The territory of the United States and its overseas possessions has evolved over time, from the colonial era to the present day. It includes formally organized territories, proposed and failed states, unrecognized

breakaway state Breakaway or Break Away may refer to: Film, television and radio * ''Breakaway'' (1955 film), a British film * ''Breakaway'' (1990 film), an Australian film featuring Deborah Kara Unger * ''Breakaway'' (1996 film), an American film featuring T ...

s, international and interstate purchases, cessions, and land grants, and historical military departments and administrative districts. The last section lists informal regions from American

vernacular geography Vernacular geography is the sense of place that is revealed in ordinary people's language. Current research by the Ordnance Survey is attempting to understand the landmarks, streets, open spaces, water bodies, landforms, fields, woods, and many oth ...

known by popular nicknames and linked by geographical, cultural, or economic similarities, some of which are still in use today. For a more complete list of regions and subdivisions of the United States used in modern times, see

List of regions of the United States This is a list of some of the ways ''regions'' is defined in the United States. Many regions are defined in law or regulations by the federal government; others by shared culture and history, and others by economic factors. Interstate regions C ...

Colonial era (before 1776)

Thirteen Colonies

Connecticut Colony The ''Connecticut Colony'' or ''Colony of Connecticut'', originally known as the Connecticut River Colony or simply the River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636 as a settl ...

* Delaware Colony * Province of Georgia *

Province of Maryland The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S. state of Maryland ...

* Province of Massachusetts Bay * Province of New Hampshire * Province of New Jersey * Province of New York * Province of North Carolina *

Province of Pennsylvania The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn after receiving a land grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania ("Penn's Woods") refers to W ...

Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was one of the original Thirteen Colonies established on the east coast of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean. It was founded by Roger Williams. It was an English colony from 1636 until ...

* Province of South Carolina * Colony and Dominion of Virginia

Pre-Revolutionary War regions

† - indicates failed legal entities

New England

* Acadia * Dominion of New England† * Equivalent Lands *

King's College Tract The King's College Tract is a area of forested land in the vicinity of the present towns of Cambridge and Johnson in the U.S. state of Vermont. The tract was granted in 1764 by Lieutenant Governor Cadwallader Colden of the New York crown colony, i ...

* Provinces of Maine† ** Territory of Sagadahock ** Popham Colony (or Sagadahoc Colony)† ** Gorges-Mason Grant† ** Mason Lands **

Gorges Patent Gorges, the plural of the French word for "throat", usually refers to a canyon. Gorges may also refer to: Places * Gorges, Loire-Atlantique, France * Gorges, Manche, France * Gorges, Somme, France * Cognin-les-Gorges, Isère, France * Three Gorges ...

† *** Lygonia Patent† *** New Somersetshire† **

Muscongus Patent The Waldo Patent, a letters patent also known as the Muscongus Patent or the Lincolnshire Patent, was a document granting title to of land in what is now the U.S. state of Maine. It is named variously for businessman Samuel Waldo, who eventually g ...

(also known as the Waldo Patent and, eventually, the

Bingham Purchase The Bingham Purchase refers to several tracts of land in the U.S. state of Maine,http://www.rootsweb.com/~mefrankl/ Franklin County, Maine Genealogy formerly owned by William Bingham. These lands were granted to early colonizers in the 1630s, and ...

) *

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...

Narragansett Country Washington County, known locally as South County, is a county located in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,839. Rhode Island counties have no governmental functions other than as court administrat ...

† * New Hampshire Grants * New Haven Colony * Plymouth Colony * Saybrook Colony * Wessagusset Colony†

Mid-Atlantic

* Granville District * East Jersey * West Jersey * New Netherland and its settlements * New Sweden†

Southern

Province of Carolina Province of Carolina was a province of England (1663–1707) and Great Britain (1707–1712) that existed in North America and the Caribbean from 1663 until partitioned into North and South on January 24, 1712. It is part of present-day Alaba ...

* Fort Caroline† *

Charlesfort The Charlesfort-Santa Elena Site is an important early colonial archaeological site on Parris Island, South Carolina. It contains the archaeological remains of a French settlement called Charlesfort, settled in 1562 and abandoned the following y ...

† * La Florida ** San Agustín (St. Augustine) ** San Miguel de Gualdape† (in present-day South Carolina) **

Mocama Province Beginning in the second half of the 16th century, the Kingdom of Spain established a number of missions throughout ''La Florida'' in order to convert the Native Americans to Christianity, to facilitate control of the area, and to prevent its ...

† * Jamestown * Northern Neck Proprietary (or "Fairfax Grant") * The Lost Colony of Roanoke† * Stuarts Town†

Interior

* District of West Augusta * Illinois Country *

Indiana Company Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th st ...

* The Indian Reserve * Ohio Country (or The Ohio Company of Virginia)† * Province of Quebec (lower portion below the Great Lakes)

Far West

Unlike the land to the east, most of the land west of the Mississippi River was under

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

or Spanish rule until the first years of the 19th century. * La Louisiane (French Louisiana, 1682–1762 and 1802–1803) **

Arkansas Post The Arkansas Post (french: Poste de Arkansea) (Spanish: ''Puesto de Arkansas''), formally the Arkansas Post National Memorial, was the first European settlement in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain and present-day U.S. state of Arkansas. In 168 ...

** The German Coast *

Luisiana Luisiana, officially the Municipality of Luisiana ( tgl, Bayan ng Luisiana), is a 4th class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 20,859 people. Locals call the town ''Little ...

(Spanish Louisiana, 1762–1802) * Tejas ** Fort Saint Louis† *

Santa Fe de Nuevo México Santa Fe de Nuevo México ( en, Holy Faith of New Mexico; shortened as Nuevo México or Nuevo Méjico, and translated as New Mexico in English) was a Kingdom of the Spanish Empire and New Spain, and later a territory of independent Mexico. The ...

