U.S. territorial sovereignty
The United States asserts sovereign rights for exploring, exploiting, conserving, and managing its territory.
[2] This extent of territory is all the area belonging to, and under the dominion of, the United States federal government (which includes tracts lying at a distance from the country) for administrative and other purposes.
The extent of territory is all the area belonging to, and under the dominion of, the United States of America federal government (which includes tracts lying at a distance from the country) for administrative and other purposes.
All territory under the control of the federal government is considered part of the "United States" for purposes of law.
[3] From 1901 to 1905, the U.S. Supreme Court in a series of opinions known as the Insular Cases held that the Constitution extended ex proprio vigore to the territories.
[6] The Interior Department has a wide range of responsibilities (which include the regulation of territorial governments and the basic stewardship for public lands, et al.).
The exception is the "incorporated and unorganized" (see below) United States Territory of Palmyra Island, the legal remnant of the former United States Territory of Hawaii since 1959,[7] in which the local government and civil administration were assigned by the Secretary of the Interior to the Fish and Wildlife Service in 2001.
[8] The contiguous United States, Hawaii, and Alaska are divided into smaller administrative regions.
The District of Columbia and territories are under the direct authority of Congress, although each is allowed home rule.
[10][11] An unorganized territory was generally either unpopulated or set aside for Native Americans and other indigenous peoples in the United States by the U.S. federal government, until such time as the growing and restless population encroached into the areas.
As a result of several Supreme Court cases after the Spanish–American War, the United States had to determine how to deal with its newly acquired territories, such as the Philippines,[12][13] Puerto Rico,[14] Guam,[15][16] Wake Island, and other areas that were not part of the North American continent and which were not necessarily intended to become a part of the Union of States.
As a consequence of the Supreme Court decisions, the United States has since made a distinction between incorporated and unincorporated territories.
Several islands in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea are dependent territories of the United States.
The United States' jurisdiction has been established on vessels, ships, and artificial islands (along with other marine structures).
In any event, Congress needs to make laws defining if the extended waters, including oil and mineral rights, are under state or federal control.
Federal and state governments share economic and regulatory jurisdiction over the waters owned by the country.
When de facto military control is maintained and exercised, occupation (and thus possession) extends to that territory.
The United States exercises extraterritoriality on military installations, American embassies and consulates located in foreign countries, and research centers and field camps in Antarctica.
Because they are not part of any state, extraterritorial jurisdiction is federal, with Congress's plenary power under Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution.
The federal government also exercises property ownership, but not sovereignty over land in various foreign countries.
Examples include the John F. Kennedy Memorial built at Runnymede in England,[24] and 32 acres (13 hectares) around Pointe du Hoc in Normandy, France.
The Land Ordinance of 1785 instructed a geographer to oversee this work as undertaken by a group of surveyors.
