Capital of the United States. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D Although the District of Columbia is not a state and does not send Senators or voting Representatives to Congress, residents can vote in presidential elections and are represented in the Electoral College. An electoral college is a set of many electors who are empowered to elect a candidate to a particular Office.
- Indian reservations are given quasi-independent status. An Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American Tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau While every reservation is part of a state, and residents vote as residents of the state in which they reside and do pay federal taxes, the reservations are exempt from many state and local laws. The ambiguous nature of their status has both created opportunities (such as gambling in states that normally disallow it) and challenges (such as the unwillingness of some companies to open up shop in a territory where they are not certain what laws will apply to them).
- Territories of the United States may be incorporated (part of the United States proper) or unincorporated (known variously as "possessions", "overseas territories" or "commonwealths") Territories may also be organized (with self-government explicitly granted by an Organic Act of the U. Territories of the United States are one type of political division of the United States, administered by the U S. Congress) or unorganized (without such direct authorization of self-government). 31 of the current 50 states were organized incorporated territories before their admission to the Union. Organized incorporated territories are those Territories of the United States that are both incorporated (part of the United States proper and organized Since 1959, the United States has had only one incorporated territory (Palmyra Atoll), but maintains control of several unincorporated territories, both organized and unorganized. Palmyra Atoll is an incorporated Atoll administered by the United States government.
- The federal union, which constitutes the United States as a collective of the several states, and as it exercises exclusive jurisdiction over the military installations, and American embassies and consulates located in foreign countries; and until the District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973 had jurisdiction over the local affairs of the District of Columbia. Etymology The word bases is first recorded in English language from c A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one State or an international Inter-governmental organization (such as the United Nations) present in
- Such quasi-political divisions as conservation districts and school districts, which are usually just special, geographically designated subordinate public authorities. "Conservation Biology" redirects here For the Scientific journal, see Conservation Biology (journal. Districts are a type of Administrative division, in some countries managed by a Local government. School districts are a form of Special-purpose district which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools
- Recognized bodies, such as homeowners associations, which fulfill government functions, and have since been bound by subsequent court decisions to certain restrictions normally applying to local governments. A homeowners' association (abbrev HOA) may be A legal entity created by a real estate developer for the purpose of developing managing and selling a community
Altogether, there are an estimated 85,000 extant political entities in the United States. Political units and divisions of the United States are a subset of the total United States territory. United States territory is any extent of Region under the Jurisdiction of the federal Government of the United States, including all
Political units and system of operation
The primary political unit of the United States after the federal union is the state. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Technically and legally, states are not "divisions" created from the United States, but units that compose the US, because the United States and the several states that constitute it operate with a system of parallel sovereignty. Sovereignty is the exclusive Right to control a Government, a country, a people or oneself According to numerous decisions of the United States Supreme Court, the several states and the United States (that is, the federal state which is coextensive with the 50 several states and the District of Columbia) are sovereign jurisdictions. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D The sovereignty of the United States is strictly limited to the terms of the United States Constitution, whereas the sovereignty of each individual state is unlimited, except in two respects: 1. The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme Law of the United States. The sovereignty and powers that each state has transferred to the United States via the United States Constitution, and 2. The provisions of its own constitution, which usually (but not always) sets certain parameters for the exercise of the state's sovereignty.
Most states decentralize the administration of their sovereign powers, typically in three tiers but always employing at least two tiers and sometimes more than three tiers. The first tier of decentralization is always the statewide tier, constituted of agencies that operate under direct control of the principal organs of state government - such as bureaus of vital statistics, and departments of motor vehicles or public health. The second tier is always the county (called a borough in Alaska and a parish in Louisiana), which is an administrative division of the state. It may also be more than that (e. g. , a metropolitan municipality), but it is always an administrative division of the state. The third tier commonly found in many states, especially the Midwest, is the township, which is an administrative division of a county.
Basically, counties exist to provide general local support of state government activities, such as collection of property tax revenues (counties almost never have their own power to tax), but without providing most of the services one associates with municipalities, because counties are usually too big for that purpose. That is where the township comes in, to provide further localized services to the public in areas that are not part of a municipality.