* Las Californias

Colonies settled but unrecognized

* Transylvania† * Watauga Republic

Colonies proposed but unrealized

* Charlotina Colony * Mississippi Colony * Vandalia Colony *

Westsylvania Westsylvania was a proposed state of the United States located in what is now West Virginia, southwestern Pennsylvania, and small parts of Kentucky, Maryland, and Virginia. First proposed early in the American Revolution, Westsylvania would have ...

Independent entities later joined to the Union

Kingdom of Hawaii The Hawaiian Kingdom, or Kingdom of Hawaiʻi ( Hawaiian: ''Ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina''), was a sovereign state located in the Hawaiian Islands. The country was formed in 1795, when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great, of the independent island ...

, later the

Republic of Hawaii The Republic of Hawaii ( Hawaiian: ''Lepupalika o Hawaii'') was a short-lived one-party state in Hawaii between July 4, 1894, when the Provisional Government of Hawaii had ended, and August 12, 1898, when it became annexed by the United State ...

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Mex ...

Vermont Republic The Vermont Republic ( French: ''République du Vermont''), officially known at the time as the State of Vermont ( French: ''État du Vermont''), was an independent state in New England that existed from January 15, 1777, to March 4, 1791. The ...

(also known as the Republic of New Connecticut)

Regions purchased from foreign powers

* Louisiana Purchase, 1803, from France, for $15,000,000 *

Florida Purchase Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to th ...

(or the Spanish Cession), 1819 (effective 1821), from Spain, for $5,000,000; included: East Florida, West Florida, and Sabine Free State or Neutral Ground *

Gadsden Purchase The Gadsden Purchase ( es, region=MX, la Venta de La Mesilla "The Sale of La Mesilla") is a region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that the United States acquired from Mexico by the Treaty of Mesilla, which took effe ...

, 1853, from Mexico, for $10,000,000 * Alaska Purchase (also called "Seward's Folly"), 1867, from Russia, for $7,200,000 * Virgin Islands, 1917, from Denmark, for $25,000,000

Regions annexed from or ceded by foreign powers

* American Samoa; 1899, from Germany * The Aroostook War Compromise Lands; 1842, split jointly claimed areas with the U.K. ** Maine–New Brunswick Border *** Republic of Indian Stream *** South Acadia ** Northwest Angle ** Rupert's Land south of the 49th parallel * Guam; 1898, from Spain *

Mexican Cession The Mexican Cession ( es, Cesión mexicana) is the region in the modern-day southwestern United States that Mexico originally controlled, then ceded to the United States in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 after the Mexican–American War ...

; effective 1848, from Mexico, including: **

Alta California Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...

(California, Nevada, Utah) ** Nuevo México (New Mexico, Arizona, parts of Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Kansas) *** Provisional New Mexico * Oregon Country (U.S.); the 1846

Oregon Treaty The Oregon Treaty is a treaty between the United Kingdom and the United States that was signed on June 15, 1846, in Washington, D.C. The treaty brought an end to the Oregon boundary dispute by settling competing American and British claims to t ...

finally split the jointly governed region (called

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

by the English) between the U.S. and United Kingdom at the 49th parallel * Pembina Region, formerly part of Rupert's Land and the Red River Colony; (often referred to as the British Cession of 1818) to U.S. in an exchange for the unorganized territory of the original Louisiana Purchase lands north of the 49th parallel West Florida Map

* The Philippine Islands; 1898, from Spain; became a U.S. Territory (1900–1935) and a U.S.

commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

(1935–1946) * Puerto Rico; 1898, from Spain * Texas annexation; annexed from Mexico in 1846, including most of present-day Texas and parts of Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming and No Man's Land; disputed with Mexico until the end of the Mexican–American War in 1848 ** included old Coahuila y Tejas areas * Republic of West Florida Annexation; seceded from Spain, 1810; disputed with Spain until 1821 ** Baton Rouge District (annexed by the U.S., 1810) ** Mobile District (annexed by the U.S., 1812) * United States Minor Outlying Islands; most claimed under the Guano Islands Act as outside the jurisdiction of other nations (1856 and later) File:Map of Philippines.png, The Philippines was a

of the United States, 1935–1946 File:US insular areas.svg, Worldwide location of current U.S. insular areas: File:Puerto Rico (orthographic projection).png, The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

Ceded or purchased Native American regions

Black Hawk Purchase The Black Hawk Purchase, also known as the Forty-Mile Strip or Scott's Purchase, extended along the West side of the Mississippi River from the north boundary of Missouri North to the Upper Iowa River in the northeast corner of Iowa. It was fif ...

; $640,000; purchased 1832; Michigan Territory (eventually Iowa) * Cherokee Outlet; $7,000,000; purchased 1893; Oklahoma Territory (eventually Oklahoma) *

Cherokee Strip The Cherokee Outlet, or Cherokee Strip, was located in what is now the state of Oklahoma in the United States. It was a 60-mile-wide (97 km) parcel of land south of the Oklahoma-Kansas border between 96 and 100°W. The Cherokee Outlet wa ...

; a disputed two-mile wide tract of land between the

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation (Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ ''Tsalagihi Ayeli'' or ᏣᎳᎩᏰᎵ ''Tsalagiyehli''), also known as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It ...

and Kansas that was eventually ceded to Kansas in 1866 * The Indian Territory; ceded by the U.S. to Native Americans in 1834 * Jackson Purchase; $300,000; purchased by Tennessee and Kentucky from the Chickasaw Nation in 1818 *

Platte Purchase The Platte Purchase was a land acquisition in 1836 by the United States government from American Indian tribes of the region. It comprised lands along the east bank of the Missouri River and added to the northwest corner of the state of Miss ...

