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'''Unorganized territory''' may refer to: |
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{{Short description|Region of land in the US without a "normally" constituted system of government}} |
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* An [[unincorporated area]] in any number of countries |
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{{See also|Unincorporated area}} |
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* One of the current or former [[territories of the United States]] that has not had a government "organized" with an "organic act" by the U.S. Congress |
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{{Refimprove|date=November 2017}} |
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In the [[United States]], an '''unorganized territory''' is a [[Territory|region of land]] under U.S. [[sovereignty]] that is not within the bounds of a [[U.S. state]] and that is without a [[government]] established by the [[United States Congress]] through an [[organic act]]. The term was historically applied either to a newly acquired region not yet constituted as an [[Organized incorporated territories of the United States|organized incorporated territory]] (e.g. the [[Louisiana Purchase]] prior to the establishment of [[Territory of Orleans|Orleans Territory]] and the [[District of Louisiana]]), or to a region previously part of an organized incorporated territory left "unorganized" after part of it had been organized and achieved the requirements for statehood (e.g. a large portion of [[Missouri Territory]] became unorganized territory for several years after its southeastern section became the state of [[Missouri]]). The U.S. currently exercises sovereignty over ten unorganized territories: [[American Samoa]] (the only one with a native resident population), [[Baker Island]], [[Howland Island]], [[Jarvis Island]], [[Johnston Atoll]], [[Kingman Reef]], [[Midway Atoll]], [[Navassa Island]], [[Palmyra Atoll]] (previously a part of the [[Territory of Hawaii]], and the only one that is an incorporated U.S. territory), and [[Wake Island]]. |
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==U.S. territories== |
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[[File:USA territorial growth.gif|thumb|upright=1.05|[[United States territorial acquisitions|United States territorial growth]] from 1810 to 1920]] |
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An unorganized territory can also be a [[Territories of the United States|United States territory]] for which the [[United States Congress]] has not enacted an organic act. In this sense, unorganized territories are territories over which the federal U.S. government is sovereign but which are not located within any of the [[U.S. state|states]] of the Union and have not been "organized" into self-governing units. Currently, all federal unorganized territories are [[insular area]]s, administered by the [[Office of Insular Affairs]], [[U.S. Department of the Interior]]. [[American Samoa]] is technically unorganized, in that Congress has not passed an organic act, but it is effectively self-governing, under the terms of a constitution last revised in 1967. As of {{CURRENTYEAR}}, [[Palmyra Atoll]] (formerly part of the [[Territory of Hawaii]]) is the only unorganized ''incorporated'' U.S. territory. The other unorganized territories along with all of the organized territories are unincorporated. Incorporated territories are permanently part of the United States whereas [[Unincorporated territories of the United States|unincorporated territories]] may be sold, leased or granted independence by the United States. |
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At various times during the 19th century, large parts of the [[Great Plains]] were unorganized territory. After the [[Louisiana Purchase]] from France in 1803, the entire region was part of the [[Louisiana Territory]] until 1812 and the [[Missouri Territory]] until 1821. In 1821 the [[Missouri Compromise]] created the [[Missouri|State of Missouri]] from the territory, and the rest of the region was left unorganized. The [[Kansas–Nebraska Act]] of 1854 created the [[Kansas Territory|Kansas]] and [[Nebraska Territory|Nebraska]] Territories, bringing organized government to the region once again. The creation of Kansas and Nebraska left the [[Indian Territory]] as the only unorganized territory in the Great Plains. |
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In 1858, the western part of the [[Minnesota Territory]] became unorganized when it was not included in the new state of [[Minnesota]]; this area was organized in 1861 as part of the [[Dakota Territory]]. On May 2, 1890, the western half of the Indian Territory was organized as [[Oklahoma Territory|Oklahoma]]. The remainder was incorporated into the [[Oklahoma|State of Oklahoma]] upon its admission to the union in 1907. |
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[[Alaska]] was an unorganized territory between its acquisition from [[Empire of Russia|Russia]] in 1867 and the creation of [[Alaska Territory]] in 1912. [[Hawaii]] was as well from the time of its [[annexation]] by the U.S. in 1898 until organized as [[Hawaii Territory]] in 1900. |
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==U.S. Census Bureau== |
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{{Clarify section|see https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch8GARM.pdf|date=February 2018}} |