In some states, such as Michigan, state universities are constitutionally autonomous jurisdictions, possessed of a special status somewhat equivalent to that of metropolitan municipality. That is, as bodies corporate, they operate as though they were municipalities but their autonomy from most legislative and executive control makes them equally comparable to administrative divisions of the state, equal or superior to counties.
In some states, cities operate independently of townships. Some cities (and all cities in Virginia) operate outside of the jurisdiction of any county. Cities, which are sometimes called towns, differ from counties and townships in that they are not administrative divisions of the state. Instead, they are semi-autonomous municipal corporations that are recognized by the state. In essence, the city as municipal corporation is the modern form of the ancient city-state, a sovereign entity that exists today only in the forms of Monaco, San Marino, Singapore, and the Vatican City. For other uses see Monaco (disambiguation Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco ( French: Principauté de Monaco; Monégasque The Most Serene Republic of San Marino (Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino is a country in the Apennine Mountains. Singapore Vatican City, officially the State of the Vatican City (Stato della Città del Vaticano is a Landlocked sovereign City-state whose territory
Divisions of the federal state include, first, the District of Columbia, which contains the United States Capitol Building - the seat of the Government of the United States (in contrast to most other countries, where the seat of government is the principal official residence of the president, monarch, or other head of state - as with Buckingham Palace in United Kingdom, Rideau Hall in Canada, and Áras na hUachtarán in Ireland). Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D Head of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a Monarchic or Republican Nation-state The United States Congress exercises exclusive jurisdiction over this and all other lands owned by the federal government.
Notwithstanding four states officially call themselves "commonwealth" (Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky), which go back to their original founding charters and constitutions. Four of the constituent states of the United States officially designate themselves Commonwealths: Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania In the federal context, the term 'commonwealth' means an intermediate status between 'territory' and 'state' - both in the sense of "independent state" and "U. Territories of the United States are one type of political division of the United States, administered by the U A state is a political association with effective Sovereignty over a geographic Area and representing a Population. S. state", but such does not apply to the four states that are commonwealths by their own state constitutions. At the Federal level, there is really no distinction, and the term is more of an archaism than one of any true import. However, Puerto Rico and the Northern Marianas Islands are territories which are commonwealths associated with the United States. They might someday advance to statehood, or they might become independent - as did the Philippines in 1946, after it was a commonwealth of the United States for many years. The Commonwealth of the Philippines was the political designation of the Philippines from 1935 to 1946 when the country was a commonwealth with the United This article is about US insular areas For US States that designate themselves as "Commonwealths" see Commonwealth (United States. A territory - whether "organized" and "unorganized" has significantly fewer rights in the grand scheme of things than a commonwealth (let alone a state), but it ranks at least a notch above "possessions" such as Wake Island, which has no permanent population and thus does not require even a simple territorial government. Territories of the United States are one type of political division of the United States, administered by the U An unorganized territory is a region of land generally with less self-governmental powers than other regions controlled by a specific government Wake Island (also known as Wake Atoll) is a Coral atoll having a Coastline of 12 miles (19 kilometers in the North Pacific Ocean For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government.
Federal oversight of United States territory
Congress of the United States
Article IV, Section 3 of the U. S. Constitution defines the extent of the authority that the U.S. Congress exercises over the territory of the United States:
- New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress. The United States Congress is the bicameral Legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses
- The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.
The power of Congress over territorial divisions that are not part of one of the states is exclusive and universal. Once the territory becomes a state of the Union, the state must consent to any changes pertaining to the jurisdiction of that state. This has been violated only once, when a rump legislature formed the State of West Virginia, seceding from Virginia, which itself had seceded from the United States in the months preceding the American Civil War. West Virginia ( is a state in the Appalachian Upland South, and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, bordered by The Commonwealth of Virginia ( is an American state The Confederate States of America (also called the Confederacy, the Confederate States, and CSA) formed as the government set up from 1861 Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South
United States Department of the Interior
On March 3, 1849, the last day of the 30th Congress, a bill was passed to create the U.S. Department of the Interior to take charge of the internal affairs of United States territory. Events 1284 - Statute of Rhuddlan incorporated the Principality of Wales into England 1575 - Indian Year 1849 ( MDCCCXLIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The United States Department of the Interior ( DOI) is a Cabinet department of the United States government that manages and conserves most federally The Interior Department has a wide range of responsibilities (which include the regulation of territorial governments, the basic responsibilities for public lands, and other various duties).
