U.S. Territories

U.S. Caribbean Territories: Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands

El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico (USFS photo)
El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico (USFS photo)

Puerto Rico

1. San Juan: La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site – a World Heritage Site, and the rest of Old San Juan

2. El Yunque National Forest

3. Bioluminescence in Mosquito Bay at Isla de Vieques


Trunk Bay, Virgin Islands National Park, U.S. Virgin Islands (Photo: aweekoraweekend.com)
Trunk Bay, Virgin Islands National Park, U.S. Virgin Islands (Photo: aweekoraweekend.com)

U.S. Virgin Islands

1. St. John: Virgin Islands National Park

2. St. Croix: Salt River Bay National Historical Park & Ecological Preserve, Christiansted National Historic Site, and Buck Island Reef National Monument

3. St. Thomas: Charlotte Amalie (Blackbeard’s Castle, Frederick Lutheran Church, 99 Steps, and Government House)


Note: Navassa Island (no permanent population) is a U.S. territory in the Caribbean near Haiti, but it is listed with the other U.S. Minor Outlying Islands further down on this page for organizational convenience.


National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa, American Samoa (NOAA photo)
National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa, American Samoa (NOAA photo)

American Samoa

1. National Park of American Samoa

2. Marine Protected Areas of American Samoa (National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa – formerly known as the Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and Rose Atoll Marine National Monument and Wildlife Refuge) – World Heritage Tentative List

3. Ofu Island


Micronesia U.S. Territories: Guam and Northern Mariana Islands

Guam

1. War in the Pacific National Historical Park

2. Village of Umatac and its historic sites

3. Ritidian Point, part of the Guam National Wildlife Refuge


Mariana Trench Marine National Monument, Northern Mariana Islands (FWS photo)
Mariana Trench Marine National Monument, Northern Mariana Islands (FWS photo)

Northern Mariana Islands

1. Marianas Trench Marine National Monument – World Heritage Tentative List

2. American Memorial Park on Saipan

3. Village of Garapan with its beaches and street market


U.S. Minor Outlying Islands

The U.S. Minor Outlying Islands is the collective name given to nine unorganized territories of the United States. None of them have a permanent population. From time to time some of them host a small number of military and sometimes other personnel.

Midway Islands/Pihemanu Kauihelani – Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, old USN air station, located near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago

Johnston Atoll – Johnston Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, old USAF base, environmentally contaminated, located near Hawaii

Howland Island – Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge, Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, Amelia Earhart searching for but never reached it

Baker Island – Baker Island National Wildlife Refuge, Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument

Palmyra Atoll – Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, Nature Conservancy, old USN air station

Kingman Reef – Kingman Reef National Wildlife Refuge, Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, old USN air station, old PanAm Airways facility

Jarvis Island – Jarvis Island National Wildlife Refuge, Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument

Wake Island – Wake Island National Wildlife Refuge, Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, Wake Island WWII National Historic Landmark, old USN base, old USA base, current USAF base, located near and also claimed by the Marshall Islands, it is part of Micronesia

Navassa Island – Navassa Island National Wildlife Refuge, Navassa Island Light, also claimed by nearby Haiti


U.S. Military Bases Oversees

Guantánamo Bay, Cuba: The United States hosts a U.S. naval station military base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. But, unlike other U.S. military bases around the world, the U.S. exercises complete jurisdiction over the area through its lease.  The U.S. does recognize Cuba’s ultimate sovereignty over the leased area, however.

Other major overseas U.S. military bases include Okinawa, Japan; Seoul, South Korea; Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory; plus Qatar, Bahrain, and many others.