US territories explained

[jacoblind]

Funny part about the Virgin Islands is that while you drive on the left you are still driving a car where the driver is also on the left. Kinda scary driving up and over St John where you see the edge of the road and a steep drop off out your drivers side window.

[Sphere]

American Samoa is a bad situation for the locals and should be changed. By default, they are born US "nationals" and have to apply for US citizenship (unless their parents already have it). Which is a hassle that doesn't need to exist.

Automatic US citizenship should be granted just like in Guam.

[nperceived]

great short. Can you make a similar short for Australian external territories, too?

[jtom]

More context about the Mariana Islands
1: they were part of Spain but after the Spanish American war Spain sold them to Germany. Germany lost them to Japan after WW1 who in turn lost them to the US after WW2.
2: after WW2 they weren’t formally annexed for some time before they were a trust territory of the US under the UN. They actually voted to join Guam but Guam rejected it.
3: In the early 70s the Islands officially held a referendum where they could seek independence or commonwealth status, like what Puerto Rico is, and they chose the later. The referendum established a formal political union with the US and was approved UN.

And so, they are the least controversial part of the country’s territory. Also if there’s any doubt about whether or not the US rigged the election… there were three other island chains that were owned by Japan that the US administered after the war. All 3 picked independence. The Mariana Islands were the exception.

[DavidMartin-udgs]

Fun fact about them: they can set their own drinking ages. Puerto Rico for example is 18

[chandlerblachut]

America also owns a military/prison compound called Guantanamo bay, on the island of Cuba. Not a territory or a common wealth, but it was also acquired after the spanish American war. Cuba was granted independence but part of the agreement was America would keep Guantanamo bay. Legally speaking Cuba can’t demand the territory back because they never owned it in the first place, so America just keeps it

[olajong]

Uk and France overseas territories would be interesting 😆

[MichaelJordan-uoke]

I suggest folks research insular cases. That said here is huge issue. Many companies in USA treat territories as international when they arent

[hanschristopherson]

The sad thing is a lot of lower 48 Americans don’t know that these are part of the US, it’s always sad when someone doesn’t know that Puerto Ricans are US citizens

[elizabetholiviaclark]

It's good that you put this up. I'm assuming that most US citizens don't really know this bit of detail about US territories. I'm not finger pointing at all, just making the observation that this wasn't stressed in school. We know that Idaho is a state, and hopefully we can find it on a map, and then ... well potatoes. Maybe we don't know more than that, but we know about Idaho's relationship with the rest of our nation. It's a state, with two senators, and x number of representatives. But what does the average citizen know about the American Samoa?

I remember seeing a documentary or TV Show, it might have been John Oliver's Last Week Tonight but I'm not sure. Anyway, it was about Samoans whom had served in the US military, but did not come away with full citizenship. That person is still an American national rather than a full citizen. The closest VA facility for some services may be impossible to get to, because it's in Hawaii or some other place where this veteran would have to fly to get to their appointment. The crux of that person's anxiety, though, seemed to be the lack of recognition as a full citizen, a player with the same status as any other member of this American experiment.

In reading the comments, I also see that there are Samoans who don't want statehood, and I don't think most US citizens know about any of that. I certainly have a lot to learn. My point is that citizens of the US should know way more about US territories and the people who live there. I feel as though we've subconsciously relegated them to the corner when we ought to have been appreciating them.

[LiamZurC]

British Territories: Cayman Islands, Turks And Caicos Islands, British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Gibraltar, Jersey, Guernsey, Herm (Guernsey Island I Don't Know If It Counts?), Sark (Guernsey Island I Don't Know If It Counts Too?), Alderney (Guernsey Island I Don't Know If It Counts Too?), British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, Ascension Island, Tristan Da Cunha, Anguilla, Montserrat, Falkland Islands, Akrotiri And Dhekelia & Finally Isle Of Man

[leullakew]

All citizens and legal permanent resident immigrants of the United States are considered U.S. Nationals. American Samoans (at least those who have not gained U.S. Citizenship are automatically granted U.S. National status) in contrast to other non-citizen U.S. Nationals they can’t be deported and have the same exact protections as U.S. Citizens on matters of immigration, international, diplomatic, and consular affairs (they also have the ability to become citizens). I’m not sure if non-citizen U.S. Nationals can vote in federal elections, I doubt it, and voting/holding office in local/state elections (outside of let’s say American Samoa for American Samoans) is dependent on the laws of that locality.
—
As of right now, many American Samoans in American Samoa don’t want to automatically gain U.S. Citizenship or become a state and be treated in a similar way as other parts of the country because they might not be able to retain their current territorial governing structure that is deemed unconstitutional. In American Samoa, their current government structure revolves around ethnic and tribal affiliation which goes against the United States Constitution which states reciprocity among the states within the union as suffrage to all (qualifying) citizens (not found incompetent or depending on state laws, found to be convicted of a felony). Although a number of mainland and state-residing American Samoans do want to automatically gain citizenship when by virtue of moving to a state. I personally believe there might be a way around this issue by treating American Samoa as a Reservation the same way Recognized Native American Tribal Reservations are part of states and members are simultaneously US citizens but are self-governing, have their own governing structures, and are categorized as a separate sovereigns from that of the states they are a part of - the upper level of government after the reservation being the national government and not the state. So American Samoans can gain citizenship like other territories, have American Samoa incorporated as a state, and maintain their current government structure by making the state/territory coterminous with the reservation - in effect they get citizenship automatically, keep their internal governing structures, and have representation in Congress and the ability to elect the national president. The other remaining 4 out of 5 inhabited territories (Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Guam, Mariana Islands) and the residential-commercial portions of Washington, D.C. should have become states a long time ago because many of them already want to and don’t have the same difficulties around governing structures as American Samoa. Some info about Washington, D.C.: it’s in some limbo status where it has a lot of the same responsibilities as a state with less rights afforded to other states but also has less rights than territories on some issue and more on other issues (e.g. pay federal taxes - even more than some states, no voting representation in Congress, all local laws can blocked by the federal government, depending on the party in power in the federal government may get less funding states while having more responsibilities than territories). The main self-introduced plan for DC statehood is to split it into two distinct entities one stays the status quo federal district while the residential-commercial portion gains statehood.

[LiamZurC]

Australian Territories: Heard Island And McDonald Islands, Ashmore And Cartier Islands, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Christmas Island, Norfolk Island, Australian Antarctic Territory & Finally The Coral Sea Islands
Australian State Territories (Idk What To Call This Other Territories): Jervis Bay Territory & The Australian Capital Territory (Capital: Canberra)

[ChildofC-]

Either give them independence or make them citizens so they can vote.

[LiamZurC]

Dutch Territories: Saba, Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius, Aruba, Curacao & Finally Bonaire

[julydc]

You forgot to mention Puertoricans are U.S. citizens since 1917.

[juanrivera]

THANK YOU FOR YOUR INFORMATION, WE LEARN THIS IN ELEMENTARY.
VIRGIN ISLANDS PEACE ✊🏿✊🏿✊🏿

[ngashjr]

American Samoa sound like a great wrestler's stage name

[LiamZurC]

Spanish Territories: Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, Ceuta & Finally Melilla

[BR-itqe]

The mariana islands weren't aquired from the Spanish. The Spanish sold them to the Germans in the late 1890s The Japanese occupied them during ww1 and were given them as a mandate after WW1. The US then took control of them following ww2. They are actually in the same island chain a Guam.