In contrast to similarly named Departments in other countries, 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 (BIA), and island dependencies, through the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA). History Although the bureau which was called the Office of Indian Affairs was formed in 1824 similar agencies had existed in the U The Office of Insular Affairs is a unit of the United States Department of the Interior that oversees federal administration of several United States possessions
States of the United States
At the Declaration of Independence, the United States consisted of 13 states, former colonies of the United Kingdom. A US state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of the United States of America that share Sovereignty with the federal government The United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4 1776 announcing that the thirteen American colonies then Colonisation (also known as Colonization) occurs whenever any one or more species populates a new area The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located In the following years, the number of states has grown steadily due to expansion to the west, conquest and purchase of lands by the American government, and division of existing states to the current number of 50 United States:
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The relationship between the state and national governments is rather complex, because of the country's federal system. Political federalism is a Political philosophy in which a group of members are bound together (Latin foedus, covenant) with a governing Under United States law, states are considered sovereign entities, meaning that the power of the states is considered to come directly from the people within the states rather than from the federal government. The federal government of the United States was created when sovereign states delegated some of their sovereignty to one central government. The sovereignty they delegated, however, was not complete. The logical extension of this delegation is that the federal government enjoys limited sovereignty, and the states retain whatever sovereignty they never delegated to the federal government. Federal law overrides state law in the areas in which the federal government is empowered to act, but the powers of the federal government are subject to the limited sovereignty delegated by the Constitution of the United States. (The Tenth Amendment of the U. The Tenth Amendment ( Amendment X) of the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, was ratified on December 15, S. Constitution declares that the powers not delegated to the federal government are retained by the states, but this arguably is mere truism. A truism is a claim that is so obvious or self-evident as to be hardly worth mentioning except as a reminder or as a rhetorical or literary device )
The American Civil War and Texas v. White established that states do not have the right to secede, and under the Constitution of the United States, and they are not allowed to conduct foreign policy. Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South Texas v White, was a significant case argued before the United States Supreme Court in 1869 Foreign Policy is a bimonthly American Magazine founded in 1970 by Samuel P
The United States–Canadian border is the longest undefended political boundary in the world. The 50 states are divided into distinct sections:
- the "continental United States", also known as "the Lower 48" and more accurately termed the conterminous, coterminous, or contiguous United States
- Alaska, an exclave, which is physically connected only to Canada
- the archipelago of Hawaii, in the central Pacific Ocean. The term continental United States refers to the 48 contiguous states located on the North American continent south of the border with Canada plus the District Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page An archipelago (ɑrkəˈpɛləgoʊ is a chain or cluster of Islands The word archipelago literally means "chief Sea " from Italian The State of Hawaii ( or həˈwaɪʔiː Hawaiian: Mokuāina o Hawaii) is a state in the United States located on an Archipelago in the The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions
The United States also holds several other territories, districts, and possessions, notably the federal district of the District of Columbia, which contains the nation's capital city of Washington, and several overseas insular areas, the most significant of which are American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. Federal districts are a type of Administrative division of a country under the direct control of that country's federal government Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D An insular area is a United States territory that is neither a part of one of the fifty states nor a part of the District of Columbia, the nation's American Samoa (Amerika Sāmoa or sm ''Sāmoa Amelika'' is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast Guam ( Chamorro: cha Guåhån) officially the Territory of Guam, is an island in the western Pacific Ocean and is an organized unincorporated The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI is a commonwealth in Political union with the United Puerto Rico (ˌpwertoˈriko officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ("Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico" {{lang-en|"Associated Free State of Puerto Rico"}} The United States Virgin Islands is a group of Islands in the Caribbean that are an Insular area of the United States. Islands gained by the United States in the war against Spain at the turn of the 20th century were no longer to be considered foreign territory; on the other hand, the United States Supreme Court declared that they were not automatically covered by the Constitution and that it was up to the United States Congress to decide what portions of the Constitution, if any, applied to them. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme Law of the United States. The United States Congress is the bicameral Legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses The only remaining exception is Palmyra Atoll, the United States's only incorporated territory; it is unorganized and uninhabited. Palmyra Atoll is an incorporated Atoll administered by the United States government. Territories of the United States are one type of political division of the United States, administered by the U An unorganized territory is a region of land generally with less self-governmental powers than other regions controlled by a specific government
