Protectorates, officially called "insular areas of the United States," are jurisdictions administered by the United States that aren't part of a state or a federal district. Freely associated states administered by the United States include the Marshall Islands, Federal States of Micronesia, Palau and others.
Other protectorates of the United States include the unincorporated territories American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands, all of which are uninhabited. In the past, territories such as the Philippines, Cuba and the Panama Canal Zone were also considered protectorates, but all have gained full independence.
