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U. S. territory that is neither a U. S. state nor the District of Columbia

In the law of the United States, an insular area is a U. S. associated jurisdiction that is not part of a U. S. state or the District of Columbia. This includes fourteen U. S. territories administered under U. S. sovereignty, as well as three sovereign states each with a Compact of Free Association with the United States. The term also may be used to refer to the previous status of the Swan Islands, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, as well as the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands when it existed. Three of the U. S. territories are in the Caribbean Sea, eleven are in the Pacific Ocean, and all three freely associated states are also in the Pacific. Two additional Caribbean territories are disputed and administered by Colombia. Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2 of the U. S. Constitution grants to the United States Congress the responsibility of overseeing the territories. A series of U. S. Supreme Court decisions known as the Insular Cases created a distinction between "incorporated territories", where the full Constitution of the United States applies, and "unincorporated territories", where only basic protections apply. The only current incorporated territory, Palmyra Atoll, is uninhabited. A U. S. territory is considered "organized" when the U. S. Congress passes an organic act for it. Palmyra Atoll was annexed along with the Republic of Hawaii (formerly a Kingdom) that same year. American Samoa was reclaimed the following year (1899). In 1917, at the height of World War I, Denmark sold the Danish Virgin Islands to the United States. The U. S. Navy annexed Kingman Reef in 1922. Spain had sold the Northern Mariana Islands to Germany in 1899. The islands passed to Japan, which in turn lost them to the United States in 1945 after the end of World War II. The Marshall Islands became self governing in 1979 and fully independent along with the Federated States of Micronesia in 1986. Palau achieved independence in 1994. The three countries maintain sovereignty with free association status with the United States, which provides them with defense assistance and economic resources.

Congress has extended citizenship rights by birth to all inhabited territories except American Samoa, and these citizens may vote and run for office in any U. S. jurisdiction in which they are residents. The people of American Samoa are U. S. nationals by place of birth, or they are U. S. citizens by parentage, or naturalization after residing in a State for three months. Nationals are free to move around and seek employment within the United States without immigration restrictions, but cannot vote or hold office outside American Samoa.

Residents of the five major populated insular areas do not pay U. S. federal income taxes but are required to pay other U. S. federal taxes such as import and export taxes, federal commodity taxes, Social Security taxes, etc. Individuals working for the federal government pay federal income taxes while all residents are required to pay federal payroll taxes (Social Security and Medicare). According to IRS Publication 570, income from other U. S. Pacific Ocean insular areas (Howland, Baker, Jarvis, Johnston, Midway, Palmyra, and Wake Islands, and Kingman Reef) is fully taxable as income of United States residents. Puerto Rico is inside the main domestic customs territory of the United States, but the other insular areas are outside it; tariff treatment varies (see ).

The U. S. State Department and the U. S. Code also use the term "insular area" to refer not only to territories under the sovereignty of the United States, but also those independent nations that have signed a Compact of Free Association with the United States. While these nations participate in many otherwise domestic programs, and full responsibility for their military defense rests with the United States, they are legally distinct from the United States and their inhabitants are neither U. S. citizens nor nationals. Some programs in these states are administered by the U. S. Office of Insular Affairs, along with other federal entities such as the Department of Defense.

Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands: U. N. trust territory administered by the U. S.; included the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Philippines: military government, 1899–1902; insular government, 1902–1935; commonwealth government, 1935–1942 and 1945–1946 (islands under Japanese occupation, 1942–1945 and puppet state, 1943–1945); granted independence on July 4, 1946. Puerto Rico: military government, 1899–1900; insular government, 1900–1952; became a commonwealth on July 25, 1952. Swan Islands (1863–1972): claimed by the U. S. under the Guano Islands Act; sovereignty ceded to Honduras in a 1972 treaty. Serrana Bank, Quita Sueño Bank and Roncador Bank: claimed by the U. S. under the Guano Islands Act; claims ceded to Colombia. Caroline Island, Kirimati, Flint Island, Malden Island, Starbuck Island, Vostok Island, Birnie Island, Gardner Island, Orona, McKean Island, Manra, Rawaki, Canton Island and Enderbury Island: claimed by the U. S. under the Guano Islands Act; claims ceded to Kiribati. Funafuti, Nukufetau, Nukulaelae and Niulakita: claimed by the U. S. under the Guano Islands Act; claims ceded to Tuvalu. Pukapuka, Manihiki, Penrhyn and Rakahanga: claimed by the U. S. under the Guano Islands Act; claims ceded to the Cook Islands. Atafu, Fakaofo and Nukunonu: claimed by the U. S. under the Guano Islands Act; claims ceded to Tokelau.