# Geographic Areas Reference Manual/Chapter 7

Chapter 7
Puerto Rico and the Outlying Areas
Title 13 of the U.S. Code states that each of the censuses it authorizes “shall include each State, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands [of the United States], Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and as may be determined by the Secretary [of Commerce], such other possessions and areas over which the United States exercises jurisdiction, control, or sovereignty. Inclusion of other areas … shall be subject to the concurrence of the Secretary of State.” Accordingly, for the 1990 census, the Bureau of the Census enumerated and tabulated data for the following entities, and treated each as the statistical equivalent of a State for consistency in its data presentations and tabulations:
* American Samoa
* Guam
* The Northern Mariana Islands (legally referred to since 1986 as the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands)
* Palau (referred to since 1979 as the Republic of Palau, and also known locally as Belau)
* Puerto Rico (legally referred to since 1952 as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico)
* The Virgin Islands of the United States (informally referred to as the Virgin Islands)
The Census Bureau refers to these entities collectively as Puerto Rico and the Outlying Areas. All these entities except Palau also are included in the Census of Agriculture, and all except American Samoa and Palau are included in the economic censuses. Table 7-1 shows the first year each entity participated in the decennial, agriculture, and economic censuses. In the Virgin Islands and the Pacific Outlying Areas, the Census Bureau takes the various censuses as joint projects with the local governments, which actually conduct the censuses. In Puerto Rico, the Census Bureau conducts the census.
​Table 7-1. First Census Participation for Puerto Rico and the Outlying Areas
| Entity | Decennial | Agriculture | Economic |
| American Samoa | 1920 | 1920 | — |
| Guam | 1920 | 1920 | 1958 |
| Northern Mariana Islands | 1970 | 1970 | 1982 |
| Palau | 1970 | — | — |
| Puerto Rico | 1910 | 1910 | 1910 |
| Virgin Islands of the United States | 1930 | 1930 | 1958 |
The Census Bureau included two other entities as Outlying Areas in earlier decennial censuses:
* The Canal Zone (or Panama Canal Zone) was first enumerated by the United States in 1904, after it came under U.S. jurisdiction by treaty with Panama on November 18, 1903. It was included in the decennial censuses from 1920 through 1970. On October 1, 1979, the United States transferred sovereignty over the Canal Zone to Panama in accordance with the terms of a treaty signed in September 1977 and ratified the following April.
* The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) was administered by the United States as a United Nations trusteeship beginning July 18, 1947. The TTPI included the Marshall Islands, the Caroline Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands. The U.S. Navy conducted a population census of the TTPI in 1950; the Office of the High Commissioner of the TTPI conducted censuses in 1958 and 1973; and the Census Bureau conducted the censuses in 1970 and 1980. However, for the 1980 census, the Census Bureau reported the Northern Mariana Islands as a separate entity rather than with the other entities that composed the TTPI. On November 3, 1986, a presidential proclamation cancelled the trusteeship agreement as it applied to the Northern Mariana Islands, and that entity became a commonwealth of the United States. As a result of the proclamation, effective November 9, 1986, the Federated States of Micronesia—comprising the TTPI administrative districts of Kosrae, Ponape (now Pohnpei), Truk (now Chuuk), and Yap—and, retroactive to October 21, 1986, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, became freely associated States, independent of the United States except for U.S. responsibility for their security and defense. On December 22, ​1990, the U.N. Security Council officially terminated the TTPI jurisdiction over all areas except Palau. Palau also has voted to become a freely associated State, a status which is scheduled to become effective October 1, 1994. Unless there are unforseen objections or postponements, the TTPI jurisdiction will cease completely on that date.
Population censuses of the Philippine Islands (or The Philippines), which the United States acquired from Spain in 1898, were conducted in 1903, 1918, and 1939. However, this entity was never enumerated as part of a decennial census before obtaining its independence in 1946.
The Census Bureau also has provided population counts for certain small islands under U.S. jurisdiction, in accordance with an agreement with the Department of State. Beginning in 1980, these counts, which consist only of total population figures (no demographic characteristics), have been based on information provided by the appropriate Federal Government agency that had jurisdiction over each one, rather than by direct enumeration. These entities, technically referred to as possessions, are classified into two areas, the Caribbean and the Pacific. The Caribbean area consists of the following:
    Counts shown in the reports for the 1950 census (covering both 1940 and 1950) and the 1960 census were from the same-year censuses of Nicaragua; counts were not reported with the 1970 census. The United States and Nicaragua terminated their 1914 lease agreement on April 15, 1971, when full control of the islands reverted to Nicaragua.
    This island, located between Jamaica and Haiti, was mentioned, but not enumerated, in the 1950 and 1960 censuses, and was reported in subsequent censuses to be unpopulated. A U.S. possession since 1856, the island is the site of a lighthouse under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Coast Guard. ​
    These islands were mentioned, but not enumerated, in the 1950 and 1960 censuses. A December 1973 treaty recognized Colombia’s sovereignty over them.
    The 1950, 1960, and 1970 censuses reported population counts for these islands. Sovereignty over the Swan Islands passed to Honduras on September 1, 1972, under the terms of a treaty signed on November 2, 1971.
The Pacific area consists of the following:
    These islands have been administered by the Department of the Interior since 1936, and have served as wildlife refuges under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service since 1974. Population counts for these islands were reported as part of Hawaii for the 1940 census. Subsequently, they have been reported as a separate, single unpopulated entity.
    Population counts for these islands were reported as part of Hawaii for the 1940 census, and as a separate area in 1950 and 1960, when Canton Island was important as a stopover on Pacific air routes. The 1970 and 1980 censuses reported no population. The United States signed a treaty on September 20, 1979, relinquishing the islands to Kiribati, which took possession in June 1983.
    Referred to in some censuses as Johnston Island and Sand Island, Johnston Atoll was annexed by the United States in 1856, and is administered by the Defense Nuclear Agency under a 1973 agreement with the U.S. Air Force. It was reported as part of Hawaii for the 1940 census; its population counts—only Johnston Island is inhabited—have been reported separately starting with the 1950 census.
    Kingman Reef was annexed to the United States in 1922, and has been under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Navy since 1934. It was mentioned, but ​not enumerated, in the 1950 and 1960 censuses; it was not mentioned in 1970. Kingman Reef was reported as unpopulated for the 1980 and 1990 censuses.
    The Midway Islands, which lie amid the west end of Hawaii’s northwestern islands, consist of two islets, Eastern and Sand. They became a U.S. possession in 1867, and have been administered by the U.S. Navy since 1903. The Census Bureau reported the population of the Midway Islands as part of Hawaii in each decennial census from 1910 through 1940, and as a separate entity starting with the 1950 census.
    Palmyra Atoll (or, incorrectly, Palmyra Island), consisting of more than 50 islets, became a U.S. possession in 1898 as part of Hawaii, and is privately owned. The Census Bureau reported the population of Palmyra as part of Hawaii for the 1940 census; the atoll was mentioned, but not enumerated, in the 1950 and 1960 censuses; and it has been reported separately as an unpopulated area since the 1970 census.
