^ American Samoa ~ #Official name: #Territory of American Samoa@#Status: #Unorganized unincorporated territory. American Samoa's native inhabitants are U.S. nationals; they are not American citizens but may migrate freely to the United States. In 1978, President Carter signed into law an act of Congress giving the islands one nonvoting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives.@#History: #The six islands in the eastern Samoan group came under American hegemony in 1899, when Great Britain and Germany renounced their claims in favor of the United States, and Swains Island was added in 1925. In 1977, American Samoa held its first popular election for governor. There is a legislature, the Fono, with limited authority, the House of Representatives being elected by universal suffrage, the Senate by the native chiefs.@#Capital and largest city: #Pago Pago@#Population: #34,500@#Location: #South Pacific islands. American Samoa consists of six small Pacific islands in the eastern Samoan island group, plus Swains Island, 250 miles north of Tutuila. It is roughly 2,200 miles southwest of Hawaii and 1,600 miles northeast of the northern tip of New Zealand.@#Land Area: #77 square miles@#Highest point: #Lata Mountain, 3,160 feet@#Lowest point: #Pacific Ocean, sea level@#Motto: #Samoa--Muamua le Atua (Samoa, God is First)@#Flower: #Paogo (Ula-fala)@#Plant: #Ava@#Song: #Amerika Samoa ^ Federated States of Micronesia ~ #Official name: #Federated States of Micronesia@#Status: #Freely associated state. The United States retains military responsibility for the region, and is providing financial support for a limited time; otherwise, the states are fully self-governing.@#History: #In 1947, following the end of World War II, the islands and atolls of the Pacific in the area of Micronesia became part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, a United Nations trusteeship set up under U.S. administration. In a 1978 referendum, four of the island districts voted to accept free association with the United States and became the Federated States of Micronesia. Tosiwo Nakayama was elected president on May 11, 1979. The federal Congress consists of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The United Nations Security Council confirmed the acts of self-determination in December of 1990, at which time the islands became fully self-governing.@#Capital: #Kolonia, Ponape Island@#Largest City: #Moen, Truk Island@#Population: #73,160@#Location: #North Pacific islands, south of Guam. Each of the four states, Ponape, Yap, Kosrae and Truk, is made up of a group of islands.@#Land Area: #271 square miles ^ Guam ~ #Official name: #Territory of Guam@#Status: #Organized unincorporated territory. Administration is under the U.S. Department of the Interior. The people of Guam are U.S. citizens. Although they do not vote in national elections, they have one nonvoting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. Elected officials include a governor and lieutenant governor, and a unicameral legislature.@#History: #The island was under Spanish control from 1565 until the end of the Spanish-American War in 1898, when it was ceded to the United States. The site of a major United States military base, the island was invaded by the Japanese during the Second World War. Guam became a U.S. territory on August 1, 1950, at which time the people became U.S. citizens.@#Capital: #Agana@#Largest city: #Tamuning@#Population: #102,977@The native Chamorros, who are of Micronesian, Filipino and Spanish ancestry, make up about half the population. Most of the rest are military or other government transients. English is the official language. About 95% of the native Guamanians are Roman Catholics.@#Economy: #U.S. military installations and tourism are the most significant factors in the economy. Guam is the only American territory without excise duties (except for tobacco, liquid fuel, and liquor).@#Location and Land Description: #An island in the western Pacific, Guam is the largest and most southerly of the Mariana Islands, 1,300 miles east of the Philippines and 1,475 miles south of Japan. Of volcanic origin, it is mountanous in the south, a plateau in the north. The climate is tropical, with moderately heavy rainfall.@#Land Area: #209 square miles@#Highest point: #Mount Lamlam, 1,332 feet@#Lowest point: #Pacific Ocean, sea level@#Popular name: #Hub of the Pacific@#Flower: #Puti Tai Nobio (Bougainvillea)@#Bird: #Toto (Fruit Dove)@#Tree: #Ifit (Intsiabijuga)@#Song: #Stand Ye Guamanians #Stone: #Latte@#Animal: #Iguana ^ Johnston Atoll ~ #Official name: #Johnston Atoll@#Status: #Unincorporated possession. No local government.@#History: #Johston Atoll was annexed in 1858 by both the United States and the Kingdom of Hawaii. A quantity of guano was removed during the next 50 years, and for a long time the area was also a bird reservation. It was taken over by the U.S. Navy in 1934. In 1958 and 1962 it was the site of high-altitude nuclear tests. In 1971 the Defense Department started to move 13,000 tons of nerve and mustard gas stored on Okinawa to igloo-shaped structures on Johnston.@#Population: #339 (1981 est.)@#Location: #North Pacific, in the Polynesian region. This Pacific atoll lies 715 miles southwest of Honolulu. It consists of a reef around four islets.@#Area: #91 square miles ^ Marshall Islands ~ #Official name: #Republic of the Marshall Islands@#Status: #Freely associated state. The United States retains military responsibility and continues to provide financial aid. Government officials include a president and the Nitijela, a legislative body.