United States Virgin Islands
The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.
Ancient petroglyphs in the Virgin Islands National Park
The Høgensborg estate on Sankt Croix, 1833
Frederiksstad on Saint Croix, 1848
The aftermath of Hurricane Marilyn on the island of St. Thomas, 1995. In recent decades the U.S. Virgin Islands have been devastated by a series of hurricanes.
Territories of the United States
Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions overseen by the federal government of the United States. The various American territories differ from the U.S. states and Indian reservations as they are not sovereign entities. In contrast, each state has a sovereignty separate from that of the federal government and each federally recognized Native American tribe possesses limited tribal sovereignty as a "dependent sovereign nation." Territories are classified by incorporation and whether they have an "organized" government through an organic act passed by the Congress. American territories are under American sovereignty and, consequently, may be treated as part of the United States proper in some ways and not others. Unincorporated territories in particular are not considered to be integral parts of the United States, and the Constitution of the United States applies only partially in those territories.
The American Samoa Fono
Building where the Supreme Court of Guam is located
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Protestant Cay in Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands