insular area
insular area. A territory or commonwealth. • This phrase is used by some writers to denote the genus of which the terms territory and commonwealth are species. See COMMONWEALTH(2); TERRITORY(1).
insular area. A territory or commonwealth. • This phrase is used by some writers to denote the genus of which the terms territory and commonwealth are species. See COMMONWEALTH(2); TERRITORY(1).
commonwealth. 1. A nation, state, or other political unit (the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania). [Cases: States 1. C.J.S. States §§ 2, 16.] 2. A political unit that has local autonomy but is voluntarily united with the United States (Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands are commonwealths). Cf. DEPENDENCY(1); INSULAR AREA; TERRITORY(2). 3. A loose association