; $7,500; purchased 1836; Missouri *

Saginaw Cession The Treaty of Saginaw, also known as the Treaty with the Chippewa, was made between Gen. Lewis Cass and Chief Mash Kee Yosh, Chief John Okemos, Chief Wasso and other Native American tribes of the Great Lakes region (principally the Ojibwe, bu ...

; ceded 1819; Michigan Territory (eventually Michigan)

Interstate, territorial, and federal cessions

The following are

state cessions The state cessions are those areas of the United States that the separate states ceded to the federal government in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The cession of these lands, which for the most part lay between the Appalachian Mountai ...

made during the building of the U.S. * The Delaware Wedge, dispute with Pennsylvania settled in 1921. * Washington, D.C.; to the Federal Government from Virginia and Maryland, 1790. * District of Columbia retrocession; the return to Virginia of the District of Columbia lands which Virginia had originally ceded for its creation, 1847. * Greer County, Texas; a disputed county claimed both by Texas and the

Federal Government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

; to Oklahoma Territory, 1896. * The Honey Lands; a disputed tract of land between the Territory of Iowa and State of Missouri; to

State of Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, 1851 * District of Kentucky; from Virginia; became the Commonwealth of Kentucky, 1792. *

Illinois County Illinois County, Virginia, was a political and geographic region, part of the British Province of Quebec, claimed during the American Revolutionary War on July 4, 1778 by George Rogers Clark of the Virginia Militia, as a result of the Illinois C ...

; from Virginia; became

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...

, 1784. * District of Maine; from Massachusetts; became the

State of Maine Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...

, 1820. * The

Toledo Strip The Toledo War (1835–36), also known as the Michigan–Ohio War or the Ohio–Michigan War, was an almost bloodless boundary dispute between the U.S. state of Ohio and the adjoining territory of Michigan over what is now known as the Toledo S ...

; the object of the nearly bloodless Toledo War between Ohio and Michigan; to Ohio, 1837. * Washington District; from North Carolina; became the Southwest Territory, 1790. * West Virginia; from Virginia; separating itself from the

Confederacy Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between ...

, declared 1861; admitted to the Union in 1863. * The Western Reserve; from Connecticut to the

(Ohio), 1800. * The Yazoo lands; from Georgia to the

Mississippi Territory The Territory of Mississippi was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 7, 1798, until December 10, 1817, when the western half of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Mississippi. T ...

, 1802.

Former organized territories

The following is a list of the 31 U.S. territories that have become states, in the order of the date organized. (All were considered incorporated.) *

(1787–1803), became the state of Ohio, and the Territory of Indiana. *

Territory South of the River Ohio The Territory South of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Southwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1790, until June 1, 1796, when it was admitted to the United States a ...

(also known as the Southwest Territory) (1790–1796) became the State of Tennessee. *

Territory of Mississippi The Territory of Mississippi was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 7, 1798, until December 10, 1817, when the western half of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the History o ...

(1798–1817) became the

State of Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mississ ...

and the Territory of Alabama. * Territory of Indiana (1800–1816) split into the Illinois Territory, the Michigan Territory, and the State of Indiana. * Territory of Orleans (1804–1812) became the State of Louisiana. * Territory of Michigan (1805–1837) became State of Michigan and the Territory of Wisconsin. * Territory of Louisiana (1805–1812) (preceded by the District of Louisiana), then renamed the Territory of Missouri. * Territory of Illinois (1809–1818) split into the State of Illinois and additions to the Michigan Territory. * Territory of Missouri (1812–1821) became the State of Missouri and Unorganized Territory (the eastern part of which was attached to the Territory of Michigan in 1834). *

Territory of Alabama The Territory of Alabama (sometimes Alabama Territory) was an organized incorporated territory of the United States. The Alabama Territory was carved from the Mississippi Territory on August 15, 1817 and lasted until December 14, 1819, when it wa ...

(1817–1819) became State of Alabama. *

Territory of Arkansaw The Arkansas Territory was a territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1819, to June 15, 1836, when the final extent of Arkansas Territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Arkansas. Arkansas Post was the first territor ...

(1819–1836) became the

State of Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage la ...

, additions to the unorganized territory of the original Louisiana Purchase, and the unorganized Indian Territory (which eventually spawned Indian Territory,

Oklahoma Territory The Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as th ...

and

No Man's Land No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...

). * Territory of Florida (1822–1845) became the State of Florida. * Territory of Wisconsin (1836–1848) split into the

State of Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Mich ...

, the Iowa Territory and Unorganized Territory. * Territory of Iowa (1838–1846) split into the

and unorganized territory of the original Louisiana Purchase. *

Territory of Oregon The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. Ori ...

(1848–1859) preceded by the unrecognized

Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been created by the Treaty of 1818, co ...

; split into the State of Oregon and Washington Territory. * Territory of Minnesota (1849–1858) preceded (mostly) by unorganized territory of the original Louisiana Purchase; split into the

State of Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to i ...

and unorganized territory of the original Louisiana Purchase. * Territory of New Mexico (1850–1912) preceded by Nuevo Mexico (the southern part was known as the

Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of ...

(1861–1864) by the Confederate States of America); split into the

and the State of New Mexico. * Territory of Utah (1850–1896) preceded by

and the unrecognized State of Deseret; split into the State of Utah, the Nevada Territory, additions to the Colorado Territory and additions to the Wyoming Territory. * Territory of Washington (1853–1889) became the

State of Washington Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

and additions to the Idaho Territory. * Territory of Kansas (1854–1861) preceded by unorganized territory of the original Louisiana Purchase. Part became the modern State of Kansas; the western part became part of the Colorado Territory. * Territory of Nebraska (1854–1867) preceded by unorganized territory of the original Louisiana Purchase; split into the State of Nebraska, the Dakota Territory, additions to the Idaho Territory and additions to the Colorado Territory. *

Territory of Colorado The Territory of Colorado was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 28, 1861, until August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Colorado. The territory was organized in the w ...