@#History: #Following the end of World War II, the Marshall Islands became part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, a United Nations trusteeship set up under U.S. administration in 1947. The United States conducted postwar nuclear tests on Bikini and Kwajalein Islands. The electorate rejected membership in the Federated States of Micronesia in a 1978 referendum, and established the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Under the 1979 constitution legislation is the function of the 33-member Nitijela which meets at the government center on Majuro atoll. The president is Amata Kabua. The U.S. government signed agreements with the government of the Marshall Islands in October-November 1980 providing for free association status. The United Nations Security Council approved the acts of self-determination in December 1990, granting official recognition of the new republic.@#Capital and largest city: #Majuro Island@#Population: #35,000@#Location: #Thirty atolls and five islands in the central North Pacific, within the region of Micronesia. The two major island groups are the Ratak Chain and the Ralik Chain.@#Land area: #70 square miles ^ Midway Islands ~ #Official name: #Midway Islands@#Status: #Unincorporated possession. No local government. Functions as a naval installation and air base for the U.S. military; its chief executive is a naval officer.@#History: #The islands were uninhabited when claimed as a U.S. possession in 1867. Placed under the U.S. Navy in 1903, Midway was the scene of one of the great air/sea battles of World War II. Midway is also noted as a nesting site for seabirds; a portion of the islands has been designated a national wildlife reserve.@#Population: #526 (Made up of U.S. military and government personnel.)@#Location: #Central North Pacific islands. Midway is near the western end of the Hawaiian chain, 1,200 miles northwest of Honolulu. It consists of an atoll with two islets.@#Land area: #1.9 square miles ^ Northern Mariana Islands ~ #Official name: #Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands@#Status: #U.S. Commonwealth. Elected officials include a governor and a bi-cameral Legislature.@#History: #Following the end of the Second World War, the Northern Mariana Islands became part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, a United Nations trusteeship set up under U.S. administration in 1947. In 1975 the electorate voted in favor of future commonwealth status and in 1976 the U.S. Congress approved a plan making the islands a commonwealth associated with the United States. Following a March 1977 referendum approving a new constitution--providing for an elected bicameral legislature and an elected governor--Carlos S. Camacho became the islands' first democratically elected chief executive, and the first native islander to administer the Northern Marianas in over 400 years of foreign domination. The bi-cameral Legislature consists of a 9-member Senate and a 14-member House of Representatives.@#Capital and largest city: #Saipan Island@#Population: #20,000@#Location: #Northern West Pacific, in the region of Micronesia.@#Land area: #183.5 square miles@#Tree: #Flame Tree@#Flower: #Plumeria ^ Palau ~ #Official name: #Republic of Palau@#Status: #Until official United Nations recognition of an independent Palau, the republic officially remains a part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, under U.S. administration. Upon U.N. recognition, the republic will become a freely associated state under the terms of an agreement approved in 1987, with the United States providing financial support and maintaining the right to control military activities in the area.@#History: #In 1947, Palau became part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, a United Nations trusteeship set up under U.S. administration. Palau rejected inclusion in the Federated States of Micronesia in a 1978 referendum. Under the constitution of 1980, which established the Republic of Palau, the government consists of a president and a bicameral legislature consisting of an 18-member Senate and a 16-member House of Delegates.@#Capital and largest city: #Koror@#Population: #12,177@#Location: #West Pacific, westernmost of the Caroline Islands.@#Land area: #192 square miles ^ Puerto Rico ~ #Official name: #Commonwealth of Puerto Rico@#Status: #U.S. Commonwealth. One nonvoting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, who may introduce legislation. Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens and, if they migrate to this country, may vote subject only to local electoral requirements. Puerto Rico is not liable to federal taxation. The intense debate about the future of Puerto Rico, regarding continued Commonwealth status, possible statehood or independence, continues.@#History: #Columbus claimed the island for Spain in 1493 on his second voyage to the New World. Spanish colonization began under Ponce de Leon in 1508. Occupied by American troops during the Spanish-American War, the island was ceded to the United States by Spain in 1898. Congress provided for its civil government by the Foraker Act of 1900 and granted Puerto Ricans U.S. citizenship in 1917 by an "Organic Act," known as the Jones Act. In 1947 Puerto Rico obtained the right to elect its governor. Commonwealth status in free association with the United States was achieved in 1952. Operation under a constitution much like that of the United States, Puerto Rico has an elected legislature consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. In 1977, the Puerto Rican legislature provided for the selection of delegates to the Democratic and Republican conventions by presidential primary. In ?? 1991, the legislature voted to make Spanish the official language of Puerto Rico.@#Capital and largest city: #San Juan@#Population: #3,279,321@#People: #Many of the people of Puerto Rico are of mixed African-Spanish descent. (The original Arawak Indian population of the island was destroyed in the 16th century.) Spanish is commonly spoken, and Roman Catholicism predominates.