    Wake Island has been reported as a populated area starting with the 1950 census. It became a U.S. possession in 1898, and has been administered by the U.S. Air Force since 1962.
Figures 7-1 and 7-2 depict the locations of all the Outlying Areas for which the Census Bureau reported data at the time of the last decennial census in which each was included. Tables 7-2 and 7-3 show both population and areal data for each entity included in the 1990 census or other recent decennial censuses. Numerous other atolls and islands, primarily in the Line, Phoenix, Tokelau, and Northern Cook Islands, were mentioned, but not enumerated, in the 1950 and 1960 censuses. The U.S. Government relinquished sovereignty over these islands, claimed jointly with the United Kingdom, to the new nations of Cook Islands, Kiribati, and Tokelau in the early 1980s.
​Figure 7-1. Caribbean Area
| | Population | Land Area | Population Density |
| | (total) | (square miles) | (per square mile) |
| American Samoa | 46,773 | 77.3 | 604.9 |
| Guam | 133,152 | 209.8 | 634.6 |
| Northern Mariana Islands | 43,345 | 179.0 | 242.1 |
| Palau | 15,122 | 177.3 | 85.3 |
| Puerto Rico | 3,522,037 | 3,426.5 | 1,027.9 |
| Virgin Islands of the United States | 101,809 | 133.8 | 760.9 |
| Baker, Howland, and Jarvis Islands | 0 | 2.9 | 0.0 |
| Canal Zone | 44,198 | 362.0 | 122.1 |
| Canton and Enderbury Islands | 0 | 3.9 | 0.0 |
| Johnston Atoll | 173 | 1.1 | 157.3 |
| Kingman Reef | 0 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
| Midway Islands | 13 | 2.5 | 5.2 |
| Navassa Island | 0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Palmyra Atoll | 0 | 4.6 | 0.0 |
| Swan Islands | 22 | 1.0 | 22.0 |
| Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands | 116,149 | 533.0 | 217.9 |
| Wake Island | 7 | 2.5 | 2.8 |
* ↑ Data are from the 1970 census.
* ↑ Data are from the 1980 census.
* ↑ Data are from the 1980 census; excludes the Northern Mariana Islands, but includes Palau.
Note: Area and density figures may vary slightly from those in publications and/or data tapes. Multiply square miles by 2.59 to convert to square kilometers.
| | Land Area | Inland Water Area | Total Water Area |
| | (square miles) | (square miles) | (square miles) |
| American Samoa | 77.3 | 7.1 | 505.9 |
| Guam | 209.8 | 6.8 | 360.8 |
| Northern Mariana Islands | 179.0 | 2.2 | 1,770.9 |
| Palau | 177.3 | 40.1 | 452.6 |
| Puerto Rico | 3,426.5 | 65.2 | 1,898.2 |
| Virgin Islands of the United States | 133.8 | 17.0 | 603.7 |
| Baker, Howland, and Jarvis Islands | 2.9 | NA | NA |
| Canal Zone | 362.0 | 191.0 | NA |
| Canton and Enderbury Islands | 3.9 | 18.0 | NA |
| Johnston Atoll | 1.1 | NA | NA |
| Kingman Reef | 0.4 | NA | NA |
| Midway Islands | 2.5 | NA | NA |
| Navassa Island | 2.0 | NA | NA |
| Palmyra Atoll | 4.6 | NA | NA |
| Swan Islands | 1.0 | NA | NA |
| Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands | 533.0 | NA | 6,001.0 |
| Wake Island | 2.5 | NA | NA |
Note: The symbol “NA” indicates that data are not available. Area and density figures may vary slightly from those in publications and/or on data tapes. Multiply square miles by 2.59 to convert to square kilometers.
The geographic components of Puerto Rico and the Outlying Areas vary as a result of each entity’s history, governmental and administrative structure, and the pattern of human settlement. The Census Bureau presents data for the geographic components in terms of a standard framework, the same geographic hierarchy it uses for the States (see Figures 7-3 and 7-4). It also presents the data for some components in an inventory listing, such as all places within an Outlying Area or all census tracts or block numbering areas within a county. The high-level geography for each entity is provided in Table 7-4 and explained later in this chapter. (The hierarchy applies only to American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Puerto Rico, ​and the Virgin Islands. The Census Bureau treats each of the other islands mentioned in this chapter as a single geographic unit.)
As noted previously, for purposes of data presentation, the Census Bureau treats Puerto Rico and each Outlying Area as the statistical equivalent of a State. Each entity is divided into first-order subdivisions, similar to counties in most States; however, they are called a variety of terms, none of which is county. (The legal entities called counties in American Samoa represent second-order subdivisions, or minor civil divisions (MCDs); see Chapter 8, “County Subdivisions.”) For the 1990 census, every first-order subdivision is divided into census tracts or block numbering areas (BNAs), which in turn consist of block groups (BGs) and blocks; in the Outlying Areas, only Puerto Rico has census tracts. For previous decennial censuses, except for portions of Puerto Rico that had census blocks identified in recent censuses, the smallest level of geography was the enumeration district (ED). See Chapters 10 and 11 for more information on census tracts/BNAs, BGs, blocks, and EDs.
Figure 7-3. The Basic Geographic Hierarchy
| | | | | | | Puerto Rico/Outlying Areas | Puerto Rico/Outlying Areas | Puerto Rico/Outlying Areas | Puerto Rico/Outlying Areas | Puerto Rico/Outlying Areas | Puerto Rico/Outlying Areas | | | | | | | | |
| Places | Places | Places | Places | Places | Places | First-Order Subdivisions | First-Order Subdivisions | First-Order Subdivisions | First-Order Subdivisions | First-Order Subdivisions | First-Order Subdivisions | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Census Tracts/ Block Numbering Areas | Census Tracts/ Block Numbering Areas | Census Tracts/ Block Numbering Areas | Census Tracts/ Block Numbering Areas | Census Tracts/ Block Numbering Areas | Census Tracts/ Block Numbering Areas | | | Minor Civil Divisions (MCDs) | Minor Civil Divisions (MCDs) | Minor Civil Divisions (MCDs) | Minor Civil Divisions (MCDs) | Minor Civil Divisions (MCDs) | Minor Civil Divisions (MCDs) |
| | | | | | | Block Groups | Block Groups | Block Groups | Block Groups | Block Groups | Block Groups | Sub-MCDs | Sub-MCDs | Sub-MCDs | Sub-MCDs | Sub-MCDs | Sub-MCDs | | |
| | | | | | | Blocks | Blocks | Blocks | Blocks | Blocks | Blocks | | | | | | | | |
First-Order Subdivision
Minor Civil Division (MCD)
Place
Census Tract or Block Numbering Area (BNA)
Block Group (BG)
Block
| | Entity | Generic Term | Status |
| Puerto Rico | Puerto Rico | State | Functioning |
| Puerto Rico | Municipio | First-Order Subdivision | Functioning |
| Puerto Rico | Barrio | MCD | Nonfunctioning |
| Puerto Rico | Barrio-Pueblo | MCD | Nonfunctioning |
| Puerto Rico | Zona Urbana | Place | Statistical |
| Puerto Rico | Comunidad | Place | Statistical |
| American Samoa | American Samoa | State | Functioning |
| American Samoa | District | First-Order Subdivision | Functioning |
| American Samoa | Island | First-Order Subdivision | Nonfunctioning |
| American Samoa | County | MCD | Functioning |
| American Samoa | Island | MCD | False |
| American Samoa | Village | Place | Functioning |
| Guam | Guam | State | Functioning |
| Guam | Guam | First-Order Subdivision | False |
| Guam | Election District | MCD | Nonfunctioning |
| Guam | CDP | Place | Statistical |
| Northern Mariana Islands | Northern Mariana Is. | State | Functioning |
| Northern Mariana Islands | Municipality | First-Order Subdivision | Functioning |
| Northern Mariana Islands | Municipal District | MCD | Nonfunctioning |
| Northern Mariana Islands | CDP | Place | Statistical |
| Palau | Palau | State | Functioning |
| Palau | State | First-Order Subdivision | False |
| Palau | State | MCD | False |
| Palau | Municipality | MCD | Functioning |
| Palau | CDP | Place | Statistical |
| Virgin Islands | Virgin Islands | State | Functioning |
| Virgin Islands | Island | First-Order Subdivision | Nonfunctioning |
| Virgin Islands | Census Subdistrict | MCD | Statistical |
| Virgin Islands | Town | Place | Nonfunctioning |
| Virgin Islands | CDP | Place | Statistical |
* ↑ In Puerto Rico, some MCDs (barrios and barrios-pueblo) are divided into sub-MCDs (subbarrios), which are nonfunctioning entities.
