What Are the U.S. Territories?

The United States is a big place and it is certainly understandable to forget what areas are officially considered America. Occasionally news sources get it confused, maybe you might need to look up whether or not Guam is part of the U.S. or not. Sometimes, even, government websites are written in such a way as to make it seem like they don’t know either!

The reason for this clarification is due to a recent incident where there was a series of press releases that incorrectly misquoted the United States Department of State and said that a U.S. citizen needs a passport to visit Puerto Rico.

To be clear, U.S. citizens never need a passport to go to any U.S. territory or state, nor do they need a visa. So, as a reminder, here is a list of United States territories:

• Puerto Rico,
• The U.S. Virgin Islands,
• The Northern Mariana Islands,
• And American Samoa

There are a handful of other islands in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans that are considered territories of the United States, but these places are largely uninhabited and unless you work for the Fish and Wildlife Service it is unlikely that you will be visiting for a vacation.

The United States constitution offers a variety of convenient rights to the country’s citizens including free travel between states and territories. Be sure to take advantage of this when you can. America is full of diversity: in people, geography, culture and the like.