United States territory is any extent of
region under the
sovereign jurisdiction of the
federal government of the
United States, including all waters (around islands or continental tracts) and all U.S. naval vessels. The United States asserts sovereign rights for exploring, exploiting, conserving, and managing its territory. This extent of
territory is all the area belonging to, and under the dominion of, the United States federal government (which includes tracts lying at a distance from the
country) for administrative and other purposes. The United States total territory includes a subset of
political divisions.
