List of diplomatic missions of the United States

The United States has the most diplomatic missions of any country in the world,[1] including 169 of the 193 member countries of the United Nations, as well as observer state Vatican City and non-member countries of Kosovo and Taiwan. It maintains "interest sections" (in other states' embassies) in member states Iran and Syria.

The United States of America (green) and its diplomatic missions, including embassies (blue), interests sections, and other representations (light blue)

History

In December 1777, Morocco became the first nation to seek diplomatic relations with the United States and together they maintain the United States' longest unbroken treaty.[2] Benjamin Franklin established the first overseas mission of the United States in Paris in 1779. On April 19, 1782, John Adams was received by the States-General and the Dutch Republic as they were the first country, together with Morocco and France, to recognize the United States as an independent government. John Adams then became the first U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands[3][4][5][6] and the house that he had purchased at Fluwelen Burgwal 18 in The Hague, became the first U.S. embassy anywhere in the world.[7]

In the period following the American Revolution, George Washington sent a number of close advisers to the courts of European potentates in order to garner recognition of U.S. independence with mixed results, including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Francis Dana, and John Jay.[8] Much of the first fifty years of the Department of State concerned negotiating with imperial European powers over the territorial integrity of the borders of the United States as known today.

The first overseas consulate of the fledgling United States was founded in 1790 at Liverpool, Great Britain, by James Maury Jr., who was appointed by Washington. Maury held the post from 1790 to 1829. Liverpool was at the time Britain's leading port for transatlantic commerce and therefore of great economic importance to the United States. President George Washington, on November 19, 1792, nominated Benjamin Joy of Newbury Port as the first U.S. Consul to Kolkata (then Calcutta), India. Joy was not recognized as consul by the British East India Company but was permitted to “reside here as a Commercial Agent subject to the Civil and Criminal Jurisdiction of this Country…”.[9] The first overseas property owned, and the longest continuously owned, by the United States is the American Legation in Tangier, which was a gift of the Sultan of Morocco in 1821. In general during the nineteenth century, the United States' diplomatic activities were done on a minimal budget. The U.S. owned no property abroad and provided no official residences for its foreign envoys, paid them a minimal salary, and gave them the rank of ministers rather than ambassadors who represented the great powers—a position which the U.S. only achieved towards the end of the nineteenth century.[10]

In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the State Department was concerned with expanding commercial ties in Asia, establishing Liberia, foiling diplomatic recognition of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War, and securing its presence in North America. The Confederacy had diplomatic missions in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Papal States, Russia, Mexico, and Spain, and consular missions in Ireland, Canada, Cuba, Italy, Bermuda, and Nassau and New Providence.[11]

The United States' global prominence became evident in the twentieth century, and the State Department was required to invest in a large network of diplomatic missions to manage its bilateral and multilateral relations.[12] The wave of overseas construction began with the creation of the State Department's Foreign Service Buildings Commission in 1926.[10]

Africa

The U.S. has embassies (or, in the case of Seychelles, a Consular Agency) in all states it recognizes with the exceptions of the Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, and São Tomé.

Americas

The U.S. has embassies (or, in the case of Antigua & Barbuda, a Consular Agency) in all states it recognizes with the exceptions of Dominica, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Asia

The U.S. has embassies in all countries it recognizes apart from Bhutan, Iran, Maldives, North Korea, Syria and Yemen. It has 'interest sections' in other nation's embassies in Iran and Syria. It also has a de facto embassy in Taiwan.

Europe

The U.S. has embassies in (or, in the case of Vatican City, near) all countries it recognizes apart from Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino.

Oceania

The U.S. has embassies (or, in the case of the Solomons, a consul) in all countries it recognizes apart from Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

International organizations
U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva

See also

Notes
  1. Effective February 6, 2012, the embassy suspended operations and closed for normal consular services. Since March 1, 2013, a U.S. Interests Section operates via the Government of the Czech Republic through its embassy in Damascus. Only emergency services for U.S. citizens are available. Neither U.S. passports nor visas to the United States can be issued in Damascus.
  2. The United States does not formally recognize the Republic of China on Taiwan. Unofficial relations are conducted through the AIT, a de facto embassy.
  3. The U.S. embassy to the Holy See is located outside Vatican territory in Rome.

References
  1. https://www.lowyinstitute.org/global-diplomacy-index/country_rank.html,
  2. Morocco Country Study Guide. Washington, DC: International Business Publications, USA. April 1, 2006. p. 94. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  3. Speeches and editorials 2007 – U.S. Embassy The Hague, Netherlands Archived June 12, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Atlantic World – Collections – Memory of the Netherlands – Online ima…". 5 July 2015. Archived from the original on 27 January 2018.
  5. "The Adams Timeline". The Massachusetts Historical Society. Archived from the original on 2011-08-06. Retrieved 2012-10-25.
  6. The John Adams Institute, American culture and literature, Lectures(archive)
  7. US embassy report on Dutch-American Friendship Day. (archive)
  8. United States Department of State, Timeline of U.S. Diplomatic History, 1775–1783 Diplomacy and the American Revolution. Accessed 29 August 2008.
  9. "U.S. Consulate General Kolkata | U.S. Embassy & Consulates in India". U.S. Embassy & Consulates in India. Retrieved 2017-01-02.
  10. Loeffler, Jane C. (1998). Architecture of Diplomacy: Building America. Princeton Architectural Press. p. 13.
  11. "Confederate States of America records, 1854–1889". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2012-10-25.
  12. United States Department of State, Websites of U.S. Embassies, Consulates, and Diplomatic Missions Archived 2008-12-05 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed 29 August 2008.
  13. "US Embassy in Haiti closed due to anti-Trump protests".
  14. https://ye.usembassy.gov/
  15. The United States doesn't recognize Northern Cyprus, but has an embassy Archived 2016-04-29 at the Wayback Machine in North Nicosia.
  16. "Policy & History | U.S. Mission to The African Union". U.S. Mission to The African Union. Retrieved 2017-06-28.

Source: "Official list of embassies". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved April 19, 2019.

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