1. How many votes does the District of Columbia (DC) have?I heard a BBC World Service commentator saying that it had gone to Kerry, so I suppose it's treated as an independent state?

2. Do the US foreign territories (i.e. all those islands in the Pacific) have any vote?

It has three. That's the least amount that is given.

Thanks a lot. I heard on BBC World that Wyoming had the least votes (also 3); I guess they weren't considering DC while making that statement.

A lot of states only have 3 votes because that is the number of Senators (every state has 2) and Representatives (the min. you can have is 1) combined. DC is special, although they don't have any voting privileges in the Senate or the House, they are allowed to vote for President. (By the way, DC went to Kerry with 90% of the vote, the same ratio as blacks naitonwide voted for him.)

The District of Columbia is a 10 square mile area where the federal Congress and White House, National Archives, and other purely federal offices are located. It is "neutral territory" with it's own police force, mayoral system of local government for citizens who actually live in D.C.
It was set aside as the seat of federal government when Virginia and Maryland gave up a portion of their land on the Potomac River to establish our national capitol.
The land was mostly swamp and no loss to the two states. When you hear the term "Foggy Bottom" it is the semi-affectionate name for Washington, D.C.

Yeah, but it's also home to a lot of people who technically have no voice in the Federal government as their elected people are merely observors in the Senate and the House, much like Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. And they didn't even have a mayor and real government until the 1960s or 1970s.