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, 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 "interests sections" (in other states' embassies) in Afghanistan, Iran and North Korea.
History In December 1777, Morocco became the first nation to seek diplomatic relations with the U.S. and together they maintain the United States' longest unbroken treaty. Benjamin Franklin established the first overseas mission of the U.S. 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 U.S. as an independent government. John Adams then became the first U.S. ambassador to the NetherlandsSpeeches and editorials 2007 – U.S. Embassy The Hague, Netherlands history John Adams Institute (Netherlands)(archive) and the house that he had purchased there, at Fluwelen Burgwal 18 in The Hague, became the first U.S. embassy in the world.US embassy report on Dutch-American Friendship Day. (archive)
In the period following the American Revolution, President George Washington sent a number of close advisers, including Thomas Jefferson, Adams, Francis Dana, and John Jay, to the courts of European potentates in order to garner recognition of U.S. independence, with mixed results.United States Department of State, Timeline of U.S. Diplomatic History, 1775–1783 Diplomacy and the American Revolution. Accessed 29 August 2008.
The first overseas consulate of the fledgling U.S. 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. 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." The United States' first owned overseas property is the American Legation in Tangier, which was a gift of the Sultan of Morocco in 1821. In general during the nineteenth century, the United States' diplomatic activities were done on a minimal budget. 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.
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. (Specifically, see Diplomatic Missions, 1861-1868 and Consular and Other Missions, 1861-1865.) (For further details, see diplomacy of the American Civil War.)
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.United States Department of State, Websites of U.S. Embassies, Consulates, and Diplomatic Missions . Accessed 29 August 2008. The wave of overseas construction began with the creation of the State Department's Foreign Service Buildings Commission in 1926.
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.
As of 2024, America had the two largest embassy complexes in the world, in Baghdad and Beirut.
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. Host countryHost cityMissionConcurrent accreditation Algiers Embassy Luanda Embassy Cotonou Embassy Gaborone Embassy Ouagadougou Embassy Bujumbura Embassy Yaoundé Embassy Douala Embassy Branch Office Praia Embassy Bangui EmbassyN'DjamenaEmbassyBrazzavilleEmbassyKinshasaEmbassyDjiboutiEmbassyCairoEmbassyMalaboEmbassy Asmara Embassy Mbabane Embassy Addis Ababa Embassy Libreville Embassy Banjul Embassy Accra Embassy Conakry Embassy Bissau Liaison Office Abidjan Embassy Nairobi Embassy Maseru Embassy Monrovia Embassy Antananarivo Embassy Lilongwe Embassy Bamako EmbassyNouakchottEmbassy Port Louis Embassy Maputo Embassy Rabat Embassy Casablanca Consulate General Windhoek Embassy Niamey Embassy Abuja Embassy Lagos Consulate General Kigali Embassy Dakar Embassy Victoria Embassy Freetown Embassy Mogadishu Embassy Pretoria Embassy Cape Town Consulate General Durban Consulate General Johannesburg Consulate General Juba EmbassyDar es SalaamEmbassy Lomé Embassy Tunis Embassy Kampala Embassy Lusaka Embassy Harare Embassy
Americas The U.S. has embassies in all states in the North and South American continents with the exceptions of Antigua & Barbuda (where it has a consular agency), Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Host countryHost cityMissionConcurrent accreditation St. John's Consular Agency Buenos Aires Embassy Nassau Embassy Bridgetown Embassy Belmopan Embassy La Paz Embassy Santa Cruz de la Sierra Consular Agency Brasília Embassy Porto Alegre Consulate General Recife Consulate General Rio de Janeiro Consulate General São Paulo Consulate General Belo Horizonte Embassy Branch Office Fortaleza Consular Agency Manaus Consular Agency Salvador Consular Agency Ottawa Embassy Calgary Consulate General Halifax Consulate General Montreal Consulate General Quebec City Consulate General Toronto Consulate General Vancouver Consulate General Winnipeg Consulate Santiago de Chile Embassy Bogotá Embassy San José Embassy Havana Embassy Santo Domingo Embassy Bávaro Consular Agency Puerto Plata Consular Agency Quito Embassy Guayaquil Consulate General San Salvador Embassy St. George's Mission Guatemala City EmbassyGeorgetownEmbassy Port-au-Prince Embassy Tegucigalpa