@#Economy: #Before World War II, the Puerto Rican economy was based on sugar and such related products as rum. Needlework, mostly piecework produced by women at home, was the second most important activity, and tobacco growing the third. Unemployment was high, poverty widespread; however, after the war, a determined drive was begun to foster industrialization on the island. Under then Governor Rexford Guy Tugwell and the Puerto Rican legislative leader Luis Munoz Marin, the framework for economic expansion was established. In 1948, "Operation Bootstrap" commenced, giving tax exemptions to new or expanded industry. By 1971 the program had attracted $2 billion in industrial investments and 2,000 plants. However, while the successor program continued to expand incentives, the federal government froze $13 million in loans to Puerto Rican businesses in 1981.@Today, income from manufacturing is more than three times that from agriculture, although sugar, coffee, tobacco, and rum are still produced and exported. Among the industries attracted by the tax abatement and lower wage scales in Puerto Rico are textiles and apparel, leather and shoes, electronic components, pharmaceuticals, tuna canning, and--increasingly--such heavy industries as metal products and petrochemicals. In addition, tourist facilities and tourism ahve greatly expanded. Despite the general economic advance, unemployment continues to be much higher than in the United States.@#Location: #Caribbean island. Puerto Rico, 885 miles southeast of the southern coast of Florida, is the easternmost island of the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean. It is separated from the Dominican Republic to the west by the 61 miles of Mona Passage. To the east, St. Thomas of the U.S. Virgin Islands is 34 miles away. Among the off-shore islands are Vieques and Culebra to the east, Mona to the west. The island is crossed by mountain ranges and ringed by a coastal plain that is 15 miles wide at its broadest.@#Land area: #3,459 square miles@#Highest point: #Cerro de Punta, 4,390 feet@#Lowest point: #Atlantic Ocean, sea level@#Climate: #The climate is mildly tropical. Rainfall is moderate in the coastal areas, but heavier in the interior mountains.@#Popular name: #Island of Enchantment@#Motto: #Joannes Est Nomen Ejus (John is Thy Name)@#Flower: #Maga@#Bird: #Reinita@#Tree: #Ceiba@#Song: #La Borinquena@#Animal: #Coqui ^ United States Virgin Islands ~ #Official name: #United States Virgin Islands@#Status: #Organized unincorporated territory. The U.S. Department of the Interior has jurisdiction over the islands. The governor has been elected since 1970. Virgin Islanders are U.S. citizens, but cannot vote in national elections and have no Congressional representation, except for a nonvoting delegate in the House since 1972.@#History: #The United States bought the Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 million in 1917.@#Capital: #Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas Island@#Population: #107,500@#People: #Seventy percent of the population is black, many of whom are immigrants from other Antillean islands. Of the rest, considerably more than half are from the United States. English is the official language.@#Economy: #Since the phasing out of the peasant-based sugarcane agriculture, there has been little farming on the islands. Tourism is the major industry, and the area has the greatest number of cruise-ship calls in the world. Oil refining and bauxite processing are important; labor-intensive light industry has been introduced.@#Location: #Caribbean Islands. The Virgin Islands of the United States form the western end of the Lesser Antilles between the Caribbean and the Atlantic, about 34 miles east of Puerto Rico. They comprise nearly 100 islands and cays, but only three islands are significant--St. Thomas (27 sq. mi.), St. Croix (82 sq. mi.), and St. John (19 sq. mi.). St. Thomas is mountainous, with many harbors, of which Charlotte Amalie is one of the finest in the Caribbean. More than half the island of St. John is occupied by the Virgin Islands National park.@#Climate: #The climate is subtropical, moderated by the trade winds. Rainfall is variable and sometimes so light as to cause drought.@#Land area: #132 square miles@#Highest point: #Crown Mountain, St. Thomas Island, 1,556 feet@#Lowest point: #Atlantic Ocean, sea level@#Popular names: #St. John, St. Croix, and St. Thomas@#Flower: #Yellow Elder or Ginger Thomas@#Bird: #Yellow Breast or Banana Quit@#Song: #Virgin Islands March ^ Wake Island ~ #Official name: #Wake Island@#Status: #Insular possession administered by the United States Air Force Department. Site of a U.S. military base and a weather station.@#History: #Wake Island was annexed by the United States in 1899. It was attacked by the Japanese on December 7, 1941, and later that month fell after an heroic defense by the small Marine garrison. The Japanese held the island until their surrender in 1945. Responsibility for civil administration of Wake Island was vested in the U.S. Secretary of the Interior in 1962, but since 1974 has been under the Air Force Department. The island has an aviation base with a 9,800-foot runway.@#Administrative center: #Wake Islet@#Population: #150, United States military and government employees. No indigenous population.@#Location: #North Pacific island. Wake lies in the Pacific some 2,000 miles west of Honolulu and 1,500 miles northeast of Guam. It is an atoll comprising three islets--Wake, Wilkes, and Peale. They are formed of coral built up on the rim of an underwater volcano; the land averages only 12 feet above sea level. Waves driven by 200-knot winds from Typhoon Sarah swept over the three islets in 1967.@#Land area: #2.5 square miles ^