Originally, an embassy referred to an ambassador and his staff who were sent by their country to another country’s government to represent and advance the interests of their home country. Today, an embassy is the nerve center for U.S. affairs inside another nation—the headquarters of the U.S. ambassador and his or her staff.
An embassy is always located in the capital city of a foreign nation. U.S. embassies abroad, as well as foreign embassies in the United States, have a special status. While an embassy remains the territory of the host state, under international rules representatives of the host country may not enter an embassy without permission—even to put out a fire.
Because an embassy represents a sovereign state, any attack on an embassy is considered an attack on the country it represents.
Besides the ambassador, embassy staff is typically made up of a deputy chief of mission, Foreign Service Officers, Foreign Service Specialists, and representatives of many other U.S. agencies, such as the Department of Defense and the Department of Agriculture. The staff of all of these agencies reports to the ambassador.
Citizens of the foreign country fill jobs at an embassy, too, and these foreign employees are essential to the success of an embassy’s mission. They used to be known as Foreign Service Nationals, but are now officially called Locally Employed Staff—which may include U.S. citizens who are long-time residents of the country.
The main embassy building—the chancery—is often supplemented by other buildings, such as the consular section, an information resource center, or a conference hall. Collectively, the buildings and any garden space are known as the embassy compound, or simply the embassy. The ambassador’s residence, where much diplomacy is carried out, is sometimes part of the compound and sometimes located in a different part of the city. The chancery is usually architecturally impressive—either a historic building or a striking newer structure. Accompanied by a U.S. flag waving in the breeze, an embassy is the most prominent symbol of the United States in a foreign country.
