A number of islands were claimed asinsular areas on behalf of theUnited States under theGuano Islands Act of 1856. These claims were made by private individuals to the U.S. Department of State and were not accepted by the United States unless certain conditions were met. The islands had to be unoccupied and outside the jurisdiction of another government; the claims also had to be bonded before the U.S. government would consider them insular areas of the country. As of 2023^[update], only the eight islands administered as theUS Minor Islands and the ones now part ofHawaii andAmerican Samoa remain under the jurisdiction of the United States. Any other unresolved claims, if they exist, are dormant, and have not been contested by the United States in many years with the exception ofNavassa.

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  Guano tramway onJarvis Island
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  Hermit crabs onBaker Island
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  Navassa Island Lighthouse

• Guano
• Insular area
• Territories of the United States
• Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument

• Magoon, Charles E. (1900).Report on the Legal Status of the Territory and Inhabitants of the Islands Acquired by the United States During the War with Spain. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.
• Moore, J.B.; Wharton, F.; United States. President; United States. Dept. of State; United States. Dept. of Justice (1906).A Digest of International Law: As Embodied in Diplomatic Discussions, Treaties and Other International Agreements, International Awards, the Decisions of Municipal Courts, and the Writings of Jurists ... U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 574. Retrieved2015-11-09.
• Rogers, E.S. (August 9, 1932).The Sovereignty of Islands Claimed Under the Guano Act and of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands, Midway and Wake (Report). Washington, D.C.: Department of State, Office of the Legal Advisor.
• Rogers, E.S. (September 30, 1932).The Sovereignty of Guano Islands in the Caribbean Sea (Report). Washington, D.C.: Department of State, Office of the Legal Advisor.
• Rogers, E.S. (January 9, 1933).The Sovereignty of Guano Islands in the Pacific Ocean (Report). Washington, D.C.: Department of State, Office of the Legal Advisor.

• Islands claimed under the Guano Islands Act
• Insular areas of the United States-related lists
• Lists of islands of the United States
• Disputed islands
• Law of insular areas of the United States

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