Diplomatic missions of the United States of America
Countries that host a United States embassy
Interests section and other representations
Countries that do not host United States missions
The United States of America
U.S. Department of State Facilities and Areas of Jurisdictions
The United States has the second largest number of active diplomatic posts of any country in the world after the People's Republic of China,[1] including 272 bilateral posts (embassies and consulates) in 174 countries, as well as 11 permanent missions to international organizations and seven other posts (as of May 2025). It maintains "interest sections" (in other states' embassies) in Afghanistan, Iran and North Korea.
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 there, at Fluwelen Burgwal 18 in The Hague, became the first U.S. embassy in the world.[7]
The first overseas consulate of the fledgling United States was founded in 1790 in 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.[citation needed] 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 United States' first owned overseas property is the American Legation in Tangier, which was a gift of the Sultan of Morocco in 1821.[10][11] In general during the nineteenth century, the United States' diplomatic activities were done on a minimal budget.[additional citation(s) needed] 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.[12]
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.[13]
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.[14] The wave of overseas construction began with the creation of the State Department's Foreign Service Buildings Commission in 1926.[12]
Following the 1984 US embassy bombing in Beirut, and a 1985 report by Admiral Bobby Ray Inman, new guidelines for American diplomatic buildings focusing on security were issued. It advised that facilities should be located within a single, well-defended site, away from heavily populated areas.[15]
As of 2024, America had the two largest embassy complexes in the world, in Baghdad and Beirut.[15]
Current missions
Africa
At one point or another, the U.S. has maintained embassies in all the African states it recognizes with the exception of São Tomé and Príncipe. The U.S. Embassies in Libya and Sudan have been closed for security-related reasons since 26 July 2014 and 22 April 2023 respectively. The U.S. Embassies in Comoros and Guinea-Bissau closed in 1993 and 1998 respectively. The Comoros is covered by the U.S. Embassy in Antananarivo and Guinea-Bissau, which continues to host a Liaison Office in Bissau, is covered by the U.S. Embassy in Dakar.
↑ On 5 April 2019, the United States signed a protecting power agreement with Switzerland to represent its interests in Venezuela, however, the agreement is not yet operational as it has not been approved by Maduro's government due to the United States rejecting Maduro's government's proposal to have Turkey as its protecting power as the United States only recognizes Guaidó as interim president. In the meantime, a "Venezuela Affairs Unit" section at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia serves as an interim diplomatic office to Venezuela.
↑ The United States does not have diplomatic relations with North Korea, and as such has its interests represented by Sweden, through its embassy in Pyongyang. Nonetheless, the US Embassy in Beijing attends to consular needs of US citizens in North Korea
↑ Although Hong Kong and Macau are recognized as sovereign territory of China, their status as Special Administrative Regions grants these two territories substantial autonomy such that the Consulate General of the US (and numerous other missions to China) in Hong Kong arranges this post as a separate representation headed by a Chief of Mission with the title of "Ambassador" (as opposed to a subordinate "Consul General") who reports directly to the State Department, bypassing the Embassy in Beijing.
↑ The U.S. Embassy in Sanaa suspended operations on February 11, 2015, in the midst of the Yemeni civil war; however, the United States did not sever diplomatic relations with Yemen. Working from the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia under the authority of the U.S. Ambassador to Yemen, U.S. diplomats in the Yemen Affairs Unit maintained regular dialogue with the Republic of Yemen Government.
‡ Missions which are located in countries or cities that may be considered a part of more than one continent
1Consulates-General which function as an embassy (ie. consul reports to State Department, not the respective country's ambassador)
2The American Institute in Taiwan is ostensibly a public, non-profit organization to promote US-Taiwanese relations, but through State Department staffing & assistance, functions as an informal US diplomatic mission.
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