(1861–1876) preceded by parts of the territories of Kansas, Utah, New Mexico and Nebraska; became the

State of Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

. (See also Jefferson Territory.) * Territory of Nevada (1861–1864) preceded by the Utah Territory and the unrecognized State of Deseret; became the State of Nevada. *

Territory of Dakota The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of No ...

(1861–1889) became the

State of North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, South ...

, the State of South Dakota, additions to the Idaho Territory and additions to the Wyoming Territory. * Territory of Arizona (1863–1912) became the

State of Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Four ...

and an addition to the State of Nevada. *

Territory of Idaho The Territory of Idaho was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1863, until July 3, 1890, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as Idaho. History 1860s The territory w ...

(1863–1890) preceded by parts of the territories of Washington, Dakota, and Nebraska; became the State of Idaho, the Montana Territory, additions to the Dakota Territory and additions to the Wyoming Territory. *

Territory of Montana The Territory of Montana was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1864, until November 8, 1889, when it was admitted as the 41st state in the Union as the state of Montana. Original boundaries T ...

(1864–1889) became the

State of Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia ...

. * Territory of Wyoming (1868–1890) preceded by parts of the territories of: Dakota, Utah and Idaho; became the

State of Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the sou ...

. * Territory of Oklahoma (1890–1907) (preceded by the unorganized Indian Territory (1834–1907) and the

Neutral Strip The Oklahoma Panhandle (formerly called No Man's Land, the Public Land Strip, the Neutral Strip, or Cimarron Territory) is a salient in the extreme northwestern region of the U.S. state of Oklahoma, consisting of Cimarron County, Texas Coun ...

; became the State of Oklahoma. * Territory of Hawaii (1898–1959) preceded by the

; became the

State of Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

. * Territory of Alaska (1912–1959) (preceded by the

Department of Alaska Department of Alaska was the designation for the government of Alaska from its purchase by the United States of America in 1867 until its organization as the District of Alaska in 1884. During the department era, Alaska was variously under ...

and the District of Alaska); became the State of Alaska.

Internal land grants, cessions, districts, departments, claims and settlements

The following are land grants, cessions, defined districts (official or otherwise) or named settlements made within an area that was already part of a U.S. state or territory that ''did not'' involve international treaties or Native American cessions or land purchases. * Cumberland District, North Carolina (also called the District of Miro); Tennessee. * District of Louisiana; Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Montana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming; renamed Missouri Territory in 1812. * Military Tract of 1812; Illinois, Michigan, Arkansas, Missouri. * Ohio Country; parts of Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, West Virginia.

Alaska

* District of Alaska; renamed the Alaska Territory in 1912.

Colorado

* Pike's Peak Country

Iowa

Half-Breed Tract A Half-Breed Tract was a segment of land designated in the western states by the United States government in the 19th century specifically for Métis of American Indian and European or European-American ancestry, at the time commonly known as ha ...

Keokuk's Reserve Keokuk's Reserve was a parcel of land in the present-day U.S. state of Iowa that was retained by the Sauk and Fox tribes in 1832 in the aftermath of the Black Hawk War. The tribes stayed on the reservation only until 1836 when the land was ceded ...

Nebraska

Nemaha Half-Breed Reservation The Nemaha Half-Breed Reservation was established by the Fourth Treaty of Prairie du Chien of 1830, which set aside a tract of land for the mixed-ancestry descendants of French-Canadian trappers and women of the Oto, Iowa, and Omaha, as well as ...

New York

* Central New York Military Tract *

The Holland Purchase The Phelps and Gorham Purchase was the purchase in 1788 of of land in what is now western New York (state), New York State from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for $1,000,000 (Pound sterling, £300,000), to be paid in three annual installments, ...

* Macomb's Purchase * Mill Yard Tract *

The Morris Reserve The Phelps and Gorham Purchase was the purchase in 1788 of of land in what is now western New York State from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for $1,000,000 ( £300,000), to be paid in three annual installments, and the pre-emptive right to th ...

* Phelps and Gorham Purchase *

The Triangle Tract The Phelps and Gorham Purchase was the purchase in 1788 of of land in what is now western New York (state), New York State from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for $1,000,000 (Pound sterling, £300,000), to be paid in three annual installments, ...

Ohio

Canal Lands Canal Lands were tracts of land donated by the federal government to several Great Lakes states in the 19th century to encourage internal improvements and aid in funding the construction of Canals. These states sold the land tracts to private parti ...

* College Lands * College Township * Congress Lands (or Congressional Lands, 1798–1821) ** Congress Lands North of Old Seven Ranges **

Congress Lands West of Miami River The Congress Lands West of Miami River was a land tract in southwest Ohio that was established by the Congress late in the 18th century. It is located south of the Greenville Treaty Line, east of Indiana, and north of the Great Miami River. T ...

** Congress Lands East of Scioto River ** North and East of First Principal Meridian **

South and East of the First Principal Meridian South and East of the First Principal Meridian is a land description in the American Midwest. In 1812, Congress authorized the Surveyor General to survey the northern and western border of Ohio “as soon as the consent of the Indians can be obta ...

* Dohrman Tract *

Ephraim Kimberly Grant The Ephraim Kimberly Grant was a land tract in eastern Ohio that was granted to an American Revolutionary War veteran by Congress late in the 18th century. It was located in the Seven Ranges along the Ohio River. Background The Congress had litt ...

* Firelands or Sufferers' Lands * French Grant * Indian Land Grants * Maumee Road Lands *

Michigan meridian The Michigan meridian is the principal meridian (or north-south line) used as a reference in the Michigan Survey, the survey of the U.S. state of Michigan in the early 19th century. It is located at 84 degrees, 21 minutes and 53 seconds west long ...