* ↑ A false entity is a geographic entity that is established to create complete coverage at a specific geographic level; for example, a place also serves as an MCD in order to provide complete coverage at the MCD level.
* Puerto Rico and the Outlying Areas are not part of any census region or division (see Chapter 6).
* The census data (such as population and housing) for Puerto Rico and the Outlying Areas are not included with that of the United States.
* With the exception of Puerto Rico, none of the Outlying Areas have metropolitan areas (MAs) or urbanized areas (UAs). (See Chapters 12 and 13 for more information.)
* Puerto Rico has an additional, unique level of geography to represent the Commonwealth’s subbarrios, which are subdivisions of the MCD—that is, the Census Bureau treats the subbarrios as sub-MCDs. Prior to the 1990 census, the TTPI and the Northern Mariana Islands also had sub-MCDs.
* The decennial census does not report ZIP Code data for Puerto Rico or the Outlying Areas.
The remainder of this chapter takes a brief look at the history and administrative structure of each of the six entities enumerated in the 1990 census, and then provides a comprehensive overview of their census geography. The entities are discussed in alphabetical order.
American Samoa is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States. It consists of five major volcanic islands and two coral atolls (see Figure 7-5) that lie in the heart of Polynesia, 2,500 miles south-southwest of Honolulu and 1,800 miles north-northeast of New Zealand. It is the only U.S. jurisdiction that lies south of the equator. Tutuila Island, which contains the historic capital of Pago Pago, the seat of government at Fagatogo, and the office of the Governor at Utulei, encompasses 70 percent of American Samoa’s 77.3 square miles and over 95 percent of its 46,773 inhabitants (see Table 7-5).
​In 1839, the visit of an American naval vessel marked the first official United States contact with this area. In 1872, the need for a coaling station brought about an agreement between the commander of the U.S. naval vessel Narragansett and the chief of Pago Pago; although the agreement was never ratified by the U.S. Senate, it prevented other nations from making claims on Pago Pago Harbor as international competition for bases in the South Pacific increased.
On December 2, 1899, the United States, Great Britain, and Germany signed a convention wherein the United States retained Eastern Samoa but gave up claims to the islands that now constitute the independent nation of Western Samoa; the convention was ratified by Congress on February 16, 1900. Three days later, President William McKinley, seeking a suitable harbor and fueling station for American vessels in the South Pacific, directed the U.S. Navy to establish United States authority over the area. This was followed by negotiation of a series of deeds of cession with the chiefs of Tutuila (concluded on April 17, 1900) and the chief of the Manu’a group (in July 1904). Swains Island, a coral atoll, was settled by an American in 1856, and his citizenship tied it to the United States; the island officially became part of American Samoa in 1925.
The U.S. Navy governed American Samoa until June 29, 1951, when an Executive Order transferred the administration of the territory to the Department of the Interior. In 1960, American Samoa adopted a constitution. Since 1981, American Samoa has been represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by a nonvoting delegate. (The 103rd Congress gave the delegates from those Outlying Areas represented in the House of Representatives the right to vote in the Committee of the Whole, but not on matters before the entire House.) The Samoan language is spoken commonly in the territory.
​Figure 7-5. American Samoa
| | Population | Population | Land Area | Land Area |
| | (total) | (percent) | (square miles) | (percent) |
| American Samoa | 46,773 | 100.0 | 77.3 | 100.0 |
| Tutuila Island | 44,580 | 95.3 | 54.2 | 70.1 |
| Eastern District | 21,175 | 45.3 | 25.9 | 33.5 |
| Aunu’u Island | 463 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.8 |
| Western District | 23,868 | 51.0 | 28.9 | 37.4 |
| Manu’a Islands | 1,714 | 3.7 | 21.9 | 28.3 |
| Ofu Island (includes Nu’u Island) | 353 | 0.8 | 2.8 | 3.6 |
| Olosega Island | 225 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 2.6 |
| Ta’u Island | 1,136 | 2.4 | 17.1 | 22.1 |
| Rose Island | 0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Swains Island | 16 | < 0.05 | 0.6 | 0.8 |
| Northern Mariana Islands | 43,345 | 100.0 | 179.0 | 100.0 |
| Northern Islands | 36 | 0.1 | 59.8 | 33.4 |
| Agrihan Island | 9 | < 0.05 | 18.0 | 10.1 |
| Alamagan Island | 5 | < 0.05 | 4.0 | 2.2 |
| Anatahan Island | 22 | < 0.05 | 12.0 | 6.7 |
| Pagan Island | 0 | < 0.05 | 18.0 | 10.1 |
| Rota Island | 2,295 | 5.3 | 33.0 | 18.4 |
| Saipan Island | 38,896 | 89.7 | 44.6 | 24.9 |
| Tinian Island | 2,118 | 4.9 | 41.7 | 23.3 |
| Palau | 15,122 | 100.0 | 177.0 | 100.0 |
| Angaur Island | 206 | 1.4 | 3.2 | 1.8 |
| Babelthuap (Babeldaob) Island | 3,594 | 23.8 | 139.5 | 78.8 |
| Kayangel Island | 137 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.3 |
| Koror and vicinity | 10,480 | 69.4 | 4.8 | 2.7 |
| Koror Island | 8,372 | 55.4 | 3.6 | 2.0 |
| Arakabesan Island | 1,462 | 9.7 | 0.9 | 0.5 |
| Malakal Island | 646 | 4.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Peleliu Island | 601 | 4.0 | 6.8 | 3.8 |
| Sonsorol Islands | 61 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 0.7 |
| Tobi Island/Helen Reef | 22 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Other islands (mainly the Rock Islands) | 218 | 0.1 | 20.6 | 11.6 |
| Virgin Islands (with nearly islets and cays) | 101,809 | 100.0 | 133.8 | 100.0 |
| St. Croix | 50,139 | 49.2 | 82.9 | 62.0 |
| St. John | 3,504 | 3.4 | 19.6 | 14.6 |
| St. Thomas | 48,166 | 47.3 | 31.2 | 23.3 |
Note: Multiply square miles by 2.59 to convert to square kilometers.