The United States Navy has held a base at a portion of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, since 1898. Guantánamo Bay ( Spanish Bahía de Guantánamo) is a bay located in Guantánamo Province at the south-eastern end of Cuba The Republic of Cuba (ˈkjuːbə or) consists of the island of Cuba (the largest and second-most populous island of the Greater Antilles) Isla de la The United States government possesses a lease to this land, which only mutual agreement or United States abandonment of the area can terminate. The present Cuban government of Fidel Castro disputes this arrangement, claiming Cuba was not truly sovereign at the time of the signing. Politics of Cuba take place within a framework of a socialist republic. Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (born August 13 1926 is a Cuban revolutionary leader who was prime minister of Cuba from December 1959 to December 1976 and then president until Sovereignty is the exclusive Right to control a Government, a country, a people or oneself The United States argues this point is moot because Cuba apparently ratified the lease post-revolution, and with full sovereignty, when it cashed one rent check in accordance with the disputed treaty.
Divisions of U. S. states
Counties in the United States
The states are divided into smaller administrative regions, called counties in all but two states — exceptions being Alaska (parts of the state are organized into subdivisions called boroughs; the rest of the state's territory that is not included in any borough, known collectively as the Unorganized Borough, is divided into "census areas"), and Louisiana (which is divided into county-equivalents that are called parishes). Local government in the United States is generally structured in accordance with the laws of the various individual states. A county of the United States is a local level of government created as a subdivision of a state by the state government or by the federal or territorial government as a subdivision Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent A borough is an Administrative division of various countries In principle the term borough designates a self-governing Township although in practice The Unorganized Borough is that part of the US state of Alaska not contained in any of its 17 organized Boroughs. The State of Louisiana ( or, État de Louisiane, pronounced) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America A parish as an Administrative division of several countries. In England and in one American state ( Louisiana) it is sometimes called There are also independent cities which are within particular states but not part of any particular county or consolidated city-counties. An independent city is a City that does not form part of another general-purpose Local government entity Another type of organization is where the city and county are unified and function as an independent city. There are thirty-nine independent cities in Virginia and other independent cities or city-counties are San Francisco, California, Baltimore, Maryland, St. Louis, Missouri, Denver, Colorado and Carson City, Nevada. The Commonwealth of Virginia ( is an American state The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city The City and County of Denver (pronounced /ˈdɛnvɚ/ is the Capital and the most populous city of Colorado, in the United States Counties can include a number of cities, towns, villages, or hamlets, or sometimes just a part of a city. A city is an Urban area with a large Population and a particular Administrative, Legal, or Historical status A hamlet is (usually&mdashsee below a Rural community — that is a small settlement — which is too small to be considered a Village. Counties have varying degrees of political and legal significance, but they are always administrative divisions of the state. For further detail, visit counties and county statistics of the United States. A county of the United States is a local level of government created as a subdivision of a state by the state government or by the federal or territorial government as a subdivision The term " County " is used in 48 of the 50 states of the United States for the level of local government below the state itself Counties in many states are further subdivided into townships - which, by definition, are administrative divisions of a county. A township in the United States refers to a small geographic area In some states, such as Michigan, a township can file a charter with the state government, making itself into a "charter township", which is a type of mixed municipal and township status (giving the township some of the rights of a city without all of the responsibilities), much in the way a metropolitan municipality is a mixed municipality and county.
Cities in the United States
There are approximately 30,000 incorporated cities in the United States, with varying degrees of self-rule. This is a list of the cities towns and villages of the United States.