(or Michigan Meridian Survey; also Toledo Tract) * Miami & Erie Canal Lands * Ministerial Lands *

Moravian Indian Grants 300px, Royce labeled the tracts as numbers 4, 5 and 6 in this map Moravian Indian Grants were three tracts of land in Tuscarawas County, Ohio granted by the federal government in the eighteenth century to a group of Christian Indians. In the nine ...

Gnadenhutten Tract 300px, Royce labeled the tracts as numbers 4, 5 and 6 in this map Moravian Indian Grants were three tracts of land in Tuscarawas County, Ohio granted by the federal government in the eighteenth century to a group of Christian Indians. In the nine ...

Salem Tract 300px, Royce labeled the tracts as numbers 4, 5 and 6 in this map Moravian Indian Grants were three tracts of land in Tuscarawas County, Ohio granted by the federal government in the eighteenth century to a group of Christian Indians. In the nine ...

Schoenbrunn Tract 300px, Royce labeled the tracts as numbers 4, 5 and 6 in this map Moravian Indian Grants were three tracts of land in Tuscarawas County, Ohio granted by the federal government in the eighteenth century to a group of Christian Indians. In the nine ...

* Ohio & Erie Canal Lands * The Ohio Company **

Donation Tract The Donation Tract was a land tract in southern Ohio that was established by the Congress late in the 18th century to buffer Ohio Company lands against local indigenous people. Congress gave lots to men who settled on the land. This marked the f ...

** First Purchase ** Purchase on the Muskingum (or Second Purchase) *

Refugee Tract The Refugee Tract is an area of land in Ohio, United States granted to people from British Canada who left home prior to July 4, 1776, stayed in the US until November 25, 1783 continuously, and aided the revolutionary cause. Location The Refuge ...

Salt Reservations The Salt Reservations (also known as the Salt Lands) were a collection of land tracts surrounding salt springs in Ohio and some other states that were donated to the states by the federal government early in the 19th century. The United States had ...

(or Salt Lands) *

School Lands The Land Ordinance of 1785 was adopted by the United States Congress of the Confederation on May 20, 1785. It set up a standardized system whereby settlers could purchase title to farmland in the undeveloped west. Congress at the time did not have ...

* Seven Ranges (or Old Seven Ranges) *

Symmes Purchase The Symmes Purchase, also known as the Miami Purchase, was an area of land totaling roughly in what is now Hamilton, Butler, and Warren counties of southwestern Ohio, purchased by Judge John Cleves Symmes of New Jersey in 1788 from the Contine ...

(or Miami Purchase; also the Land Between the Miamis) *

Turnpike Lands Turnpike Lands were a group of land tracts granted by the United States Congress to the state of Ohio in 1827 along the path of a proposed road in the northwest corner of the state. History With the Treaty of Greenville in 1795 the Indian Nations ...

Twelve Mile Square Reservation The Twelve Mile Square Reservation, also called the Twelve Mile Square Reserve, was a tract of land in Ohio ceded by Indians to the United States of America in the Treaty of Greenville in 1795. This particular area of land immediately surroundin ...

Two Mile Square Reservation The Two Mile Square Reservation or Two Mile Square Reserve was a tract of land in Ohio ceded by Native Americans to the United States of America in the Treaty of Greenville in 1795. It was subsequently surveyed in a manner different from surround ...

* United States Military District * Virginia Military District *

Zane's Tracts Zane's Tracts were three parcels of land in the Northwest Territory of the United States, later Ohio, that the federal government granted to Ebenezer Zane late in the 18th century, as compensation for establishing a road with ferry service over sev ...

(or Zane's Grant; also Ebenezer Zane Tract)

Oklahoma

Big Pasture The Big Pasture was of prairie land, in what is now southwestern Oklahoma. The land had been reserved for grazing use by the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache tribes after their reserve was opened for settlement by a lottery conducted during June th ...

* Indian Territory or The Oklahoma Indian Country *

(or No Man's Land) * Unassigned Lands

Indian reserves

* The original and current

* Cheyenne– Arapaho Reserve *

Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...

, Kiowa and

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...

Reserve * Iowa Reserve * Kaw Reserve *

Kickapoo Kickapoo may refer to: People * Kickapoo people, a Native American nation ** Kickapoo language, spoken by that people ** Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas, a federally recognized tribe of Kickapoo people ** Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma, a federally recog ...

Reserve *

Osage The Osage Nation, a Native American tribe in the United States, is the source of most other terms containing the word "osage". Osage can also refer to: * Osage language, a Dhaegin language traditionally spoken by the Osage Nation * Osage (Unicode b ...

Reserve *

Ponca The Ponca ( Páⁿka iyé: Páⁿka or Ppáⁿkka pronounced ) are a Midwestern Native American tribe of the Dhegihan branch of the Siouan language group. There are two federally recognized Ponca tribes: the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and the Ponca ...

and Otoe– Missouria Reserve *

Citizen Potawatomi Citizen Potawatomi Nation is a federally recognized tribe of Potawatomi people located in Oklahoma. The Potawatomi are traditionally an Algonquian-speaking Eastern Woodlands tribe. They have 29,155 enrolled tribal members, of whom 10,312 live ...

and

Absentee Shawnee The Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma (or Absentee Shawnee) is one of three federally recognized tribes of Shawnee people. Historically residing in what became organized as the upper part of the Eastern United States, the original Sh ...

Reserve * Sac and Fox Reserve * Tonkawa Reserve * Wichita and

Caddo The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, wh ...

Reserve

Pennsylvania

Erie Triangle The Erie Triangle is a roughly 300-square-mile (780-square-kilometre) tract of American land that was the subject of several competing colonial-era claims. It was eventually acquired by the U.S. federal government and sold to Pennsylvania so that ...

* New Purchase * Walking Purchase * Welsh Tract

Federal military districts and departments

These entities were sometimes the only governmental authority in the listed areas, although they often co-existed with civil governments in scarcely populated states and territories. Civilian administered "military" tracts, districts, departments, etc., will be listed elsewhere.

