Michael wrote after me :

> Puerto Ricans, Virgin Islanders, American Samoans, Guamanians 
> are all American citizens.  Puerto Rico, the US Virgin 
> Islands, American Samoa and Guam are sovereign US territories 
> with various degrees of self-goverment.  Even though they 
> cannot vote for president, they all send a representative to 
> Congress, delegates to the Democratic and Republican 
> conventions, are subject to federal laws and have complete 
> unhibited movement to and from the mainland.  Economically 
> they are exempt from some income tax laws and their is not 
> full duty free status between them and the mainland US.

The site I mentioned in my original message explicitly states that Puerto
Ricans do not have a representation in the US Congress. Since the site is
covered by a 2003 copyright, I assume its information is current ... which
still does not prove I'm 100% right.

> In regards to Christian's question, consider them to be the 
> equivalent of French Guiana, Ile de Saint-Pierre, Ile de 
> Miquelon and other French Overseas Territories.

This is not exactly the same status. The French  Territories mentioned by
Michael are all "départements", which is the denomination for all
territories with the same status as the mainland (itself composed of 94
"départements", plus 2 in Corsica). That means these territories have
duty-free trade status with the mainland, etc. The only difference is that
some tax brackets are lower, as far as income tax, VAT and excise are
concerned. The residents of these "départements" have exactly the same
electoral rights and the same representation as those of the mainland
(which, btw, we call "métropole"), they vote for the President, for the
National Assembly (the lower house of our Parliament), and so on.

However, some French Territories are NOT départements, and, as such, may
have a different status : French Polynesia, Kerguelen Islands and other
Austral (south Indian Ocean) territories, Clipperton (quiz : where is it ?),
Terre Adélie (the French slice of Antarctica), and a few others I may
forget. In that respect, their status vs. the French mainland may be more
comparable to what I understand about Puerto Rico vs. the 50 US States.

> Mike Berkowitz
> Guess? Inc.

Christian Lheureux

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