Townships in the United States
Township is an intermediate civic designation between city and county; cities sometimes cross county boundaries, townships never do. A township in the United States refers to a small geographic area Some townships have governments and political power, others are simply geographic designations. Townships in the United States are generally the product of the Public Land Survey System. The Public Land Survey System (PLSS is a method used in the United States to survey and identify land parcels particularly for titles and deeds of rural wild or undeveloped For more information, see survey township and civil township. Survey township, sometimes called Congressional township, as used by the United States Public Land Survey System, refers to a square unit of A civil township is a widely used unit of Local government in the United States, subordinate to a county. Townships are subdivided into sections, which never have separate governments. In US land surveying, a section is an area nominally one Mile square containing 640 Acres (2
The terms townships and towns are closely related (in many historical documents the terms are used interchangeably). However, the powers granted to towns or townships varies considerably from state to state. In New England, towns are a principal form of local government, providing many of the functions of counties in other states. History See also History of New England New England's earliest inhabitants were Algonquian -speaking Native Americans including the In California, by contrast, the pertinent statutes of the Government Code clarify that "town" is simply another word for "city", especially a general law city as distinct from a charter city. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean.
Jurisdictions not administered by the states
Federal district of the United States
A separate federal district, the District of Columbia, which is under the direct authority of Congress, was formed from land ceded to the Federal Government by the adjoining states of Maryland and Virginia; although all of the Virginia cession was subsequently returned to state jurisdiction. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D The Commonwealth of Virginia ( is an American state The district does not form part of any state and the United States Congress has the constitutional power of, "Exclusive jurisdiction in all cases whatsoever", over the district; however, the District of Columbia Home Rule Act provides for a mayor-council system of government. The United States Congress is the bicameral Legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses The District of Columbia Home Rule Act is a United States federal law passed in December 24, 1973 which devolved certain congressional powers of the A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning "greater" is a modern title used in many countries for the highest ranking officer in a municipal government A city council is a form of Local government, usually covering a City or other Urban area, such as a Town.
The District of Columbia is coterminous with the nation's capital city, Washington. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D
Indian reservations
American Indian reservations are a separate and special classification of political division of the U. An Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American Tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau S. Under U. S. law, Indian tribes are sovereign nations, meaning that their legal authority to exist derives independently of the state and federal governments. Sovereignty is the exclusive Right to control a Government, a country, a people or oneself However, under this definition of tribal sovereignty, they cannot act independently of the federal government, but they are immune from regulations under state law. Tribal sovereignty refers to the inherent authority of indigenous tribes to govern themselves Until the late-19th century, agreements between the U. S. government and Native American groups were generally called treaties, however these are now considered domestic legislation despite their name, and, since the passage of the Dawes Act in 1883, no new treaties with Indian tribes have been concluded. A Treaty is an agreement under International law entered into by actors in international law namely States and International organizations. The Dawes Act was enacted on February 8, 1887 and named after its sponsor U
Territories of the United States
Regions that are neither part of any State, nor assigned to a Native Nation, have often been legally designated as territories by the U. United States territory is any extent of Region under the Jurisdiction of the federal Government of the United States, including all Territories of the United States are one type of political division of the United States, administered by the U Territories of the United States are one type of political division of the United States, administered by the U S. government. Since territory now has legal definition under federal law, the term insular area is used as a generic reference. These can be incorporated territories (i. Territories of the United States are one type of political division of the United States, administered by the U e. , incorporated within all provisions of the US Constitution) or unincorporated (areas in which the US Constitution does not apply). From the organization of the Northwest Territory in 1789, all areas not admitted as States were under the direct control of Congress as organized incorporated territories, with some political autonomy at the local level. For the Canadian territory see Northwest Territories. For the northwestern corner of the Lower 48 see Northwestern United States. Organized incorporated territories are those Territories of the United States that are both incorporated (part of the United States proper and organized Autonomy ( Greek: Auto- Nomos - nomos meaning "law" one who gives oneself his/her own Law) is the right to Self-government Since the admission of Hawaii to the Union in 1959, there have been no incorporated territories other than the uninhabited Palmyra Atoll (formerly part of the Hawaii Territory, it was excluded from the act of admission). The State of Hawaii ( or həˈwaɪʔiː Hawaiian: Mokuāina o Hawaii) is a state in the United States located on an Archipelago in the Palmyra Atoll is an incorporated Atoll administered by the United States government. The Territory of Hawaii, abbreviated officially as TH, was established on July 7, 1898 and dissolved on August 21, 1959 when Several overseas unincorporated territories are now independent countries, such as Cuba, the Philippines, Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau. Territories of the United States are one type of political division of the United States, administered by the U The Republic of Cuba (ˈkjuːbə or) consists of the island of Cuba (the largest and second-most populous island of the Greater Antilles) Isla de la The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP The Federated States of Micronesia is an Island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, north of Papua New Guinea. Palau, officially the Republic of Palau (Beluu er a Belau is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, some 500 miles (800 km) east
Unlike states, sovereignty over insular areas rests not with the local people, but in Congress. In most areas, Congress has granted considerable self-rule through an Organic Act, which functions as a local constitution. The Northwest Ordinance grants territories the right to send a non-voting delegate to the U. A Delegate to Congress is a non-voting member of the United States House of Representatives who is elected from a U S. Congress.