Central United States

* Department of the Northwest (1862–1865) Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, Wisconsin, Iowa, NebraskaHeidler, David Stephen; Heidler, Jeanne T.; Coles, David J.; ''Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History''; W. W. Norton & Company; New York; 2000; p. 590. ** District of Minnesota (1862–1865) ** District of Wisconsin (1862–1865) ** District of Iowa (1862–1865) ** District of Dakota (1862–1866) ** District of Montana (1864–1866) * Department of the Missouri (1861–1865) Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, part of Kentucky, and later Kansas; re-configured in 1865 as part of the Division of the Missouri. *

Division of the Missouri The Military Division of the Missouri was an administrative formation of the United States Army that functioned through the end of the American Civil War and the Indian Wars that continued after its conclusion. It was created by the War Departmen ...

(1865–1891). ** Department of Dakota (1866–1911) Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and parts of Idaho, South Dakota and the Yellowstone portion of Wyoming. ** Department of the Missouri (1865–1891) Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Indian Territory, and Territory of Oklahoma. **

Department of the Platte The Department of the Platte was a military administrative district established by the U.S. Army on March 5, 1866, with boundaries encompassing Iowa, Nebraska, Dakota Territory, Utah Territory and a small portion of Idaho. With headquarters in Om ...

(1866–1898) Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Dakota Territory, Utah Territory, Wyoming (except Yellowstone), and a portion of Idaho. ** Department of Texas (1871–1880) (originally part of the Department of the Gulf) Texas after 1865. *

Department of New Mexico The Department of New Mexico was a Department (United States Army), department of the United States Army during the mid-19th century. It was created as the 9th Department, a geographical department, in 1848 following the successful conclusion of th ...

(1854–65) New Mexico Territory; previously part of the District of California and the Department of the West.

Pacific area

* Pacific Division (1848–1853) lands won in the Mexican–American War; became the original Department of the Pacific in 1853. ** Military Department 10 (1848–1851) California. ** Military Department 11 (1848–1851) Oregon Territory. * Department of the Pacific (1853–1858; and 1861–1865); separated into the Department of California and the Department of Oregon in 1858. **

District of Oregon The United States District Court for the District of Oregon (in case citations, D. Ore. or D. Or.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the state of Oregon. It was created in 1859 when the state was admitted to the Union. ...

(1853–1858) Washington Territory, Oregon Territory. **

District of California The District of California was a Union Army command department formed during the American Civil War. The district was part of the Department of the Pacific, the commander of the department also being District commander. The district was created as ...

(1853–1858) California, New Mexico Territory; Utah added 1858 During the American Civil War, the Department of the Pacific had six subordinate military districts: *

(headquarters at Fort Vancouver) January 15, 1861 – July 27, 1865 *

(headquarters at San Francisco, co-located with Department of the Pacific). Independent command from Department from (July 1, 1864 – July 27, 1865); those parts of California not in other districts. * District of Southern California (September 25, 1861 – July 27, 1865); Counties of Southern California (southward from San Luis Obispo and Tulare Counties). *

District of Humboldt During the American Civil War, Army reorganization created the Department of the Pacific on January 15, 1861. On December 12, 1861, the District of Humboldt was created, consisting of the counties of Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Trinity, Humboldt, ...

(December 12, 1861 – July 27, 1865); Del Norte, Humboldt, Klamath, Mendocino Counties of California. * District of Utah (August 6, 1862 – July 27, 1865); Utah Territory, Nevada Territory, later State of Nevada. * District of Arizona (March 7, 1865 – July 27, 1865); Territory of Arizona The

Department of California The Department of California was an administrative department of the United States Army. The Department was created in 1858, replacing the original Department of the Pacific, and it was ended by the reorganizations of the Henry L. Stimson Plan i ...

(1858–1861) comprised the southern part of the Department of the Pacific: California, Nevada, and southern part of Oregon Territory; merged into the Department of the Pacific as the District of California. The

Department of Oregon The Department of Oregon was one of two Army Departments created September 13, 1858, replacing the original Department of the Pacific and was composed of the Territories of Washington and Oregon, except the Rogue River and Umpqua Districts, which ...

(1858–1861) comprised the northern part of the Department of the Pacific: Washington Territory and Oregon Territory. *

Military Division of the Pacific The Military Division of the Pacific was a major command ( Department) of the United States Army during the late 19th century. Formation On July 27, 1865 the Military Division of the Pacific was created under Major General Henry W. Halleck, replaci ...

(1865–1891). **

(1868–1884) became the civilian-ruled District of Alaska. ** Department of Arizona (1865–1891) Arizona Territory; included New Mexico Territory after 1885. **

Department of the Columbia The Department of the Columbia was a major command ( Department) of the United States Army during the 19th century. Formation On July 27, 1865 the Military Division of the Pacific was created under Major General Henry W. Halleck, replacing the Dep ...

(1865–1891) Oregon, Washington Territory, part of Idaho Territory, and Alaska after 1870. ***

(1865–1867) Washington Territory, Oregon Territory and Idaho Territory. ** New Department of California (1865–1891) California, Nevada Territory, Arizona Territory, and part of New Mexico Territory. Reconstruction military districts

The south

* Department of the Gulf (1862–1865; created by the U.S. for the Civil War) Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas. *

Trans-Mississippi Trans-Mississippi was a common name of the geographic area west of the Mississippi River during the 19th century. The area included Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Texas, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), and many other territories. The term "Tr ...

(or Trans-Mississippi Department;

CSA CSA may refer to: Arts and media * Canadian Screen Awards, annual awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television * Commission on Superhuman Activities, a fictional American government agency in Marvel Comics * Crime Syndicate of Amer ...

) (1862–1865). Formerly "Military Dept. 2"; Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), Kansas, and Louisiana west of the Mississippi River.