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Unorganized territories, as defined by the [[U.S. Census Bureau]], occur in 10 [[minor civil division]] (MCD) states ([[Arkansas]], [[Indiana]], [[Iowa]], [[Louisiana]], [[Maine]], [[Minnesota]], [[North Carolina]], [[North Dakota]], [[Ohio]], and [[South Dakota]]) where portions of [[County (United States)|counties]] are not included in any legally established MCD or independent incorporated place. The U.S. Census Bureau recognizes such separate pieces of territory as one or more separate county subdivisions for statistical purposes. It assigns each unorganized territory a descriptive name, followed by the designation "unorganized territory". Unorganized territories were first used for statistical purposes in conjunction with the 1960 census.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/geo/www/cob/cs_metadata.html |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2017-12-07 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510014856/http://www.census.gov/geo/www/cob/cs_metadata.html |archivedate=2013-05-10 }}</ref> |
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At the [[United States Census, 2000|2000 census]] there were 305 of these territories within the United States. Their total land area was 85,392 square miles (221,165 km<sup>2</sup>) and they had a total population of 247,331. South Dakota had the most unorganized territories, 102, as well as the largest amount of land under that status: 39,785 square miles (103,042 km<sup>2</sup>), or 52.4% of the state's land area. North Dakota followed with 86 territories, 20,358 square miles (52,728 km<sup>2</sup>), or 29.5% of its land area. Maine was next with 36 territories, 14,052 square miles (36,396 km<sup>2</sup>), or 45.5% of its land area. Minnesota had 71 territories, 10,552 square miles (27,330 km<sup>2</sup>), or 13% of its land area. Several other states had small amounts of unorganized territory. The unorganized territory with the largest population was [[Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune|Camp Lejeune, North Carolina]], a [[United States Marine Corps]] base with a census population of 34,452 inhabitants. |
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In the [[2010 United States census|2010 census]], unorganized territory areas were identified in nine U.S. states: Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, and South Dakota.<ref name=Census2011definition>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/geo/www/2010census/gtc/gtc_cousub.html |title=Geographic Terms and Concepts - County Subdivision |author=U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division |date=February 2011 |accessdate=July 10, 2012 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120709214531/http://www.census.gov/geo/www/2010census/gtc/gtc_cousub.html |archivedate=July 9, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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* [[Unorganized Borough, Alaska]], an area without county-level government. |
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* [[Territories of the United States]] |
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** [[Organized incorporated territories of the United States]] |
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** [[Unincorporated territories of the United States]] |
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** [[List of unorganized territories in Quebec]] |
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* [[Unincorporated area]] |
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* [[Unparished area]], areas of England outside any civil parish |
* [[Unparished area]], areas of England outside any civil parish |
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{{dab}} |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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==External links== |
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* [https://archive.today/20200211183821/http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=d&-context=dt&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-CHECK_SEARCH_RESULTS=N&-CONTEXT=dt&-mt_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_P001&-tree_id=4001&-keyword=UT&-transpose=N&-all_geo_types=N&-redoLog=true&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=06000US0501393375&-geo_id=06000US0513191320&-geo_id=06000US1800509937&-geo_id=06000US1915393762&-geo_id=06000US2203397205&-geo_id=06000US2300311785&-geo_id=06000US2300313900&-geo_id=06000US2300353602&-geo_id=06000US2300369930&-geo_id=06000US2300373472&-format=&-_lang=en&-show_geoid=Y Unorganized Territory County Subdivisions] United States Census Bureau |
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{{Terms for types of administrative territorial entities}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Unorganized Territory}} |
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[[Category:Former regions and territories of the United States]] |
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[[Category:United States Census Bureau geography]] |
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[[Category:Subdivisions of the United States]] |
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[[Category:Types of country subdivisions]] |
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[[Category:Territories]] |
Latest revision as of 04:18, 11 May 2022
Unorganized territory may refer to:
- An unincorporated area in any number of countries
- One of the current or former territories of the United States that has not had a government "organized" with an "organic act" by the U.S. Congress
- Unorganized area, any geographic region in Canada that does not form part of a municipality or Indian reserve
See also
[edit]- Unorganized Borough, Alaska, an area without county-level government.
- Unparished area, areas of England outside any civil parish