* From 1951 to 1977, the Department of the Interior appointed American Samoa’s governors; beginning in 1977, Samoans have been able to elect their own governor and lieutenant governor. There also is an 18-member senate chosen by Samoan custom from the 14 counties, and a 20-member house of representatives elected by popular vote; the latter also includes a nonvoting delegate elected from Swains Island. The two legislative bodies constitute the Fono.
* There are three districts that make up the first-order subdivisions: Eastern and Western on Tutuila Island (Eastern District also includes the island of Aunu’u) and Manu’a (composed of Ofu, Olosega, and Ta’u Islands). Each has a district governor, appointed by the Governor of American Samoa, and a district council, “chosen … in accordance with Samoan custom” (American Samoa Code, 1981). Swains Island and Rose Island are not in any district. Swains Island is administered by the village government and a representative of the Governor. Rose Island is an unpopulated coral atoll that is a wildlife refuge under the jurisdiction of the American Samoa government, but is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
* The districts are divided into 14 counties that compose the MCDs. Each county has a county chief, appointed by the Governor of American Samoa, and a county council, chosen in accordance with Samoan custom.
* All land area of American Samoa except Rose Island is assigned to a village. Each village has a village chief, or pulenuu, whom the Governor of American Samoa appoints from among the chiefs resident in each village, and a village council, which consists of all the chiefs and heads of families resident in the village. Accordingly, the Census Bureau treats the villages as if they were incorporated places. The villages are defined by land ownership, or land usership, rather than legally established boundaries. Land surveyed before 1900 (pre-U.S. acquisition) belongs to a specific owner; however, native custom and usage is by far the most common form of land tenure in American Samoa, affecting over 96 percent of all land. The villages are based on traditional communities, which regulate the use and ​occupancy of the land by Samoan custom. Traditional boundaries are based both on the borders as they have been recognized historically, and on which village actually is using the land. Efforts to undertake a land survey to document the current situation have been unsuccessful. Thus, the boundaries of most villages do not have specific locations, are not property lines, and are not recorded in writing. Furthermore, boundaries can change as owned lands are sold or developed, and the location of a boundary can be open to interpretation; villages may appeal to the High Court of American Samoa for a final legal adjudication of the location of disputed boundaries. New villages may be established from existing ones, with boundaries based on mutual agreement. Villages may merge by deciding to share a chief and council.
The Census Bureau, for statistical purposes, recognizes only those villages with both a pulenuu and a village council in accordance with the American Samoa Code. (Some villages have a single council, but have pulenuus associated with separate areas; in those instances, the Census Bureau identified block boundaries that approximately delimited each such area so that data users could allocate 1990 census figures to each portion of the village.) Because the village boundaries are traditional and not fixed by law, the Census Bureau recognizes them on its maps as traditional boundaries rather than as legally documented corporate limits, and does not show village boundaries at all, if possible. Contrary to information that the American Samoa government provided to the Census Bureau for the 1980 census, the county boundaries—but not the district boundaries—change as village boundaries adjust to changing ownership and court decisions. Thus, for the 1990 census, the villages nested within counties except where a village crossed a district line (only Nu’uuli village does so).
As it had in the past, the Economic Development Planning Office of the American Samoa government provided the information necessary for the Census Bureau to identify and delineate the several legal entities. The Census Bureau also worked with that agency to establish BNAs and BGs that would result in 1990 census data for meaningful geographic units. The BNAs were to contain, as an optimum, 300 housing units, but could ​range from 250 to 900; BGs were to contain 70 housing units as an optimum, but could range from 50 to 100. The BGs also served as the basic geographic units—called address register areas (ARAs)—used as enumerator assignments for performing the enumeration. For the 1980 census, the Census Bureau assigned one ED to each village or village part, with oversized EDs to be split in the field to facilitate the enumeration.
In both 1980 and 1990, the Census Bureau took a census of agriculture in American Samoa in conjunction with the decennial census, using the EDs/ARAs as the geographic basis for the enumerations. The census of agriculture reports data for American Samoa and the first-order subdivisions; however, Swains Island is counted with Manu’a District, and tabulations do not include Rose Island, which is unpopulated. American Samoa is not included in the economic censuses.
Guam is the largest and southernmost island of a chain of volcanic islands in part of Micronesia known as the Marianas Archipelago (see Figures 7-2 and 7-6). It is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States and is located in the western Pacific Ocean, 6,000 miles southwest of San Francisco, 3,700 miles west of Honolulu, 1,500 miles south of Tokyo, and 1,500 miles east of Manila. Inhabited for more than 3,500 years, the discovery of Guahan or Guan (as the Spanish documented the name apparently used by the indigenous population) in 1521 by Ferdinand Magellan was the basis for Guam coming under Spanish rule. Spain claimed Guam and the Marianas in 1565, established a supply station on Guam the next year, and established the first permanent Spanish settlement in 1668. As a result of the Spanish–American war, Spain ceded Guam to the United States by the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898.
Diseases and conflicts resulted in the near annihilation of the original Guamanians, known as Chamorros. Intermarriage of Spaniards and Filipinos with Chamorros during the 18th and 19th centuries gave rise to the modern Guamanian race and culture, and Chamorro is still commonly spoken in Guam. Over 90 years of American influence also has had its effect on ​modern-day Guam, as did the Japanese occupation during World War II. Guam became a major military site for the United States after its liberation in August 1944. In fact, since the end of World War II, approximately one-third of Guam’s land area has been owned by the Federal Government, most of it in military reservations; in 1980, almost 20,000 people, or over 18 percent of Guam’s population, lived on military bases—primarily Andersen Air Force Base, Finegayan Naval Communication Station, and Apra Harbor Naval Reservation—and on U.S. Navy ships for which Guam was the home port.
The U.S. Navy was responsible for the administration of Guam from 1898 until June 30, 1950, when the U.S. Government transferred that obligation to the Department of the Interior. The Organic Act of Guam (1950) enabled Guamanians to elect their own legislature, an at-large 21-member senate. The President of the United States appointed the governor of Guam until 1970; since that year, as a result of legislation signed by President Lyndon Johnson on September 11, 1968, Guamanians have elected a governor and lieutenant governor. In addition, since 1973, Guam has been represented in the U.S. Congress by an elected nonvoting delegate (see parenthetical statement on page 7-14 in the section on “American Samoa”). In recent years, Guam has been trying to obtain commonwealth status, which would give it more control of some of its affairs than the current home rule it now exercises.