The U. S. is part of several international disputes over the disposition of certain maritime and insular sovereignties some of which would be considered territories. See International territorial disputes of the United States
Insular areas of the United States
Several islands in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea are considered insular areas of the United States. The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions For the region see Caribbean. The Caribbean Sea (kəˈrɪbiən or /ˌkærɨˈbiːən/ is a tropical Sea in the Western Hemisphere An insular area is a United States territory that is neither a part of one of the fifty states nor a part of the District of Columbia, the nation's
Incorporated (integral part of United States)
Inhabited
- none
Uninhabited
- Palmyra Atoll (uninhabited, owned by The Nature Conservancy but administered by the Office of Insular Affairs; part of the United States Minor Outlying Islands)
Unincorporated (United States' possessions)
Inhabited
- American Samoa (unorganized; self-governing under authority of the U.S. Department of the Interior)
- Guam (organized under Organic Act of 1950)
- Northern Mariana Islands (commonwealth, organized under 1977 Covenant)
- Puerto Rico (commonwealth, organized under terms of the 1950 Puerto Rico-Federal Relations Act)
- U.S. Virgin Islands (organized under Revised Organic Act of 1954)
Uninhabited
Along with Palmyra Atoll, these form the United States Minor Outlying Islands:
- Baker Island
- Howland Island
- Jarvis Island
- Johnston Atoll
- Kingman Reef
- Midway Islands (administered as the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge) - small amount of contractors present
- Navassa Island
- Wake Island- small amount of contractors present
- Petrel Islands
- Serranilla Bank
From July 18, 1947 until October 1, 1994, the U. Palmyra Atoll is an incorporated Atoll administered by the United States government. The Nature Conservancy is a US charitable Environmental organization working to preserve the Plants, Animals, and natural communities The Office of Insular Affairs is a unit of the United States Department of the Interior that oversees federal administration of several United States possessions The United States Minor Outlying Islands, a statistical designation defined by the International Organization for Standardization 's ISO 3166-1 code consists of nine American Samoa (Amerika Sāmoa or sm ''Sāmoa Amelika'' is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast The United States Department of the Interior ( DOI) is a Cabinet department of the United States government that manages and conserves most federally Guam ( Chamorro: cha Guåhån) officially the Territory of Guam, is an island in the western Pacific Ocean and is an organized unincorporated The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI is a commonwealth in Political union with the United Puerto Rico (ˌpwertoˈriko officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ("Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico" {{lang-en|"Associated Free State of Puerto Rico"}} The United States Virgin Islands is a group of Islands in the Caribbean that are an Insular area of the United States. The United States Minor Outlying Islands, a statistical designation defined by the International Organization for Standardization 's ISO 3166-1 code consists of nine Baker Island is an uninhabited Atoll located just north of the Equator in the central Pacific Ocean about 3100 km (1670 nmi) southwest WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Jarvis Island (also formerly known as Bunker Island) is an uninhabited 4 Johnston Atoll is a 130 km² Atoll in the North Pacific Ocean at, about 1400 kilometers (750 nm) west of Hawaii. Kingman Reef is a largely submerged uninhabited tropical Atoll located in the North Pacific Ocean, roughly half way between the Hawaiian Islands and Midway Atoll (or Midway Island or Midway Islands; Hawaiian: Pihemanu Kauihelani) is a 2 National Wildlife Refuge is a designation for certain Protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Navassa Island ( French: La Navase, Haitian Kreyòl: Lanavaz or Lavash) is a small uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea Wake Island (also known as Wake Atoll) is a Coral atoll having a Coastline of 12 miles (19 kilometers in the North Pacific Ocean The Bajo Nuevo Bank (also called the Petrel Islands) is a small uninhabited Reef with some small Islets covered with Grass, located in the western Serranilla Bank is an uninhabited Reef, with small islets in the western Caribbean Sea, about 210 miles north-northeast of Nicaragua at. Events 390 BC - Roman - Gaulish Wars Battle of the Allia - a Roman army is defeated by raiding Gauls, Year 1947 ( MCMXLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 331 BC - Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela. Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar) S. administered the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, but more recently entered into a new political relationship with all four political units (one of which is the Northern Mariana Islands listed above, the others being the three freely-associated states noted below). The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia (western Pacific) administered by the United An associated state is the minor partner in a formal free relationship between a political territory with a degree of statehood and a (usually larger nation for which no other specific
