A Commonwealth is a type of organized but unincorporated dependent territory. The term does not describe any specific political status or relationship. As for the commonwealth countries they are not states but two United States insular areas. They are the Northern Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico.
A territory is an insular area protected and adminstered by the United States. A commonwealth is a self-governing insular area that elects to be part of the United States. Commonwealths, territories, and protectorates are insular areas whose people are citizens of the United States, with the exception of America Samoa. The Samoans are nationals--free to go anywhere in the United States--but they are not citizens.
In the United States Massachusetts , Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Virginia are styled commonwealths, not states, although functionally there is no difference. The United states also has two insular territories that are styled commonwealths. They are the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands..
Their land is part of the United States.
The Commonwealth of Australia consists of 6 states and two mainland territories, along with seven offshore territories. See also the related question.
In the terminology of the United States insular areas, a Commonwealth is a type of organized but unincorporated dependent territory.There are currently two United States insular areas classified with the status of commonwealth, the Northern Mariana stateand Puerto Rico.
The territories of Australia are established by the Commonwealth government, and are therefore subject to Commonwealth laws. The Commonwealth may deign to give them powers to establish laws in some areas, but essentially this is at the discretion of the Commonwealth government. The territories are really just extensions of the Commonwealth government and its laws. When the six colonies federated as states, their powers were defined by the Constitution. The territories were established a decade after federation, and although there is provision for them to become states at a later time, until that happens they are still subject only to Commonwealth law.
The three American territories are Guam, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Does Canada have countries,states,cities,or territories?
The Supreme Court case known as the Insular Cases stated that the Constitution did not fully apply to the territories recently acquired by the US, such as Puerto Rico and the Philippines. The Court held that these territories could be governed differently from the states, and that the rights guaranteed by the Constitution did not automatically apply to the people in these territories. This decision has had significant implications for the legal status and rights of individuals in US territories.
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No. The Commonwealth of Nations is composed of former British possessions, territories and protectorates. Puerto Rico was never a British colony and was never part of the Commonwealth of nations. Puerto Rico is a free associated state and commonwealth of the United States. In this case "commonwealth" is a territorial status and has nothing to do with the Commonwealth of nations or the United States Commonwealth states of Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
No, the USA does not style itself a commonwealth, although the term commonwealth is sometimes used as a synonym for the term republic. Four of the states of the USA and two of its territories style themselves as Commonwealths..