The west

Department of the West The Department of the West, later known as the Western Department, was a major command ( Department) of the United States Army during the 19th century. It oversaw the military affairs in the country west of the Mississippi River to the borders of C ...

(1853–1861): all U.S. lands between the Mississippi River and the Military District of the Pacific not included in other Districts or Departments.

Retroceded possessions and overseas territories

* The Milk River and Poplar River cessions to the United Kingdom ( Treaty of 1818) *

Commonwealth of the Philippines The Commonwealth of the Philippines ( es, Commonwealth de Filipinas or ; tl, Komonwelt ng Pilipinas) was the administrative body that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946, aside from a period of exile in the Second World War from 1942 ...

to Republic of the Philippines (1946) * Chamizal, Texas, to Mexico (1964) * Swan Islands to

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

(1971) *

Rio Rico, Texas Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

, ( Horcón Tract) to Mexico (1977) *

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the terr ...

to Panama (1979) * Canton and Enderbury Islands (administered jointly with the U.K.) to Kiribati (1979)

U.S. military overseas regions

* United States Military Government in Cuba (1898–1902) * United States Military Government in Guam (1898–1950) * United States Military Government of the Philippine Islands (1898–1902) * United States Military Government in Puerto Rico (1898–1900) * United States Military Government in Cuba (1906-1909) * United States Occupation of Veracruz, Mexico (1914) * Allied Military Government for Occupied Territories (after World War II) ** American Occupation Zone of Austria (1945–1955) **

American Occupation Zone of Germany American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

(1945–1949) *** American Occupation Zone of Berlin (1945–1990) ** Free Territory of Trieste, Zone A (1947–1954, administered jointly with the U.K.) *

American occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States wi ...

(1945–1952) * Iwo Jima, Japan (1945–1968) * Ryukyu Islands, Japan (Okinawa, 1945–1972) * American Occupation of South Korea (1945–1948) * Pacific Trust Territories; included the Republic of Palau and the Marshall Islands ( Micronesia under U.S. administration, 1947–1986) * Coalition Provisional Authority, Iraq (2003–2004)

Functioning but non-sanctioned territories

State_of_Deseret,_vector_image_cropped_-_2011

These "territories" had actual, functioning governments (recognized or not): * Cimarron Territory * State of Deseret * State of Frankland / Franklin * Jefferson Territory *

Kansas Territory The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Slave and ...

(1854–1861) had two different governments in different cities, pro-slavery and anti-slavery, each claiming to be the real, lawful government of the entire territory. Since Kansas entered the union as a free state in 1861, there has only been one capital, Topeka, Kansas. It entered as a free state in 1861 because the entire pro-slavery block in Congress, which would not have allowed this, had left to become the Confederacy. *

Long Republic Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great time, duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music ...

* Nataqua Territory *

Trans-Oconee Republic The Trans-Oconee Republic was a short-lived, independent state west of the Oconee River (in the state of Georgia). Established by General Elijah Clarke in May 1794, it was an attempt to head off the new Federal government's ceding of lands claimed ...

Civil War-related

These are functioning governments created as a result of the attempted secession of the Confederacy during the American Civil War (1861–1865). Some were

enclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

s within enemy-held territories: * Confederate States of America (CSA) – see map. **

Confederate Arizona Arizona Territory, Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as Confederate Arizona, was an Constitution of the Confederate States, organized incorporated territory of the Confederate States that existed from August 1, 1861 to May 26, 1865, wh ...

(parts of the territories of Arizona and New Mexico) ** State of Dade ** Second Republic of South Carolina These were regions disassociated from neighboring areas due to opposing views: *

Nickajack The area known as "Nickajack" generally refers to the rugged Appalachian foothills in eastern Tennessee and northeastern Alabama. "Nickajack" is a corruption of the Cherokee word (Ani-Kusati-yi) which translates to Coosa Town, but more likely r ...

Free State of Jones Jones County is in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 67,246. Its county seats are Laurel and Ellisville. Jones County is part of the Laurel micropolitan area. History Less t ...

Republic of Winston The informal Republic of Winston, or Free State of Winston, an area encompassing the present-day Winston, Cullman and Blount counties of Alabama, was one of several places in the Confederate States of America where disaffection during the Amer ...

(see Winston County, Alabama) * State of Scott, seceded from Tennessee and became a Union

(see Scott County, Tennessee) * Town Line, New York * Free State of Van Zandt, seceded from Texas to be its own republic.

Non-extant entities

Proclaimed

These entities have been proclaimed (or have existed de facto) in the past, but have never had an elected, recognized, or functioning government: * Absaroka *

Kingdom of Beaver Island Beaver Island is an island in Lake Michigan in the U.S. state of Michigan. At , it is the largest island in Lake Michigan and the third largest island in Michigan after Isle Royale and Drummond Island. The island is located approximatel ...

Republic of California The California Republic ( es, La República de California), or Bear Flag Republic, was an unrecognized breakaway state from Mexico, that for 25 days in 1846 militarily controlled an area north of San Francisco, in and around what is now Son ...

(also known as the "Bear Flag Republic"); June 14, 1846 – July 9, 1846, thereafter becoming the unorganized "Territory of California" *

Conch Republic The Conch Republic () is a micronation declared as a tongue-in-cheek secession of the city of Key West, Florida, from the United States on April 23, 1982. It has been maintained as a tourism booster for the city. Since then, the term "Conch Rep ...

Republic of Kinney Kinney is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 169 at the time of the 2010 census. History Kinney gets its name from Hon. O. D. Kinney, who was one of the original European owners of the Merritt site in 1 ...

* Republic of Madawaska *

McDonald Territory The McDonald Territory was an extralegal, List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies , unrecognized territory of the United States that comprised all of McDonald County, Missouri and existed for a short time from 1961 to 1962. In 196 ...

