Dependent territory

A dependent territory, dependent area or dependency is a territory that does not possess full political independence or sovereignty as a State.

There are varying degrees and forms of dependence, commonly distinguished from other subnational entities in that they are not considered to be part of the motherland or mainland of the governing State. In most cases they also represent a different order of separation. A subnational entity typically represents a division of the State proper, while a dependent territory might be an overseas territory that enjoys a greater degree of autonomy. For instance, many of them have more or less separate legal systems from the governing States. Varying among different legal and constitutional traditions, these territories may or may not be considered part of the States.

The areas separately referred to as non-independent are territories that are disputed, are occupied, have a government in exile or have a non-negligible independence movement.

Lists of dependent territories

World map of dependent territories

AUS

CHI

DAN

FRA

NED

NZL

NOR

GBR

USA

Currently there are 60 dependencies on this list, which excludes those under Finland, Russia, and the People's Republic of China. Dependency claims without general international recognition, including all claims in Antarctica, are listed in italics. Uninhabited territories or territories with no permanent population are marked with hash keys/number symbols (#).

The list includes several territories that are not included in the list of non-self-governing territories [1] listed by the General Assembly of the United Nations (which also includes Western Sahara, since 1990, the General Assembly reaffirmed that the question of Western Sahara was a question of decolonization which remained to be completed by the people of Western Sahara).

A number of political entities have a special position recognized by international treaty or agreement (i.e. Åland in Finland, Hong Kong & Macau in the People's Republic of China, and Svalbard in Norway). These are not dependent territories in the strict sense of the meaning, but have in some way a similar position. See List of special entities recognized by international treaty or agreement for more information.

Australia

Territory	Administration
Ashmore and Cartier Islands #	From Canberra by the Attorney-General's Department.[1]
Christmas Island
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Coral Sea Islands #
Australian Antarctic Territory #	From Canberra by the Australian Antarctic Division of the Department of the Environment and Heritage.
Heard Island and McDonald Islands #
Norfolk Island	Commonwealth responsibilities administered from Canberra through the Attorney-General's Department.[1]

Denmark

Division	Administration
Faroe Islands	Self-governing overseas administrative division since 1948. Part of the Kingdom of Denmark but not of the European Union.
Greenland	Self-governing overseas administrative division since 1979. Part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Left the European Union in 1986.

France

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Territory	Administration
Clipperton Island #	Atoll administered by the Minister for Overseas Territories. No permanent population.
French Polynesia	Overseas collectivity since 2003; Overseas country since 2004.
Mayotte	Departmental collectivity since 2001; overseas collectivity since 2003.
New Caledonia	"Sui generis" collectivity since 1999; appears on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.
Saint Barthélemy	Overseas collectivities since 2007.
Saint Martin
Saint Pierre and Miquelon	Territorial collectivity since 1985; overseas collectivity since 2003.
Wallis and Futuna	Overseas territory since 1961; overseas collectivity since 2003.
French Southern and Antarctic Lands #	The French Southern and Antarctic Lands is an Overseas territory since 1955, administered from Paris by an Administrateur Superieur (since May 2000, François Garde assisted by Secretary General Jean-Yves Hermoso). No permanent population.

Netherlands

Country	Administration
Aruba	Full autonomy in internal affairs obtained upon separation from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986; Government of the Netherlands responsible for defense and foreign affairs. Part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands but not of the European Union.
Netherlands Antilles	Full autonomy in internal affairs granted in 1954; Government of the Netherlands responsible for defense and foreign affairs. Part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but not of the European Union. The Netherlands Antilles were to be dissolved on 15 December 2008, but this has been put off to a later, undefined, date. Under that plan  Curaçao and  Sint Maarten will become autonomous regions in their own right.  Bonaire,  Saba and  Sint Eustatius will become special municipalities of the Netherlands.

