The Territories and Common-Wealth Regions of the SF Fed

Overview

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco serves the U.S. Territories of Guam and American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. It is the only Reserve Bank in the Federal Reserve System to serve both territories and a commonwealth.

Guam

Located 5,800 miles west of the SF Fed’s headquarters, the island of Guam is the largest of the Mariana Islands, an archipelago of volcanic islands in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. An unincorporated territory, Guam became part of the United States in 1898. With a population of 171,000 and a GDP of $6.1 Billion, it is the most populated and has the largest economy of the two territories and one commonwealth served by the SF Fed.

More than one million tourists visit Guam in a year, making leisure and hospitality one of the island’s most important sectors. Construction, transshipment services, food processing and textiles are also important pillars of the local economy.

American Samoa

Located 2,200 miles southwest of Hawaii, the islands that make up American Samoa became a territory of the United States between 1900 and 1925. The territory has a population of 44,000 and a GDP of $709 Million. It is home to the National Park of American Samoa, the only U.S. national park in the South Pacific.

Tuna canneries and government services are the two most important sectors of the American Samoan economy.

Northern Mariana Islands

The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands joined a political union with the United States in 1976. Along with the Commonwealths of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, it is the third commonwealth served by the Federal Reserve System. Consisting of 22 islands, six of which are inhabited, the Northern Mariana Islands has a population of 49,000. In 2022, the commonwealth’s GDP was $859 Million.

Tourism from China and Korea has been growing in recent years, making leisure and hospitality an important part of the economy. Banking, construction, fishing, and garment production are also significant economic sectors.