United States yearbook - 1982 (1)

Section 32
Outlying Areas
Under Jurisdiction
of the United States
This section presents summary economic and social statistics for the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, the principal territories of the United States (Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa) and,
wherever possible, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands including the Northern Mariana Islands.
Primary sources are the decennial censuses of population and housing, and the censuses of agriculture,
business, and manufactures (fatten every five years) conducted by the Bureau of the
Census; the annual Vital Statistics o f the United States, issued by the National Center for Wealth
Statistics; and the annual income and Product hi the Puerto Rica Planning Board, San Juan.
Jurlsdlction.»-The United States gained jurisdiction over these areas as follows:
The islands of Puerto Rico and Guam, surrendered by Spain to the United States in October
1898, were ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Paris, ratified In 1899. Puerto Rico
became a commonwealth on July 25,1952, thereby achieving a high degree of local autonomy
under its own constitution. The Virgin Islands, Comprising 50 islands and cays, were purchased
by the United States from Denmark in 1917. American Samoa, a group of 7 islands, was acquired
by the United States in accordance with a convention among the United Slates, Great
Britain, and Germany, ratified in February 1900.
The Trust Territory o f the Pacific Islands (including the Northern Mariana Islands) comprises
2,141 atolls and islands, about 96 of which are inhabited. By an agreement approved by the
Security Council and the United States in 1947, this territory, formerly under Japanese mandate,
has been administered by the United States since July 1947 under the United Nations
trusteeship system.
The Northern Mariana Islands are in the process of becoming a Commonwealth. Some data, formerly
Included in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, are now shown separately.
For a brief summary of U.S. territorial development, see tables 5 and 339.
Censuses.—-Because characteristics of the outlying areas differ, the presentation of census data
for them is not uniform. The 1960 Census of Population covered all of the places listed above
except the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (the census of which was conducted in April 1958
by the Office of the High Commissioner), whereas the 1960 Census of Housing also excluded
American Samoa. The 1970 and 1980 Censuses of Population and Housing covered all five areas.
The 1959 and 1969 Censuses of Agriculture covered Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, and
the Virgin Islands; the 1964 and 1974 censuses covered the same areas except American Samoa;
and the 1978 census covered the same areas including American Samoa and the Northern Mariana
Islands. Beginning in 1967, Congress authorized the economic censuses, covering business,
manufactures, and, for Guam and the Virgin Islands, mineral industries, to be taken at 5-year intervals,
for years ending in 2 and 7. Prior economic censuses were conducted in Puerto Rico for
1954,1958, and 1963, and in Guam and the Virgin Islands for 1958 and 1963. In 1972, the census
of construction industries was added for the first time for these three areas.
Information In other sections.— In addition to the statistics presented in this section, other data
are included as integral parts of many tables showing distribution by States in various sections of
the Abstract. See "Outlying areas of the United States” in the index. For definition and explanation
of terms used, see section 1, Population; section 5, Education; section 24, Agriculture; section 28,
Construction and Housing; section 29, Manufactures; and section 30, Domestic Trade and Services.
845