The Census Bureau recognizes no first-order subdivisions of Guam, so the entire island serves as a single county equivalent for census statistical purposes. Guam is subdivided into 19 election districts, which the Census Bureau treats as MCDs. These entities do not have functioning governments; they are administrative areas for electing mayors (as explained later in this paragraph). The island also is divided into 15 municipalities, or villages. By legislation effective August 14, 1956, the 15 municipalities underwent an extensive reorganization to match the current election districts for the express purpose of facilitating the election of the mayors of the municipalities. That is, each municipality is headed by a mayor ​elected by the residents of the municipality; prior to September 6, 1989, this title was commissioner. A mayor has the legal authority to carry out certain municipal functions, resolves community concerns and problems, and serves as a liaison with both the Territorial Government and the legislature. Since the mayor cannot pass laws or raise taxes, the municipalities do not actually have a local, self-governing capability. The mayor’s office usually is located in the portion of a municipality known locally as the village, and therefore some mayors still may be known as village commissioners. The municipalities also are used for land recordation. At the request of the Guam government, the Census Bureau has recognized the current election districts as MCDs since the 1960 census; prior to that time, the decennial census recognized the following:
* 1920—towns, barrios, one city (Agana, the capital), one district, and one municipality
* 1930—eight municipalities and a naval reservation; the municipalities primarily consisted of towns, barrios, and Agana city
* 1940—15 municipalities, consisting of towns and barrios; 1 was coextensive with Agana city, which was further divided into 10 districts
* 1950—15 municipalities, which included 19 villages and 1 city
Until the 1980 census, the Census Bureau referred to the places in Guam as cities, towns, and villages even though they were not incorporated places in the stateside sense of that term. For the 1980 census, 32 unincorporated settlements were identified more accurately as census designated places (CDPs). To qualify as a CDP, an area delineated by local officials as a potential CDP had to contain at least 300 people. The same 32 CDPs appeared in the 1990 census; 6 of the CDPs represented military housing areas. To ensure that Agana would appear in the census tabulations, a special criterion permitted it to qualify as a CDP regardless of its population count; as it turned out, the special rule was not needed because instead of an anticipated decline, Agana grew from a population of 896 in 1980 to 1,139 in 1990.
Guam was block-numbered for the first time in the 1990 census. To provide data for locally useful areas, local officials delineated a BNA and BG plan ​for the Census Bureau. The BNAs for Guam were to contain an optimum of 650 housing units, but could range from 500 to 1,200; BGs were to contain an optimum of 140 housing units and could range from 90 to 190. For the 1980 census, local officials designed the EDs, using an optimum of 140 and a range of approximately 100 to 160 housing units as the criteria. In both censuses, the Census Bureau worked with two Guam agencies—the Bureau of Planning and the Department of Commerce—to obtain information about both legal and statistical entities, and to conduct the decennial, economic, and agriculture censuses. In turn, these agencies worked with appropriate territorial agencies to ensure that the census geographic units would be meaningful entities for local data users.
The agriculture and economic censuses report data for Guam and each election district. However, the census of agriculture treats the districts as special geographic entities while the economic censuses treat them as the statistical equivalents of places.
The Northern Mariana Islands, which is part of Micronesia, comprises the former Mariana Islands District of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. It consists of three main islands—Saipan, Tinian, and Rota—and several small islands and atolls (see Figure 7-6). It is located just north of Guam; Saipan lies about 125 miles northeast of Guam, but southernmost Rota is less than 50 miles from Guam. The islands that constitute the Northern Marianas encompass some 430 miles from Rota in the south to Uracus Island in the north, but it is only 75 miles from Rota to Saipan; the lightly populated Northern Islands (an exodus, primarily due to volcanic activity, reduced the number to only 36 in 1990 and even fewer by 1992) stretch over some 300 miles of the Pacific. The Commonwealth’s capital is Saipan, but no locality on that island is recognized specifically as the capital; several (but not all) government offices are located in the CDP of Capital Hill, but the legislature meets in Susupe. Almost 90 percent of the population lives on Saipan (see Table 7-5). As in Guam, Chamorro is the most common native language spoken in the Northern Mariana Islands.
​Figure 7-6. Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands
During the 30 years that followed, the U.S. Government provided the basis for the entities within the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) to make a steady movement toward self-government. After extensive negotiations, the United States and the Northern Mariana Islands concluded a covenant on February 15, 1975, that would result in that entity becoming a commonwealth of the United States. In 1977, the U.S. Government announced its intention to terminate the trusteeship as soon as possible. Over several years, the governmental framework of the TTPI restructured itself into four separate entities, one of which corresponded to the Northern Mariana Islands; each adopted a new constitution, held elections, established its own government, and began to function autonomously, although within the framework of the trusteeship. The establishment of a separate government for the Northern Mariana Islands took place in January 1978 with the reorganization of the Mariana Islands District of the TTPI as the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Final commonwealth status did not come until November 3, 1986, when President Ronald Reagan issued a proclamation that dissolved the trusteeship agreement for all of the TTPI except Palau.
​However, the Census Bureau treated the CNMI separately from the TTPI in the 1980 census tabulations because the legal structure for its commonwealth relationship with the United States was already in place. Citizens of the CNMI elect a governor and lieutenant governor, a 15-member House of Representatives, and a 9-member Senate. The CNMI does not have representation in the U.S. Congress.
Population censuses were conducted under the authority of the government of Japan (1925 through 1940), the Department of the Navy (1950), the Department of the Interior (1955), and the High Commissioner of the TTPI (1958 and 1973). The 1970 census was the first decennial census that included the CNMI; at the same time, the Census Bureau took an agriculture census of the CNMI, the results of which were published with the 1969 Census of Agriculture. In 1997, the CNMI will be included with the regular five-year agriculture census cycle, rather than having that census conducted in conjunction with the decennial census. The economic censuses included the CNMI for the first time in 1982.
For the 1990 census, the Census Bureau dropped the Mariana Islands District of the TTPI from its records; previously it had served as the county-equivalent first-order subdivision of the CNMI. Accordingly, each lower-level entity was elevated one step in the hierarchy; that is, municipalities were no longer treated as MCDs but as the statistical equivalents of counties, and municipal districts were recognized as MCDs rather than sub-MCDs (see Table 7-4). The municipalities of Rota, Saipan, and Tinian each coincided with one of the major islands, except that Tinian also included uninhabited Aguijan (or Aguiguan) Island. The municipalities are governmental units, each with its own elected mayor and municipal council, except that Saipan’s municipal council also serves the Northern Islands Municipality and its mayor. The mayors and the chairpersons of the municipal councils also serve as part of an advisory council that works with the Governor on government operations and local matters.