Freely-associated states
The freely-associated states are the three sovereign states with which the United States has entered into a Compact of Free Association. The Compact of Free Association ( COFA) defines the relationship that three sovereign states—the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM the Republic of the Marshall They have not been within U. S. jurisdiction since they became sovereign; however, many considered them to be dependencies of the United States until each was admitted to the United Nations in the 1990s. A dependent territory dependent area or dependency is a territory that does not possess full political Independence or Sovereignty as a The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security The 1990s collectively refers to the years between and including 1990 and 1999
Electoral districts
Each political institution defines for itself the districts from which its members are elected. The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI is a Micronesian nation of islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean The Federated States of Micronesia is an Island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, north of Papua New Guinea. Palau, officially the Republic of Palau (Beluu er a Belau is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, some 500 miles (800 km) east Congressional districts are an example of this. A congressional district is an electoral Constituency that elects a single member of a Congress. State legislatures are also divided up from the territory of each state.
Other districts
In addition to general-purpose government entities legislating at the state, county, and city level, special-purpose entities such as conservation districts also exist. Conservation districts are Government entities that help control the use of land and Water in U
Government-like organs
Additionally, U. S. courts have ruled that there are smaller organs which are to be considered as fulfilling government functions, and should therefore be bound by the same restrictions placed on "traditional" (US-aligned) government bodies (non-discrimination, etc. Unlike most discrimination policies discrimination between, which is the discernment of qualities and recognition of the differences focused here discrimination against is ). These include homeowners associations (determined in Shelley v. Kraemer, Loren v. A homeowners' association (abbrev HOA) may be A legal entity created by a real estate developer for the purpose of developing managing and selling a community Shelley v Kraemer, 334 US 1, ( 1948) is a United States Supreme Court decision involving the enforceability of Restrictive covenants Sasser, Committee for a Better Twin Rivers v. Twin Rivers Homeowners’ Association), and company-owned towns (both for employees and for consumers, decided in the USSC case Marsh v. Alabama in 1946). The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. Marsh v Alabama,, was a case decided by the United States Supreme Court, in which it ruled that a state Trespassing statute could not be used to prevent Many homeowners' and neighborhood associations are considered non-profit organizations, but have the ability to raise taxes/fees, to fine members for infractions against association-rules, and to initiate lawsuits. A non-profit organization ( abbreviated "NPO" also "not-for-profit" is a legally constituted Organization whose objective is to support or engage The question of human rights/civil rights (freedom of expression, etc. Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without Censorship or Limitation. ) in such communities has not yet been conclusively determined, and varies from state to state.
See also
- United States territory
- Geography of the United States
- Territorial evolution of the United States
- Territories of the United States
- Historic regions of the United States
- History of United States continental expansion
- History of United States overseas expansion
- List of regions of the United States
- Organized territory
- Unceded territory
- Unorganized territory
External links
- Animated Map: Boundaries of the United States and the Several States
- U.S. Census Bureau Geographic Areas Reference Manual
- CityMayors article
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