10 Cool Facts About US Passports

When embarking upon international travel, a plane ticket will only get you so far. The real powerhouse behind the journey is the passport, as without one the chances of setting foot on foreign soil are pretty slim.

Here are 10 cool facts about those issued here in the US.

Number 10. They’re not all the same. There are 3 kinds – tourist, official, and diplomatic. Most have the blue standard issue travel ones, while government employees many of whom are with the military, carry the ‘official’ maroon version. Black ones are given exclusively to the nation’s diplomatic corps.

Number 9. New Jersey wins. The state has the highest relative number of passport holders in the nation. Over 50% of its population is cleared and ready for international travel.

Number 8. Most Americans don’t have one. Over 60% of the nation’s citizens are currently without the required documentation for travel abroad. Among those who participated in a 2013 travel-related poll, approximately half admitted that they’ve never been beyond the US borders.

Number 7. The maximum is 96 pages. A world traveler from New Jersey learned that after reaching – and filling - the 2 24-page insert limit. Upon doing so he had no choice but to order up a new one and start the stamp collecting all over again.

Number 6. Mississippi has the smallest percentage of holders. Less than 1 in 5 of its residents has a passport.

Number 5. They were once given on a per group basis. The overwhelming majority of the applicants were men. In cases where they indicated that their wives, children or servants would be accompanying them, those names would just be added to the primary holder’s document.

Number 4. It’s a nearly all-access pass. US passports allow visa-free entry into 172 countries and territories, which is enough to land the country in second place alongside Denmark, Luxembourg, and Germany. The top spot is a tie between the UK, Finland, and Sweden.

Number 3. Presidents get to keep their special ones forever. Even though their tenure in office is limited the amount of time they get to flash a black, diplomatic passport is not.

Number 2. The Iroquois have their own. In the name of self-governance the Onondaga Nation has been issuing the documents since 1977. A 2010 dispute about their validity resulted in a 1.5 million dollar overhaul to address security and potential forgery concerns, but it remains unclear whether their passports are cleared for international travel.

Number 1. People have always disliked their passport photos. Once the imaging means became widely available, pictures replaced descriptions as a way to verify identity. People were slow to warm up to that change, complaining that the photos resembled mug shots. Further, wearing hats and fancy clothes was not permitted during their taking.