​The 11 municipal districts are subdivisions delineated by law, but they no longer serve any governmental function; until 1978, each district elected its own commissioner, similar to the commissioners (mayors) in Guam. Nevertheless, late in the 1990 census process, the CNMI government informed the Census Bureau that the districts, though obsolete, were to be retained for the 1990 census, presumably for historical comparability and because they are the basis for defining Saipan’s four election districts. The Census Bureau will need to reexamine the districts for the 2000 census to determine whether they and their boundaries are still valid and/or appropriate; indeed, the CNMI government has asked the Census Bureau to provide assistance in relocating the boundaries from nonvisible lines to appropriate permanent, visible features for the 2000 census of Saipan Municipality. The obsolete districts for Rota and Tinian Municipalities may be replaced in each area by the current single election district, which is coextensive with the municipality; data for smaller geographic areas would be available by BGs and blocks, or combinations thereof.
The places in the CNMI, which the 1970 census incorrectly referred to as towns and villages, are CDPs. For the 1980 census, 11 places qualified as CDPs; that is, they had at least 300 people. There were 16 such places for the 1990 census. The CNMI was block-numbered for the first time for the 1990 census. To provide data for locally useful areas, the Census Bureau tried to delineate BGs that approximated the EDs that the TTPI had used for the 1973 census and the Census Bureau repeated, insofar as possible, for the 1980 census; the Census Bureau then worked with the CNMI’s Department of Commerce and Labor—which also delineated the CDPs and undertook the 1990 census—to review and refine these areas and then group them into statistically useful BNAs.
Palau is the westernmost group of the Caroline Islands. It lies some 500 miles southwest of Guam and 1,000 miles southeast of Manila. It consists of one very large island (Babelthuap, or Babeldaob), three islands that contain most of the population in and near the capital of Koror, and hundreds of other islands, islets, and atolls spread out over some 420 miles of the Pacific (see Figure 7-7 and Table 7-5). Both its early and recent history parallel that of the Northern Mariana Islands with one exception; it is the last remaining area that is still part of the TTPI. The Republic of Palau (or Belau, as it also is known) functions autonomously, but six plebiscites failed to approve the compact that would have allowed Palau to follow the rest of Micronesia into independence via free association with the United States; the last one before the decennial census, requiring 75 percent of the vote to approve the compact passed by the 99th Congress (Public Law 99-658) and amended by the 101st Congress (P.L. 101-219), received only 61 percent on February 6, 1990. Because it was still under United States jurisdiction on January 1, 1990, the Census Bureau included Palau in the 1990 census. On November 4, 1992, voters reduced the constitutional requirement for passage of a compact of free association to a simple majority, with the intention of facilitating passage at some future time, and thereby taking Palau into free association before the 2000 census. In a plebiscite on November 9, 1993, Palauans approved the compact with 68 percent of the vote. Establishment of a freely associated State is pending final Congressional approval, and independence is tentatively scheduled for October 1, 1994.
Palauans elect a president and vice president, a 16-member House of Delegates, and a 14-member Senate; the two legislative bodies constitute the Olbiil Era Kelulau. The president also is advised on traditional matters by a Council of Chiefs, one from the council of chiefs of each state. Palauan is the language commonly spoken in Palau.
Palau was included in the same population censuses as the CNMI, but it has never been included in the economic or agriculture censuses. The Census Bureau treats Palau as the statistical equivalent of a State.
​Figure 7-7. Palau
The 1970 census reported data for only one place—Koror—which was referred to incorrectly as a town. For the 1980 and 1990 censuses, the Census Bureau recognized places as CDPs, provided that they had a census population of at least 300. Three settlements qualified as CDPs for both the 1980 and 1990 censuses. In their constitutions, five of the States identify place-type entities: municipalities in Ngarchelong; villages in Airai; and hamlets in Aimeliik, Ngchesar, and Ngiwal. These very small settlements, which sometimes adjoin one another, are based only on tradition and who lives in which house; each has its own chief, but does not have formal boundaries—nor could Palauan officials draw approximate boundaries that would permit the Census Bureau to recognize these traditional entities for the 1990 census similar to the villages of American Samoa.
​Palau was block-numbered for the first time for the 1990 census. To provide data for locally useful areas, the Census Bureau tried to delineate BGs that approximated the EDs used for the 1973 and 1980 censuses. It worked with Palau’s Office of Planning and Statistics (which delineated the CDPs and conducted the census) to review and refine these areas and group them into BNAs. Taking advantage of Palau being block-numbered for the first time, the Census Bureau selected block boundaries for the 1990 census that would permit approximate separate identification of most of the small settlements, thereby enabling data users to assemble block counts for each one.
The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is the easternmost island in the arc of submerged mountains that form the Greater Antilles and that separate the Atlantic Ocean on the north from the Caribbean Sea on the south. It lies about 1,000 miles east of Miami (see Figure 7-1). Puerto Rico includes the main island, where 99.7 percent of the population (1990 census) lives on approximately 97.3 percent of the land, and numerous small islands and cays (see Figure 7-8). The main island is about 100 miles long by 35 miles wide. Most of the other islands are uninhabited except for the largest ones, Culebra and Vieques, which lie between the main island and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The capital, the municipio of San Juan, was home to 12.4 percent of Puerto Rico’s inhabitants in 1990.
In 1950, Public Law 81-600 provided for the organization of a constitutional government by the people of Puerto Rico that would become effective upon approval by the U.S. Congress. This process culminated in commonwealth status on July 25, 1952. On November 14, 1993, Puerto Ricans favored retaining commonwealth status over statehood, 48 to 46 percent; 73 percent of those eligible to vote participated. This was the best showing for statehood in the several elections held to date, and statehood supporters promise to keep raising the issue until it wins. Meanwhile, despite their poor showing in the elections, those seeking a more autonomous Puerto Rico have not given up on achieving complete independence or creating a freely associated entity—the relationship that the United States now has with the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands. Regardless of local wishes, any change in the status of Puerto Rico will have to obtain the approval of the Congress and the President of the United States.
Under Spanish rule, ten censuses were taken at irregular intervals from 1765 to 1897. The U.S. War Department took a special census of Puerto Rico in 1899, and Puerto Rico has been included in every decennial, economic, and agriculture census of the United States since 1910. Beginning with the 1960 census, the various censuses of Puerto Rico have been conducted by the Census Bureau in close cooperation with the Puerto Rico Planning Board.
In addition to the Commonwealth government, each of the 78 municipios is a functioning governmental unit that has its own elected mayor and municipio assembly. The municipio governments are the only general-purpose local governments in Puerto Rico. The Census Bureau treats the municipios as the statistical equivalents of counties (see Table 7-4). The boundaries of ​the municipios were defined legally by the Commonwealth during the late 1940s. Since then, the Commonwealth established two new municipios. In 1971, Florida was carved out of Barcelona and, in 1973, Canóvanas was separated from Loíza. In addition, in 1951, San Juan Municipio annexed Río Piedras Municipio. Only the Commonwealth legislature can create new municipios and alter the boundaries of existing ones. There have been unofficial discussions within the Government of Puerto Rico regarding the desirability of revising municipio and other legal boundaries to avoid the confusion related to those lines that pass through new housing developments and even individual houses, but no action has been taken to change these situations.