New Zealand

In free association	Administration
Cook Islands	Self-governing state in free association with New Zealand since 1965. The Cook Islands are fully responsible for their internal affairs; New Zealand, in consultation, retains some responsibility for external affairs and defence. As of 2005, the Cook Islands have diplomatic relations in their own name with eighteen countries.
Niue	Self-governing state in free association with New Zealand since 1974. Niue is fully responsible for its internal affairs; New Zealand retains responsibility for external affairs and defence. New Zealand's responsibilities confer no rights of control and are only exercised at the request of the Government of Niue.
Territory	Administration
Tokelau	Self-administering territory of New Zealand. As it moves toward free association with New Zealand, Tokelau and New Zealand have agreed to a draft constitution. A UN-sponsored referendum on self-governance in February 2006 did not produce the two-thirds supermajority necessary for changing the current political status. Another one was in October 2007, which failed to reach the 2/3 margin.
Ross Dependency #	New Zealand's Antarctic claim.

Norway

Dependency	Administration
Bouvet Island #	Dependency administered from Oslo by the Polar Affairs Department of the Ministry of Justice and the Police.
Peter I Island #	Dependencies (subject to the Antarctic Treaty System) administered from Oslo by the Polar Affairs Department of the Ministry of Justice and the Police.
Queen Maud Land #

United Kingdom

Overseas territories	Administration
Anguilla	British overseas territories.
Cayman Islands
Montserrat
Pitcairn Islands
Turks and Caicos Islands
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Bermuda	British overseas territory or self-governing territory as defined by the UK.
British Antarctic Territory #	The UK's Antarctic claim.
British Indian Ocean Territory #	British overseas territory administered by a commissioner resident in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London.
British Virgin Islands	British overseas territory with internal self-government.
Falkland Islands	British overseas territory, claimed by Argentina. Falkland Islands also administers  South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands through the Governor of the Falkland Islands as representative of the British monarch.
Gibraltar	British overseas territory, claimed by Spain.
Sovereign Base Areas	Administration
Akrotiri and Dhekelia	British overseas territory administered by the Commander of British Forces, Cyprus. Note SBAs are primarily required as military bases and not ordinary dependent territories
Crown dependencies	Administration
Guernsey	Crown dependencies
Jersey
Isle of Man

United States

Territory	Administration
American Samoa	Unincorporated and unorganized territory administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior. Appears on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.
Guam	Unincorporated organized territory; policy relations between Guam and the U.S. conducted under the jurisdiction of the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior. Appears on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.
Navassa Island #	Unincorporated territory of the U.S. administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior from the Caribbean Islands National Wildlife Refuge in Boqueron, Puerto Rico. Claimed by Haiti and privately via the Guano Islands Act.
Northern Mariana Islands	Commonwealth in political union with the U.S.; federal funding administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior.
Petrel Islands #	Unincorporated territory of the U.S. administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior. Also claimed by Colombia, Jamaica and Nicaragua.
Puerto Rico	Unincorporated organized territory of the U.S. with commonwealth status; policy relations between Puerto Rico and the U.S. conducted under the jurisdiction of the Office of the President.
Serranilla Bank #	Unincorporated territory of the U.S. administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior. Also claimed by Colombia and Nicaragua. Beacon Cay is occupied by Colombia.
United States Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges #	Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, and Midway Island. Unorganized and unincorporated territories administered from Washington, D.C. by the Fish and Wildlife Service of the United States Department of the Interior.
U.S. Virgin Islands	Unincorporated organized territory; policy relations between the Virgin Islands and the U.S. conducted under the jurisdiction of the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior. Appears on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.
Wake Island #	Unincorporated territory supervised by the U.S. Air Force and administered from Washington, D.C. by the U.S. Department of the Interior. Claimed by the Marshall Islands.

See also

• United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories
• List of current heads of government of dependencies
• Associated state
• Asymmetric federation
• Condominium, joint sovereignty over an area shared by two or more states.
• Federacy
• List of autonomous areas by country
• List of sovereign states
• List of subnational entities
• List of territorial disputes
• List of unrecognized countries
• Special member state territories and their relations with the EU
• Suzerainty
• Antarctic territories
• Colony
• Settler colonialism

References

• George Drower, Britain's Dependent Territories, Dartmouth, 1992
• George Drower, Overseas Territories Handbook, TSO, 1998

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the CIA World Factbook.

External links

• WorldStatesmen- includes former dependent states