APPENDIX #11 TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS OF THE UNITED STATES

TERRITORY OF AMERICAN SAMOA

Dependency Unincorporated and un organized territory of the United
Status:

States.
Administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, Department
of the Interior.

Dates:

1899 treaty in which Germany and the United States divided the Samoan archipelago. The United States formally occupied its portion - a smaller group of eastern islands with the excellent harbor of Pago Pago - the following year.

Location:

Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about half way between Hawaii and New Zealand

BAKER ISLAND

Dependency
Status:

Unincorporated territory of the United States.
Administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service of the
United States Department of the Interior as part of the
National Wildlife Refuge system

Dates:

1857 - United States possession.
Late 1800s - guano deposits were mined by United
States and British companies.
1935 - attempt at colonization.
Present Day - National Wildlife Refuge.

Location:

Oceania, atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, about half way between Hawaii and Australia

TERRITORY OF GUAM

GUAM

Dependency Organized, unincorporated territory of the United States
Status:

with policy relations between Guam and the United
States under the jurisdiction of the Office of Insular
Affairs, Department of the Interior.

Location:

Oceania, atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, about half way between Hawaii and Australia.

Dependency
Status:

HOWLAND ISLAND
Unincorporated territory of the United States.
Administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service of the
Department of the Interior as part of the National
Wildlife Refuge system.

Dates:

Early 1800s - Discovered by the United States.
1857 - Claimed by the United States.
1860-1890 -guano deposits were mined by United States
and British companies.
Present day - National Wildlife Refuge.

Location:

Oceania, island in the North Pacific Ocean, about half way between Hawaii and Australia.

JARVIS ISLAND

Dependency
Status:

Unincorporated territory of the United States.
Administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service of the
Department of the Interior as part of the National
Wildlife Refuge system.

Dates:

1821 - discovered by Great Britain.
1858 - annexed by the United States.
1879 - abandoned by the United States after removal of
guano.
1935 - annexed by Great Britain.
1935 - United States occupied and claimed the island.
After World War II - abandoned by the United States.
Present Day - National Wildlife Refuge.

Location:

Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, about half way between Hawaii and the Cook Islands.

Dependency
Status:

JOHNSTON ATOLL
Unincorporated territory of the United States.
Administered by Pacific Air Forces, Hickam AFB, and the
Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior
as part of the National Wildlife Refuge system .

Dates:

1858 - annexed by the United States and the Kingdom of
Hawaii.
1860s - 1880s - United States mined guano.
1934 - United States Navy maintained island.
1948 - United States Air Force assumed control.
1950s - 1960s - used for high altitude nuclear tests.
1960s-2000 - maintained as a storage and disposal site for
chemical weapons.
Cleanup and closure of the facility is progressing, with
completion anticipated in 2004.

Location:

Oceania, atoll in the North Pacific Ocean 717 NM (1328 km) southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii, about one-third of the way from Hawaii to the Marshall Islands.

KINGMAN REEF

Dependency Unincorporated territory of the United States.
Status:

Administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service of the
Department of the Interior
January 18, 2001 established Kingman Reef National
Wildlife Refuge to be administered by the Director, Fish
and Wildlife Service; this refuge is managed to protect the
terrestrial and aquatic wildlife of Kingman Reef out to the

Dates:

1922 - annexed by the United States.
1930s served as a way station for flying boats on
Hawaii-to-American Samoa flights.
2001 - the waters surrounding the reef were designated a
National Wildlife Refuge.

Location:

Oceania, reef in the North Pacific Ocean, about half way between Hawaii and American Samoa.

MIDWAY ISLANDS

Dependency Unincorporated territory of the United States.
Status:

Administered by the US Navy, under Naval Facilities
Engineering Command, Pacific Division; this facility has
been operationally closed since September 10, 1993; on
October 31, 1996, through a presidential executive order,
the jurisdiction and control of the atoll was transferred to
the Fish and Wildlife Service of the US Department of the
Interior as part of the National Wildlife Refuge system.

Dates:

1867 - United Stated took possession.
1903 - Trans-Pacific Cable.
1935-1947 - Refuling stop for trans-Pacific flights.
1942 - United States victory over a Japanese fleet off
Midway was one of the turning points of World War II.
Until 1993 - served as a Naval station.
Present Day - National Wildlife Refuge.
From 1996 - 2001 - the refuge was open to the public. It
is now temporarily closed

Location:

Oceania, atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, about one-third of the way from Honolulu to Tokyo.

NAVASSA ISLAND

Dependency Unincorporated territory of the United States.
Status:

Administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service,
Department of the Interior.
In September 1996, the Coast Guard ceased operations and
maintenance of Navassa Island Light, a 46-meter-tall
lighthouse on the southern side of the island; there has
also been a private claim advanced against the island.