The municipios are subdivided into barrios, which the Census Bureau treats as MCDs. One barrio in each municipio (except Florida, Ponce, and San Juan) is identified as the barrio-pueblo, the area that represented the seat of government at the time the Commonwealth formalized the municipio and barrio boundaries in the late 1940s. Until the 1990 census, the barrio-pueblo—also referred to as the pueblo barrio or barrio urbano in some legal documents—was simply called a pueblo; because this word is translated as town, the decennial censuses also treated the pueblo as a place until the 1980 census. Some (but not all) barrios and barrios-pueblo in 23 municipios have been further subdivided into subbarrios, which the Census Bureau treats as sub-MCDs; these, too, were formalized in the 1940s. Subbarrios completely cover the area within each barrio that has subbarrios; that is, subbarrios nest within barrios. The barrios and subbarrios do not have their own governments; rather, they are areas from which members of both the Puerto Rico legislature and the municipio assemblies are elected. For this purpose, barrios and subbarrios may comprise single- or multi-member districts, or may be grouped into legislative districts. A municipio government may amend the limits of its barrios and subbarrios legally, provided that it reports the changes to the Puerto Rico Planning Board.
For many decades, the decennial censuses also recognized entities called ciudades, which contained the most urban barrios of Ponce and San Juan, ​and any barrio-pueblo with a population of at least 50,000; no entity met the latter criterion. Because of the translation of this word as city, it, like the pueblo, was treated as a place for decennial censuses prior to the 1980 census. For the 1980 census, the ciudad was treated as a special super-MCD entity since it consisted of a number of barrios (MCDs); this type of an MCD was unique for Puerto Rico. After further review for the 1990 census, at the request of the Census Bureau, the Puerto Rico government confirmed that there appeared to be no legal basis for, or function that required, continued recognition of the ciudades for the census, and that the terminology may be obsolete. It therefore agreed that the Census Bureau did not need to recognize these entities. Accordingly, the Census Bureau did not report data for them for the 1990 census.
From the 1910 through the 1960 censuses, the Census Bureau treated the pueblos and ciudades as if they were places. As noted above, the pueblo is a special type of barrio, and the ciudad does not exist as a legal entity. At the time of the 1950 census—shortly after the Commonwealth legally documented the boundaries of the barrios and barrios-pueblo—a pueblo generally reflected the most densely settled part of many municipios, and also served as the historic, commercial, social, and religious center, and the seat of government of the municipio. Since 1950, when Puerto Rico’s population was about two million, urban growth has expanded beyond—in some cases far beyond—the 1947 limits of the so-called ciudades and pueblos. The boundaries of these urban barrios, however, have not expanded to take in adjacent new urban development. For this reason, the ciudades and pueblos have been replaced in the place structure of Puerto Rico starting with the 1980 census.
In most municipios, it was necessary to combine the built-up area adjoining a ciudad or a pueblo to get a realistic view of the extent of the urban population. For the 1970 census, the Census Bureau tried to reflect this growth by ignoring the legal boundaries of the ciudades and pueblos, as well as those of the internal subbarrios and the adjacent barrios, and calling the entire built-up area a ciudad (if it had at least 50,000 people) or a pueblo; the Puerto Rico Planning Board delineated suitable boundaries ​for this purpose. The result, of course, misrepresented the legal geography of Puerto Rico, and therefore did not provide data users with statistics that reflected the true boundaries of the legal entities. This distortion of the legal boundaries had been made for one area—Arecibo—for the 1960 census.
In order to make the decennial census data more useful for statistical analysis, there was a need for a geographic entity that would better represent the urban development centered on the seats of municipio government. To fill this need the Census Bureau asked the Puerto Rico Planning Board to delimit the urban core population of each municipio. The Planning Board suggested that the Census Bureau call these areas zonas urbanas (literally translated as urban zones). Identification of these separate place entities left the underlying MCD structure intact so that data would be available for both the legal MCDs and the statistical places.
Areally, every zona urbana is equal to or larger than the barrio-pueblo that forms its core. Because, by the Census Bureau’s definition, there are no incorporated places in Puerto Rico, the zonas urbanas, together with the aldeas (discussed later), serve the statistical function of places, equivalent to CDPs in the United States. The zona urbana boundaries are drawn to follow visible features and/or the limits of a municipio or barrio. The boundaries of zonas urbanas may be revised for each decennial census as the built-up area changes, except that they may not extend beyond their municipio. There is no minimum population requirement for an area to qualify as a zona urbana.
The term zona urbana can be the basis for confusion, because the Puerto Rico Planning Act identifies a second type of zona urbana: a quasi-administrative area, delineated by the Planning Board, that is subject to land use controls and is eligible for designation for government grants. Furthermore, the term zona urbana is used in some documents to refer to the area that the Census Bureau previously had identified as the ciudad. In addition, the similarity of the designations zona urbana and área urbanizada (urbanized area, or UA) tends to confuse even those familiar with census geography. UAs represent a population concentration of at least 50,000 inhabitants; the ​UAs for Puerto Rico use the zona urbana as a central place, and add to them the adjacent densely settled areas in the home municipio as well as those in adjacent municipios. Thus, although UAs must contain at least 50,000 people, there is no population requirement for zonas urbanas. Furthermore, the Planning Board delineated the zonas urbanas several years in advance of the 1990 census, based on compact settlement, while the Census Bureau delineated the UAs based on specific criteria applied to the time-of-the-census population counts and densities.
There are clusters of population in Puerto Rico that are distinct from the zonas urbanas. Population counts for a few villages appear in decennial census reports as early as the 1940 census. The same term was used in the 1950 census, and village-aldea appeared in the 1960 and 1970 censuses. For the 1980 census, the term for these CDP equivalents was shortened to only the Spanish aldea (literally, village); for the 1990 census, the Puerto Rico government redesignated them with the term comunidad (literally, community). An aldea/comunidad had to have a census population of at least 1,000 to be reported separately for the censuses, and its boundaries had to follow visible features and/or municipio or barrio boundaries.
Census tracts have been delineated in 56 of the 78 municipios; the other 22 municipios are divided into BNAs. The Census Bureau reported data by block for selected areas of Puerto Rico in the 1960, 1970, 1980, and 1990 censuses; for the 1990 census, data were available by block for the entire Commonwealth. For that census, the Planning Board delineated BGs that contained an optimum of 400 housing units and ranged from 250 to 550 housing units. These were divided during the 1990 census field operations to form enumerator assignments (address register areas), with 140 to 160 housing units. This paralleled the 1980 census requirement that an ED contain an optimum of 140 housing units or 550 people, a size that was designed to expedite the enumeration of the population.
In addition to the legal entities previously discussed, Puerto Rico is divided into election districts. To ensure the ability to tabulate data for these entities, the Census Bureau offered the opportunity for the Puerto Rico government ​to identify appropriate features that reflected the election district boundaries; this would guarantee that the Census Bureau would use these features as the boundaries of its 1990 census blocks. Subsequently, the Puerto Rico Planning Board annotated approximate election district codes and boundaries based on the blocks depicted on the 1990 census maps. The Census Bureau offered this program even though Puerto Rico is not covered by Public Law 94-171, which requires that the Census Bureau provide the States with this opportunity. Puerto Rico chose to participate and, as a result, the Census Bureau was able to provide the Commonwealth with data tabulations for 1,606 election districts. This special program was called the Block Boundary Definition Project.