Embassy San Pedro Sula Consular Agency Kingston Embassy Montego Bay Consular Agency Mexico City Embassy Ciudad Juárez Consulate General Guadalajara Consulate General Hermosillo Consulate General Matamoros Consulate General Mérida Consulate General Monterrey Consulate General Nogales Consulate General Nuevo Laredo Consulate General Tijuana Consulate General Acapulco Consular Agency Cabo San Lucas Consular Agency Cancún Consular Agency Mazatlán Consular Agency Oaxaca City Consular Agency Piedras Negras Consular Agency Playa del Carmen Consular Agency Puerto Vallarta Consular Agency San Miguel de Allende Consular AgencyManaguaEmbassyPanama CityEmbassy Asunción Embassy Lima Embassy Cusco Consular Agency Paramaribo Embassy Port of Spain Embassy Montevideo Embassy Caracas Embassy
Asia The U.S. has embassies in all Asian countries it recognizes apart from Afghanistan, Bhutan, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and Yemen. It has 'interests sections' in other nations' embassies in Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, and Syria. It also has a de facto embassy in Taiwan. Host countryHost cityMissionConcurrent accreditation Kabul Interests Section Yerevan Embassy Baku Embassy Manama Embassy Dhaka Embassy Bandar Seri Begawan Embassy Phnom Penh Embassy Beijing Embassy Guangzhou Consulate General Shanghai Consulate General Shenyang Consulate General Wuhan Consulate General Hong Kong Consulate General Tbilisi Embassy New Delhi Embassy Chennai Consulate General Hyderabad Consulate General Kolkata Consulate General Mumbai Consulate General Bengaluru Consulate Jakarta Embassy Surabaya Consulate General Medan Consulate Badung Consular Agency Tehran Interests Section Baghdad Embassy Erbil Consulate General Jerusalem Embassy Tel Aviv Embassy Branch Office Tokyo Embassy Naha Consulate General Osaka Consulate General Sapporo Consulate General Fukuoka Consulate Nagoya Consulate Amman Embassy Astana Embassy Almaty Consulate General Kuwait City Embassy Bishkek Embassy Vientiane Embassy Beirut Embassy Kuala Lumpur Embassy Malé Mission Ulaanbaatar Embassy Yangon Embassy Kathmandu Embassy Muscat Embassy Islamabad EmbassyKarachiConsulate GeneralLahoreConsulate GeneralPeshawarConsulate General Manila EmbassyCebu CityConsular AgencyDohaEmbassy Riyadh Embassy Dhahran Consulate General Jeddah Consulate GeneralSingaporeEmbassySeoulEmbassy Busan Consulate Colombo Embassy Taipei American Institute Kaohsiung Branch Office Dushanbe Embassy Bangkok Embassy Chiang Mai Consulate General Dili Embassy Ankara Embassy Istanbul Consulate General Adana Consulate Izmir Consular Agency Gaziantep Branch Office Ashgabat Embassy Abu Dhabi Embassy Dubai Consulate GeneralTashkentEmbassy Hanoi EmbassyHo Chi Minh CityConsulate General
Europe The U.S. has embassies in (or, in the case of Vatican City, near) all European countries it recognizes apart from Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, and San Marino. Host countryHost cityMissionConcurrent accreditation Tirana EmbassyViennaEmbassy Brussels Embassy Sarajevo Embassy Banja Luka Embassy Branch Office Mostar Embassy Branch Office Sofia Embassy Zagreb Embassy Nicosia Embassy Prague Embassy Copenhagen Embassy Nuuk, Greenland Consulate Tallinn Embassy Helsinki Embassy Paris EmbassyConsulate General in StrasbourgBordeauxConsulate General Lyon Consulate General Marseille Consulate GeneralRennesConsulate GeneralStrasbourgConsulate General Berlin Embassy Düsseldorf Consulate General Frankfurt Consulate General Hamburg Consulate General Leipzig Consulate General Munich Consulate General Athens Embassy Thessaloniki Consulate General Rome Embassy Budapest Embassy Reykjavík Embassy Dublin Embassy Rome Embassy Florence Consulate General Milan Consulate General Naples Consulate General Genoa Consular Agency Palermo Consular Agency Venice Consular Agency Pristina Embassy Riga Embassy Vilnius EmbassyLuxembourgEmbassy Attard Embassy Chișinău Embassy Podgorica Embassy The Hague Embassy Amsterdam Consulate General Willemstad, Curaçao Consulate General Skopje EmbassyOsloEmbassy Tromsø American Presence Post Warsaw Embassy Kraków Consulate General Poznań Consular Agency Lisbon Embassy Ponta Delgada Consulate Bucharest Embassy Moscow Embassy Belgrade Embassy Bratislava EmbassyLjubljanaEmbassy Madrid Embassy Barcelona Consulate General Fuengirola Consular Agency Las Palmas Consular Agency Palma de Mallorca Consular Agency Seville Consular Agency Valencia Consular Agency Stockholm Embassy Bern Embassy Geneva Consular Agency Zürich Consular Agency Kyiv Embassy London Embassy Belfast Consulate General Edinburgh Consulate General Hamilton, Bermuda Consulate General George Town, Cayman Islands Consular Agency
Oceania