User:Robert McClenon/Scope of United States

This page is not a draft article in user space. This page contains a position on the scope of United States, which is currently the subject of formal mediation.

The issue that is currently being considered in formal mediation is whether the United States should be defined primarily as the fifty states and the District of Columbia, or the fifty states, the District of Columbia, and the five major territories: Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Marianas Islands. It is my understanding that there is agreement that the primary figure for area, population, and other metrics will be listed in infoboxes, lists, etc., with the secondary figure being shown in a footnote in each place.

My view is that, for most official US purposes, the United States does include the five major territories. For instance, persons born in the territories are US citizens; when they travel internationally, they travel on US passports, not territorial passports (which are not issued) nor the passports of other nations.

There is an alternate view that the five major territories are, by law, "unincorporated", that is, not formally incorporated into the United States. I recognize that view but consider it to be tangential. "Incorporation" has to do with certain taxes. Some of the territories are not in the customs zone of the United States, and some of them are not subject as such to federal inland revenue taxes. The term "incorporation" in this sense is actually confusing and misleading to Americans, because, when used with respect to government, when an American refers to an incorporated town, she means one that has a government defined by a charter (e.g., for a town, granting a mayor and council), and four of the five major territories are "organized", having territorial governments defined by Act of Congress. I do not think that "incorporation" in that esoteric sense should define the scope of the United States.

However, what is even more important than whether the five major territories are counted as part of the United States or are not counted as part of it is consistency of computation throughout all articles (e.g., lists) referring to the United States. Apart from which definition of the United States is "right" and which is "wrong", any scope that is inconsistent (e.g., counting a territory for area but not for population) is wronger than wrong.

I think that the definition of the United States should be inclusive of territories. I think it is even more important that it be consistent.