The economic censuses report data for Puerto Rico and each municipio (first-order subdivision). They use the MCDs for sample design, but not for data tabulations. The 1982 economic censuses also reported data by MA, but the 1987 and 1992 economic censuses used MAs only for the census of construction industries and the census of manufactures, while the censuses of retail trade, wholesale trade, and services provided data for nine Commonwealth-defined groupings of municipios called commercial regions. In addition, the census of retail trade published data for central business districts (CBDs) and major retail centers (MRCs), as delineated by the Puerto Rico Planning Board, for the 1963 through 1982 censuses. The Census of Agriculture provides data for Puerto Rico, the municipios, and five Commonwealth-defined groupings of municipios called agriculture regions; the latter have been recognized since the 1964 census.
The Virgin Islands of the United States is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located immediately east of Puerto Rico (see Figure 7-1). Although more than 50 separate islands and cays constitute this westernmost of the Lesser Antilles, only three have a size and population of any significance: St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John (see Table 7-5 and Figure 7-9). Almost all the other islets are both uninhabited and uninhabitable. Most of the population is shared equally by St. Croix ​and St. Thomas, although St. Croix is considerably larger in area. The capital is located in Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas.
The European discovery of the islands occurred when Columbus first sighted Santa Cruz, now known as St. Croix. Exploring further, he found the islands of St. Thomas, St. John, Tortola (part of what is now the British Virgin Islands), and others, and named them collectively Las Virgenes (a name that means the Virgins, supposedly for the 11,000 virgins of St. Ursula). In the 17th century, the islands became part of the colonial struggle waged by France, England, Spain, Holland, and, later, Denmark, with the islands’ sugar production the primary reason for controlling them. Denmark chartered the Danish West Indian Company and began colonizing St. Thomas (1671) and then St. John (1684). Denmark purchased St. Croix from France in 1733 and, except for a brief period of English occupation of St. Croix during the Napoleonic Wars, the islands remained under Danish control until 1917. As early as 1865, for strategic military reasons, the United States made overtures to acquire the islands. During World War I, fear that Germany might occupy the islands provided the final impetus for the United States to purchase the islands from Denmark, for $25 million on March 31, 1917. The islands were under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Navy until February 27, 1931, when an Executive order placed them under the supervision of the Department of the Interior. In 1927, Virgin Islanders were granted U.S. citizenship. Since 1970, they have elected their governor, lieutenant governor, and a 15-member legislature. Since 1973, the Virgin Islands have been represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by a nonvoting delegate (see parenthetical statement on page 7-14 in the “American Samoa” section). English is the language commonly spoken. The Danish government conducted 11 censuses from 1835 through 1911. In 1917, the Census Bureau took a special census of the Virgin Islands, but the islands were not included in the decennial and agriculture censuses until 1930, or in the economic censuses until 1958.
The only functioning governmental unit in the Virgin Islands is the territorial government. On October 11, 1993, Virgin Islanders had the opportunity ​Figure 7-9. The Virgin Islands of the United States
The Census Bureau treats the three main islands as the statistical equivalents of counties (see Table 7-4), but they do not have their own governments. Nearby islands are included with the closest large island; for example, Water Island, offshore from Charlotte Amalie, is included with St. Thomas. For administrative purposes, some government offices separately serve St. Croix and, jointly, St. Thomas/St. John, but these are part of the territorial government. Residents of St. Croix favor some form of local government for their island, but nothing will happen without agreement from St. Thomas/St. John—which was not forthcoming in a 1990 referendum.
Until the 1980 census, the Census Bureau reported sub-island data by quarters, which primarily and historically serve as areas for land recordation; the quarters are further divided into estates, which the Census Bureau has never recognized in its data presentations. Because these old Danish units have no major legal significance—their boundaries typically are straight lines that follow no visible features and have no relationship to the rugged terrain—and because the Virgin Islands needed a modern geographic unit that was more meaningful for the tabulation of decennial census data, the Virgin Islands government created census subdistricts. Legally established by Act No. 4349 on October 1, 1979, the subdistricts are intended to be permanent areas that reflect the Territory’s land-use planning districts. The Census Bureau first used the subdistricts as the statistical equivalents of MCDs for the 1980 census.
The Census Bureau recognizes three towns for the decennial census of the Virgin Islands—Charlotte Amalie, Christiansted, and Frederiksted. These places were held as separate MCDs and incorrectly referred to as cities prior to the 1980 census. Because these entities have legal boundaries that are defined by Chapter 5 of the Virgin Islands Code, and serve ​specific administrative purposes, the Census Bureau treats them as equivalent to incorporated places; however, they do not have their own governments, and are not incorporated places in the same sense as that term applies to such entities in the United States. The Census Bureau may recognize other settlements as CDPs if they have at least 300 inhabitants; six CDPs qualified for the 1980 and 1990 censuses.
The Virgin Islands were block-numbered for the first time for the 1990 census. At the request of the Virgin Islands’ government, the BGs for the 1990 census were required to have 140 to 160 housing units so that they could be designed to approximate the EDs used for the 1980 census. The Virgin Islands Planning Office delineated the BGs and then grouped them into a meaningful set of BNAs for the 1990 census; it also delineated the CDPs for the 1980 census, which were carried forward unchanged for the 1990 census. The census itself actually was conducted under the auspices of the University of the Virgin Islands.
The economic censuses report data for the Virgin Islands, each of the three major islands (first-order subdivisions), and each of the three towns (places). The census of agriculture reports data for the Virgin Islands and St. Croix Island, but combines the islands of St. John and St. Thomas into a single geographic unit for data presentation.
​Notes and References
American Samoa Code, 1961 and 1981.
Bunge, Frederica M. and Melinda W. Cooke (editors): Oceania, A Regional Study, U.S. Department of the Army, 1984.
Bryan, E.H. Jr.: Guide to Place Names in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, Honolulu: Pacific Scientific Information Center, 1971.
Continental/Air Micronesia: “Route Map (Actual Flight Path),” 1989.
Government of Guam, Interagency Committee on Population: Guam’s People: A Continuing Heritage—A Statistical Profile of the Territory of Guam, 1920–1980, Agana, 1988.
Sperling, Jonathan, “Census Geography in Puerto Rico—A Technical Addendum for the 1990 Census,” Caribbean Studies, vol. 24, No. 3–4, 1990.
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency: The World Factbook, 1991.
U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census: publications of the several censuses covering Puerto Rico and the Outlying Areas.
U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Intelligence & Research: Geographic Notes, Issue 5 (Dec. 8, 1986) and Issue 6 (July 15, 1987).
U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Territorial and International Affairs: Fact Sheet for various entities, April 1992.
U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Territorial and International Affairs: Highlights, Office of Territories, 1969.
U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Territorial and International Affairs: Territorial Areas Administered by the United States, c. 1979.
Virgin Islands Code, 1964 and 1987.
Winslow, Zachary: Puerto Rico, Edgemont, PA: Chelsea House, 1974.