The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the nation’s foreign policy and international relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nations, its primary duties are advising the U.S. president, administering diplomatic missions, negotiating international treaties and agreements, and representing the U.S. at the United Nations. The department is headquartered in the Harry S Truman Building, a few blocks from the White House, in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C.; “Foggy Bottom” is thus sometimes used as a metonym.
| Website | state.gov |
|---|
Established in 1789 as the first administrative arm of the U.S. executive branch, the State Department is considered among the most powerful and prestigious executive agencies. It is headed by the secretary of state, who reports directly to the U.S. president and is a member of the president’s Cabinet. Analogous to a foreign minister, the secretary of state serves as the federal government’s chief diplomat and representative abroad, and is the first Cabinet official in the order of precedence and in the presidential line of succession. The position is currently held by Antony Blinken who was appointed by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate on January 26, 2021 by a vote of 78–22. United States Department of State
As of 2019, the State Department maintains 273 diplomatic posts worldwide, second only to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It also manages the US Foreign Service, provides diplomatic training to US officials and military personnel, exercises partial jurisdiction over immigration, and provides various services to Americans, such as issuing passports and visas, posting foreign travel advisories, and advancing commercial ties abroad. The department administers the oldest US civilian intelligence agency, the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, and maintains a law enforcement arm, the Diplomatic Security Service.
Note: Diplomatic representation is accredited to ambassador from handling country.
| Diplomatic Representation | Handling Post |
|---|---|
| Andorra | Barcelona, Spain |
| Antigua and Barbuda | Bridgetown, Barbados |
| Comoros | Antananarivo, Madagascar |
| Dominica | Bridgetown, Barbados |
| Guinea-Bissau | Dakar, Senegal |
| Kiribati | Suva, Fiji |
| Liechtenstein | Bern, Switzerland |
| Maldives | Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Monaco | Marseille, France |
| Nauru | Suva, Fiji |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | Bridgetown, Barbados |
| Saint Lucia | Bridgetown, Barbados |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Bridgetown, Barbados |
| San Marino | Florence, Italy |
| Sao Tome and Principe | Luanda, Angola |
| Seychelles | Port Louis, Mauritius |
| Solomon Islands | Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea |
| Tonga | Suva, Fiji |
| Tuvalu | Suva, Fiji |
| Vanuatu | Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea |
| U.S. Mission | Managing Regional Bureau |
|---|---|
| U.S. Mission to the Organization of American States (OAS) | Washington, D.C. [WHA] |
| U.S. Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (USNATO) | Brussels, Belgium [EUR] |
| U.S. Mission to the European Union (USEU) | Brussels, Belgium [EUR] |
| U.S. Mission to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (USOECD) | Paris, France [EUR] |
| U.S. Mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (USOSCE) | Vienna, Austria [EUR] |
| U.S. Mission to the African Union (AU) | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia [AF] |
| U.S. Mission to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) | Jakarta, Indonesia [EAP] |
| U.S. Mission | Managing Bureau (IO) |
|---|---|
| U.S. Mission to the United Nations (USUN) | New York, NY |
| U.S. Mission to the United Nations and International Organizations (USUN Geneva) | Geneva, Switzerland |
| U.S. Mission to the International Organizations in Vienna (UNVIE) | Vienna, Austria |
| U.S. Mission to the International Civil Aviation Organization (USICAO) | Montréal, Canada |
| U.S. Mission to the United Nations Agencies (USUN Rome) | Rome, Italy |
| U.S. Mission to the United Nations Office in Nairobi (UNON), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) | Nairobi, Kenya |
U.S. Department of State Regional Bureaus and Their Geographic Offices:
| Bureaus of Western Hemisphere Affairs | Geographic Offices |
|---|---|
| AND — Andean Affairs | Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela |
| BSC — Brazilian and Southern Cone Affairs | Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay |
| CAN — Canadian Affairs | Canadian Affairs |
| CAR — Caribbean Affairs | Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Caribbean dependencies |
| CCA — Office of the Coordinator for Cuban Affairs | Cuban Affairs |
| CEN — Central American Affairs | Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama |
| HA — Haitian Affairs | Haitian Affairs |
| MEX — Mexican Affairs | Mexican Affairs |
| Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs | Geographic Offices |
|---|---|
| ANP — Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific Island Affairs | Australia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu |
| CM — Chinese and Mongolian Affairs | China, Mongolia, Hong Kong S.A.R., Macau S.A.R. |
| J — Japanese Affairs | Japanese Affairs |
| K — Korean Affairs | North Korea, South Korea |
| MLS — Mainland Southeast Asia | Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam |
| MTS — Maritime Southeast Asia | Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Timor-Leste |
| TC — Office of Taiwan Coordination | Office of Taiwan Coordination |
| Bureau of European and Eurasian | Geographic Offices |
|---|---|
| CE — Central European Affairs | Austria, Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland |
| CEEC — Caucasus and Eastern European Affairs and Conflicts | Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine |
| NBA — Northern European, Baltic, and Arctic Security Affairs | Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom |
| RUS — Russian Affairs | Russian affairs |
| SCE — South Central European Affairs | Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia |
| SE — Southern European Affairs | Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Turkey |
| WE — Western European Affairs | Andorra, Belgium, France, Germany, Holy See (Vatican City), Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Portugal, San Marino, Spain |
| Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs | Geographic Offices |
|---|---|
| ARP — Arabian Peninsula Affairs | Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen |
| I — Iraqi Affairs | Iraqi Affairs |
| IPA — Israel and Palestinian Affairs | Israel and Palestinian Affairs |
| IR — Iranian Affairs | Iranian Affairs |
| LEV — Levant Affairs | Jordan, Lebanon, Syria |
| NA — North African Affairs | Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia |
| Bureau Of African Affairs | Geographic Offices |
|---|---|
| C — Central African Affairs | Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda |
| E — East African Affairs | Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda |
| SSS— South Sudan and Sudan | South Sudan and Sudan |
| S — Southern African Affairs | Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Sao Tome and Principe, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
| W — West African Affairs | Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo |
| Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs | Geographic Offices |
|---|---|
| A — Afghanistan Affairs | Afghanistan Affairs |
| CEN — Central Asian Affairs | Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan |
| INSB— India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Maldives Affairs | India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Maldives Affairs |
| P — Pakistan Affairs | Pakistan Affairs |
Time Zones
Time zones portrayed on this map are not necessarily official and do not take into account Daylight Saving Time/Summertime. Note: Crimea is sovereign Ukrainian territory, but observes UTC+3 under Russia’s occupation.
-2/+2 — Time zone number in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)
WEST (-): subtract time zone number from UTC to obtain local time; add time zone number to local time to obtain UTC
EAST (+): add time zone number to UTC to obtain local time; subtract time zone number from local time to obtain UTC
