Territory

Territory, in politics, area under a government's control, but with limited self-government. Territories have lower status than the states of the mother country. All but 19 U.S. states were first territories; Alaska and Hawaii were the last incorporated territories (with full Constitutional rights) to gain statehood. U.S. territories include the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa. Federated States of Micronesia, formerly a UN Trust Territory administered by the United States, became a self-governing territory in association with the United States in 1981.