* Sovereign State of Muskogee * Republic of the Rio Grande *

Great Republic of Rough and Ready Rough and Ready is a census-designated place in Nevada County, California, United States. It is located west of Grass Valley, California, approximately 62 miles (100 km) from Sacramento. The population was 963 at the 2010 census. It has freque ...

State of Westmoreland The State of Westmoreland was a proposed self-proclaimed state that would have seceded from Pennsylvania in 1784, after the Congress of the Confederation had ruled that the territory belonged to Pennsylvania rather than Connecticut. History Y ...

(see also

Westmoreland County, Connecticut Westmoreland County, Connecticut was a County (United States), county established by the State of Connecticut in October 1776, encompassing the present-day area of Wyoming Valley, in northeastern Pennsylvania. Both colonies claimed this territory an ...

) * Sovereign State of Winneconne

Proposed

These are state or territorial proposals actually brought to either a congressional, legislative or popular vote, but which never became a functioning entity: * State of Delmarva or, "Eastern Shore"; 1998 * The State of Shasta (1852); State of Klamath (1853); followed by the State of Jefferson (1854) for virtually the same Pacific northwest areas * State of Jefferson ** Proposed State of Jefferson (Rocky Mountains), 1859, was an attempt to legitimize the Jefferson Territory, stalled by the Civil War; failed proposal. ** Proposed State of Jefferson (Texas), 1870 and 1915 statehood proposals both died in committee. * Territory of Colorado (California) 1860, stalled in Congress by the Civil War; a proposal to form a territory from Southern California following a successful popular referendum. * State of Kanawha a proposed name for the state that became West Virginia, 1861 * State of Lincoln ** Northwestern State of Lincoln, several proposals after 1865 ** Southern State of Lincoln, 1869 *

State of Sequoyah The State of Sequoyah was a proposed state to be established from the Indian Territory in the eastern part of present-day Oklahoma. In 1905, with the end of tribal governments looming (as prescribed by the Curtis Act of 1898), Native Americans ...

, 1905 * State of West New York, several proposals brought into the New York Legislature since the 1990s, all of which have been defeated

Proposals never voted on

These are failed state or territorial proposals whose establishment proposals never were voted on, or never made it out of committee: * Cascadia * State of Superior (or Ontonagon), 1858 * East Florida * West Florida

Native American-related proposed regions

* Aztlán; a future reincarnation of a defunct, mythical

Aztec Empire The Aztec Empire or the Triple Alliance ( nci, Ēxcān Tlahtōlōyān, Help:IPA/Nahuatl, �jéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥ was an alliance of three Nahua peoples, Nahua altepetl, city-states: , , and . These three city-states ruled ...

to be "re"-established in lands now found in the Southwestern U.S., a central theme in Chicano political activism * Comancheria; area inhabited and intermittently controlled by the

and their allies. *

Dinétah Dinétah is the traditional homeland of the Navajo tribe of Native Americans. In the Navajo language, the word means "among the people" or "among the Navajo" (''diné'' is the Navajo word that refers to the Navajo people; it also means "people" ...

; the claimed original

Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

homeland. * Republic of Lakotah; the proposed

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota language, Dakota: Help:IPA, /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes and First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples in North America. The ...

upper Midwestern mega-state. *

Lenapehoking Lenapehoking (Unami: ''Lënapehòkink'') is widely translated as ' homelands of the Lenape', which in the 16th and 17th centuries, ranged along the Eastern seaboard from western Connecticut to Delaware, and encompassed the territory adjacent to th ...

; would be named for the Delaware or Lenilenape Indians.

Regional nicknames

* Eastern United States ** The East Coast ** The Northeast *** New England *** Mid-Atlantic States **** The

Burnt-Over District The term "burned-over district" refers to the western and central regions of New York State in the early 19th century, where religious revivals and the formation of new religious movements of the Second Great Awakening took place, to such a ...

** South Atlantic States **

Appalachia Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ca ...

** East North Central States * The South ** Border States ** The

Deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion in the Southern United States. The term was first used to describe the states most dependent on plantations and slavery prior to the American Civil War. Following the war ...

** Dixie *

The Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

** The

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...

*** The Dust Bowl * The West ** Mountain States ***

The Rockies The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

*** Inland Empire (Washington and Idaho) ***

Great Basin The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...

** The Southwest *** The

Four Corners The Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. The Four Corners area ...

** The West Coast ***

The Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

Belts

Belts are loosely defined sub-regions found throughout the United States that are named for a perceived commonality among the included areas, which is often related to the region's economy or climate. * Bible Belt *

Black Belt Black Belt may refer to: Martial arts * Black belt (martial arts), an indication of attainment of expertise in martial arts * ''Black Belt'' (magazine), a magazine covering martial arts news, technique, and notable individuals Places * Black B ...

* Borscht Belt * Breadbasket of the United States * Cotton Belt *

Grain Belt The Corn Belt is a region of the Midwestern United States that, since the 1850s, has dominated corn production in the United States. In the United States, ''corn'' is the common word for maize. More generally, the concept of the Corn Belt con ...

or Corn Belt * Mormon Corridor or "Jello Belt" *

Lead Belt The Southeast Missouri Lead District, commonly called the Lead Belt, is a lead mining district in the southeastern part of Missouri. Counties in the Lead Belt include Saint Francois, Crawford, Dent, Iron, Madison, Reynolds, and Washingt ...

* Rust Belt * Snow Belt *

Sun Belt The Sun Belt is a region of the United States generally considered to stretch across the Southeast and Southwest. Another rough definition of the region is the area south of the 36th parallel. Several climates can be found in the region — des ...

* Tornado Alley

References

External links

Official Name and Status History of the several States and U.S. Territories

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20090909073913/http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MAP/terr_hp.html United States Territorial Maps 1775–1920 {{DEFAULTSORT:Historic Regions Of The United States United States Colonization history of the United States United States United States Geographic history of the United States Proposed states and territories of the United States Political divisions of the United States