Political divisions of the United States United States, political divisions Political divisions (also alluded to as administrative divisions) of the United States are the various recognized governing entities that together form the United States.
The first-level political (administrative) division of the United States is the state.
Each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a defined geographic territory, and shares its sovereignty with the United States federal government.
According to various decisions of the United States Supreme Court, the 50 individual states and the United States as a whole are each sovereign jurisdictions. All state governments are modeled after the federal government and consist of three chapters (although the three-branch structure is not Constitutionally required): executive, legislative, and judicial. They retain plenary power to make laws covering anything not preempted by the U.S.
Towns in New York, Wisconsin and New England are treated as equivalents to townships by the United States Enumeration Bureau.
In some states, especially in New England, suburbs form the major unit of small-town government below the state level, in some cases eliminating the need for county government entirely.
Federal and state governments are established and recognized by the U.S.
Other entities may be recognized as governments by state law, court decision, or an examination of facts and circumstances that indicate it has the characteristics of a government, such as powers of taxation, law enforcement and civil authority. 2 Federal supervision of United States territory 2.1 Congress of the United States state governments, and Local government in the United States The major political entity of the United States is the state.
This constitution incorporates the doctrine of the separation of powers, whereby the federal government is split into three chapters, as well as concepts of federalism, describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments and of the states in relationship to the federal government.
On various occasions the United States Supreme Court has affirmed that the 50 individual states and the United States as a whole are each sovereign jurisdictions under the Constitution. Due to the shared sovereignty between each state and the federal government, Americans are people of both the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. States, however, are not sovereign in the Westphalian sense in global law which says that each State has sovereignty over its territory and domestic affairs, to the exclusion of all external powers, on the principle of non-interference in another State's domestic affairs, and that each State (no matter how large or small) is equal in global law. Additionally, the 50 U.S.
States do not possess global legal sovereignty, meaning that they are not recognized by other sovereign States such as, for example, France, Germany or the United Kingdom. The 50 states of the United States of America are as follows (this list contains both the postal code abbreviation and the traditional abbreviation for each state): Map of United States with state border lines.
The continental United States typically refers to the chief block of 48 states and their off-shore islands with the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Pacific Ocean to the west, Canada to the north, and Mexico to the south.
The designation "coterminous" or "contiguous" United States is also used for this grouping of 48 states, arguably more accurately, since Alaska is also positioned on the North American continent, and therefore "continental United States" should really refer to the Lower 48, plus Alaska.
Main article: County (United States) The states are divided into lesser administrative regions, called counties in all but two states.
Main article: Township (United States) See also: Incorporated town United States However, the powers granted to suburbs or townships vary considerably from state to state.
In New England, suburbs are a principal form of small-town government, providing many of the functions of counties in other states.
Also, in some states, large areas have no general-purpose small-town government below the county level.
Main article: City United States There are roughly 30,000 incorporated metros/cities in the United States, with varying degrees of self-rule.
Federal supervision of United States territory Article IV, Section 3 of the Constitution for the United States of America defines the extent of the authority that the U.S.
Congress exercises over the territory of the United States: New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected inside the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.
The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.
Once a territory becomes a state of the Union, the state must consent to any shifts pertaining to the jurisdiction of that state.
The only potential violation of this occurred when the council of Virginia declared the secession of Virginia from the United States at the start of the American Civil War and a newly formed alternative Virginia legislature, recognized by the federal government, consented to have West Virginia secede from Virginia.
Department of the Interior to take charge of the domestic affairs of United States territory.
In contrast to similarly titled Departments in other countries, the United States Department of the Interior is not responsible for small-town government or for civil administration except in the cases of Indian reservations, through the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and island dependencies, through the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA).
A separate federal district, the District of Columbia (DC), which is under the direct authority of Congress, was formed from territory ceded to the Federal Government by the states of Maryland and Virginia; however, the territory ceded by Virginia was returned to that state in 1846.
The District does not form part of any state and the United States Congress exercises "exclusive jurisdiction in all cases whatsoever", over the city; however, the District of Columbia Home Rule Act provides for limited home rule, including an voted for mayor and town/city council.
Residents of the District can vote in presidential elections, as the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution grants the District three electors in the Electoral College.
Main articles: Insular Area and Territories of the United States The insular areas of the United States are those jurisdictions that are neither a part of one of the 50 states nor the federal district. Unlike inside the States, sovereignty over insular areas rests not with the small-town people, but in Congress.
The insular areas include a number of territories under the sovereignty of the United States and three sovereign nations in no-charge association with the United States.
Territories incorporated inside the provisions of the Constitution for the United States of America are designated incorporated territories.
Since the organization of the Northwest Territory in 1789, all areas not admitted to the United States as States were under the direct control of Congress as ordered incorporated territories, with some political autonomy at the small-town level.
The unincorporated territories of the United States and their ISO 3166-1 codes (in parentheses) are as follows: United States Virgin Islands (VI) (organized under Revised Organic Act of 1954) Along with Palmyra Atoll, the following uninhabited territories form the United States Minor Outlying Islands (UM): In addition to the territories noted above, the United States administered the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands from July 18, 1947 until October 1, 1994.
The trust territory was later divided into four political entities the Northern Mariana Islands, listed above, and three freely-associated states with which the United States has entered into the Compact of Free Association (ISO 3166-1 codes in parentheses): The United States government possesses a lease to this land, which only mutual agreement or United States abandonment of the region can terminate.
The United States argues this point is irrelevant because Cuba apparently ratified the lease post-revolution, and with full sovereignty, when it cashed one rent check in conformity with the disputed treaty.
The United States government is part of a several international disputes over the disposition of definite maritime and insular sovereignties, some of which would be considered territories.
See International territorial disputes of the United States for more information.
The United States also holds a several other territories, districts, and possessions, prominently the federal precinct of the District of Columbia, and a several overseas insular areas, the most momentous of which are American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands.
Islands attained by the United States in the war against Spain at the turn of the 20th century under the control of the federal government is considered part of the "United States" for purposes of law; on the other hand, the United States Supreme Court declared in a series of opinions known as the Insular Cases that the Constitution extended ex proprio vigore to the territories.
The Northern Marianas Islands is a territory which are commonwealths associated with the United States.
American Indian reservations are areas of territory managed by an American Indian tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs.
There are about 310 Indian reservations in the United States.
As a result, laws on tribal lands may vary from the encircling area. The tribal council, not the county or state government, generally has jurisdiction over reservations.
Most Indian reservations were established by the federal government; a limited number, mainly in the East, owe their origin to state recognition. In addition to general-purpose government entities legislating at the state, county, and town/city level, special-purpose areas may exist as well.
Congressional districts are another example, formed for the purpose of electing members to the United States Congress.
The question of civil rights in such communities has not yet been conclusively determined, and varies from state to state.
Territorial evolution of the United States Territories of the United States Territories of the United States on stamps United States territory 1101(a)(38) Providing the term "State" and "United States" definitions on the U.S.
CONSEJO DE SALUD PLAYA DE PONCE v JOHNNY RULLAN, SECRETARY OF HEALTH OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO Page 6 and 7 (PDF), The United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, retrieved 4 February 2010 Animated Map: Boundaries of the United States and the Several States Political divisions of the United States Administrative divisions of the United States by first-level jurisdiction United States articles
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Administrative divisions of the United States by state - Subdivisions of the United States - Country subdivisions of the Americas
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