Unincorporated territory

Under United States law, an unincorporated territory is an area controlled by the United States government which is not part of (ie., "incorporated" in) the United States. In unincorporated territories the U.S. Constitution applies only partially. In the absence of an organic law a territory is classified as unorganized. In unincorporated territories "fundamental rights apply as a matter of law, but other constitutional rights are not available". Selected constitutional provisions apply depending on congressional acts and judicial rulings according to U.S. constitutional practice, local tradition and law.

There are five inhabited US territories which are either organized or self-governing, but unincorporated. These are Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana islands, U.S. Virgin islands and American Samoa.

There are also nine uninhabited US possessions, of which only Palmyra Atoll is incorporated. (See Territories of the United States, Unorganized territory and insular area.)

All modern inhabited territories under the control of the federal government can be considered as part of the "United States" for purposes of law as defined in specific legislation; but, the judicial term "unincorporated" was coined to legitimize the U.S. late 19th-century territorial acquisition without citizenship and their administration without constitutional protections temporarily until Congress made other provisions. The case law allowed Congress to impose discriminatory tax regimes with the effect of a protective tariff upon territorial regions which were not domestic states.

From 1901 to 1905, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a series of opinions known as the Insular Cases, held that the Constitution extended ex proprio vigore (i.e., of its own force) to the continental territories. However, the Court in these cases also established the doctrine of territorial incorporation, under which the Constitution applies fully only in incorporated territories such as Alaska and Hawaii, and applies only partially in the new unincorporated territories of Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines.

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