US Territories Practice Worksheet
Grade 5 worksheet on the five US territories — location, capitals, and how a territory differs from a state — using matching, multiple-choice, and writing.
15 questions · Matching · Multiple choice · True or false · Short answer · Application
This worksheet helps fifth graders build a working knowledge of the five US territories — Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Students practice locating each territory in its correct ocean or sea, identifying its capital city, and understanding what makes a territory different from a state. The sheet moves from recall to reasoning, opening with matching and multiple-choice questions before asking students to evaluate true-false statements and write short explanations in their own words. It works well as a review after a unit on US geography or civics, and can serve as a preview before a class discussion on citizenship and representation in US territories.
US Territories Practice Worksheet — Grade 5
Use what you have learned about US territories to complete each section. Read all directions carefully before you begin.
Remember
- The five permanently inhabited US territories are Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
- A territory is not a state. Most territory residents are US citizens but cannot vote in presidential elections from the territory.
- Puerto Rico and Guam were acquired after the Spanish-American War of 1898. The US Virgin Islands were purchased from Denmark in 1917.
Part A — Match each territory to its capital city
Write the letter of the capital city that matches each territory in the left column.
Choose from
- A. Pago Pago
- B. San Juan
- C. Saipan
- D. Charlotte Amalie
- E. Hagatna
- 1.
Puerto Rico
- 2.
Guam
- 3.
US Virgin Islands
- 4.
American Samoa
- 5.
Northern Mariana Islands
Part B — Choose the best answer for each question
Circle the letter of the best answer for each question.
- 6.
What is the key difference between a US territory and a US state?
- A.Territories do not have voting representatives in Congress.
- B.Territory residents are not allowed to use US currency.
- C.Territories cannot have their own local governments.
- D.Territory residents must apply separately to become US citizens.
- 7.
Which US territory is the only one located south of the equator?
- A.Guam
- B.Puerto Rico
- C.American Samoa
- D.Northern Mariana Islands
- 8.
The United States gained Puerto Rico and Guam after which war in 1898?
- A.World War I
- B.The Spanish-American War
- C.World War II
- D.The Mexican-American War
- 9.
Which body of water surrounds Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands?
- A.The Atlantic Ocean
- B.The Caribbean Sea
- C.The Indian Ocean
- D.The Pacific Ocean
- 10.
From which country did the United States purchase the US Virgin Islands in 1917?
- A.France
- B.Spain
- C.Denmark
- D.Great Britain
Part C — True or False
Write True or False for each statement. If the statement is False, write the correct fact on the line below.
- 11.
Puerto Rico lies in the Caribbean Sea, east of the Dominican Republic.
- 12.
The United States bought the US Virgin Islands from Spain in 1917.
- 13.
The capital of Guam is Saipan.
Part D — Short Answer
Answer each question in one or two complete sentences on the lines provided.
- 14.
Describe one way life in a US territory is similar to life in a US state, and one way it is different.
- 15.
Why might the United States value having territories in the Pacific Ocean? Give at least one reason.
Answer key
Part A — Match each territory to its capital city
- 1.San Juan
- 2.Hagatna
- 3.Charlotte Amalie
- 4.Pago Pago
- 5.Saipan
Part B — Choose the best answer for each question
- 6.Territories do not have voting representatives in Congress.
- 7.American Samoa
- 8.The Spanish-American War
- 9.The Pacific Ocean
- 10.Denmark
Part C — True or False
- 11.True
- 12.False - the United States bought the US Virgin Islands from Denmark in 1917.
- 13.False - the capital of Guam is Hagatna; Saipan is the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Part D — Short Answer
- 14.Example: People in US territories and states both use US dollars and follow federal law. However, people living in a territory cannot vote in presidential elections and have no voting members in Congress.
- 15.Example: Pacific territories like Guam give the United States military bases and ports far from the mainland. This helps the US respond more quickly to events in Asia and the western Pacific.
What this sheet teaches
- Identify the five major US territories and place each in its correct ocean or sea.
- Distinguish between a US territory and a US state using at least one specific example.
- Explain why the location of US territories matters for the country as a whole.
Notes for the adult
- Students often assume territory residents are not US citizens; clarify that most are, but cannot vote in presidential elections from the territory.
- Correct the common mix-up of Saipan and Hagatna by pointing to each on a map and naming which territory each city belongs to.
- A student is ready to move on when they can name all five territories, place each in the correct body of water, and state one difference from a state.
What is on the page
US Territories Practice Worksheet is in four parts and comes to 15 exercises in total. Matching, multiple-choice, true or false and short-answer work, in that order, so a student who has understood the material has to show it in more than one form before the page is finished.
Part A Match each territory to its capital city sets five items against five lettered options, one lettered option per item, which means the last pair can be reached by elimination. Part B Choose the best answer for each question asks five multiple-choice questions with four printed options each. Part C True or False puts three statements up to be judged true or false, answered on the rule beside each one. Part D Short Answer is two short-answer questions with four ruled lines between them, which is the part of the sheet that takes the longest.
Four ruled lines are printed for written answers on US Territories Practice Worksheet, which decides how long it takes more than the question count does. The answer key prints on its own page at the end, so the sheet can be handed out without it.
What it asks of the student
US Territories Practice Worksheet puts about 343 words of reading in front of the student — the fact box, the directions, every question, and every printed option. That is the number worth checking against a class before it goes out, because a sheet that is pitched right on the history and wrong on the reading fails for the same child either way. The longest single prompt on it runs to 22 words.
Writing runs the other way on US Territories Practice Worksheet: four ruled lines for two of the 15 exercises, and the full answer key comes to 122 words. Everything else is answered in a blank, in a box, or on the map itself, which is why the sheet takes a lesson rather than a homework slot.
Where this one sits
US Territories Practice Worksheet is one of ten US Geography sheets on this site and one of 19 written for grade 5. two of them share its topic, us territories, which is worth knowing before printing two that overlap.
The closest things to it are Major Rivers of the United States (grade 5) and Appalachians, Rockies, and Sierra Nevada (grade 5). If US Territories Practice Worksheet lands well, those are the ones to reach for next; if it lands badly, the application sheets a grade either side are usually the adjustment rather than a different topic altogether.
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US Territories at other grades
This sheet: Grade 5, 15 questions — matching, multiple choice, true or false, short answer. The same topic is also written for:
- US Territories — Geography and Status Worksheet — Grade 8 · 20 questions, matching, multiple choice, fill in the blank, short answer · analysis work