Territories of the United States are a type of political division that is directly overseen by the United States federal government, in contrast to the states, which share sovereignty with the federal government.
The territories were created to govern newly acquired land while the borders of the United States were still evolving; many of the boundaries of territories changed over time, when territories were subdivided or shifted, as when a portion of a territory was admitted as a state.
Many organized incorporated territories of the United States existed from 1789 to 1959 (the first being the Northwest and the Southwest Territory, the last being the Alaska Territory and the Hawaii Territory), through which 31 territories applied for and achieved statehood.
In the process of organizing and promoting territories to statehood, some areas of a territory demographically lacking sufficient development and population densities were temporarily orphaned from parts of a larger territory at the time a vote was taken petitioning Congress for statehood rights.
Under Article IV of the United States Constitution, territory is subject to and belongs to the United States (but not necessarily within the national boundaries or any individual state). This includes tracts of land or water not included within the limits of any State and not admitted as a State into the Union.
Click on a Territory below for more information via Wikipedia.
The following territories within the United States were officially organized by Congress with an Organic Act on the first date listed.
Each region was admitted as a US state on the second date listed.
 (1787–1803) Northwest Territory |  (1819–1836) Arkansas Territory |  (1854–1867) Nebraska Territory |
 (1790–1796) Southwest Territory |  (1822–1845) Florida Territory |  (1861–1864) Nevada Territory |
 (1798–1817) Mississippi Territory |  (1836–1848) Wisconsin Territory |  (1861–1876) Colorado Territory |
 (1800–1816) Indiana Territory |  (1838–1846) Iowa Territory |  (1861–1889) Dakota Territory |
 (1804–1812) Territory of Orleans |  (1848–1859) Oregon Territory |  (1863–1890) Idaho Territory |
 (1805–1812) Louisiana Territory |  (1849–1858) Minnesota Territory |  (1863–1912) Arizona Territory |
 (1805–1837) Michigan Territory |  (1850–1896) Utah Territory |  (1864–1889) Montana Territory |
 (1809–1818) Illinois Territory |  (1850–1912) New Mexico Territory |  (1868–1890) Wyoming Territory |
 (1812–1821) Missouri Territory |  (1853–1889) Washington Territory |  (1890–1907) Oklahoma Territory |
 (1817–1819) Alabama Territory |  (1854–1861) Kansas Territory |  (1900–1959) Hawaii Territory |
 (1912–1959) Alaska Territory |
21st Century Territories
Territories have always been a part of the United States. By Act of Congress, the term ‘United States,’ when used in a geographical sense, means “the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands of the United States.”
Since political union with the Northern Mariana Islands in 1986, they too are treated as a part of the U.S. An Executive Order in 2007 includes American Samoa as U.S. “geographical extent” duly reflected in U.S. State Department documents.
The five inhabited U.S. territories have local voting rights, have protections under U.S. courts, pay some U.S. taxes, and are represented in the U.S. Congress by delegates who can appoint constituents to the Army, Navy, Air Force and Merchant Marine academies. Approximately 4 million islanders are U.S. citizens; about 55,000 U.S. non-citizen nationals live in Samoa.
Under current law among the territories, “only persons born in American Samoa and Swains Island are non-citizen U.S. nationals”. Samoans are under the protection of the U.S., with freedom of U.S. travel without visas, and U.S. citizens do not lose citizenship by permanent residence there.
Inhabited United States territories have democratic self-government, in local three-branch governments, found respectively in Pago Pago, American Samoa; Hagåtña, Territory of Guam; Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; San Juan, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; Charlotte Amalie, United States Virgin Islands.
Nine uninhabited territories administered by the Interior Department are Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, Navassa Island, Palmyra Atoll, and Wake Island.
Every two years, U.S. citizens of the inhabited territories popularly elect “Members of Congress”, titled Congressman or Congresswoman. They “possess the same powers as other members of the House, except that they may not vote when the House is meeting as the House of Representatives.”
They participate in debate, are assigned offices, money for staff, and appoint constituents from their territories to the four military academies Army, Navy, Air Force and Merchant Marine Academy.
Like the delegate from District of Columbia, they do not vote in a roll call vote, but they vote on all legislation before Congress as equals in their standing committees, they are included in their party count for each committee, and they are equal to senators on conference committees. Depending on the congress, they may also vote on the floor in the House Committee of the Whole.
Click on a Territory below for more information via Wikipedia.
Inhabited territories
| Name | Capital | Date Acquired |
 American Samoa | Pago Pago | 1900 |
 Guam | Hagåtña | 1899 |
 Northern Mariana Islands | Saipan | 1986 |
 Puerto Rico | San Juan | 1899 |
 U.S. Virgin Islands | Charlotte Amalie | 1917 |
Uninhabited territories
| Name | Aerial View | Date Acquired |
| Baker Island |  | 1856 |
| Howland Island |  | 1858 |
| Jarvis Island |  | 1856 |
| Johnston Atoll |  | 1859 |
| Kingman Reef |  | 1860 |
| Midway Atoll |  | 1867 |
| Navassa Island |  | 1858 |
| Palmyra Atoll |  | 1898 |
| Wake Island |  | 1899 |