List of dependent territories

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Dependent areas are territories that for some reason do not possess full political independence or sovereignty as states. There are varying degrees and forms of such a dependence. They are commonly distinguished from subnational entities in that they are not considered to be part of the motherland or mainland of the governing state, and in most cases they also represent a different order of separation. A subnational entity typically represents a division of the country proper, while a dependent territory might be an overseas territory that enjoys a greater degree of autonomy. For instance, many of them have a more or less separate legal system from the governing body.

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.

The list includes also territories that are not included in the list of non-self-governing territories [1] listed by the General Assembly of the United Nations, a list that 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.

Four political entities have a special position recognized by international treaty or agreement (Åland in Finland, Svalbard in Norway, as well as the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau in the People's Republic of China). These are not dependent territories in the strict sense of the meaning, but have in some way a similar position.

See the List of special entities recognized by international treaty or agreement.

Contents

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Entities on the list

Currently, there are 63 entities on this list. It corresponds to:

  • 58 dependencies
  • 4 areas without any clear sovereignty
  • 1 international protectorate in the territory of a sovereign country.
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List of dependencies by sovereignty

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Australia

  • Ashmore and Cartier Islands: territory administered by the Australian Department of Transport and Regional Services
  • Christmas Island: territory administered by the Australian Department of Transport and Regional Services
  • Cocos (Keeling) Islands: territory administered from Canberra by the Australian Department of Transport and Regional Services
  • Coral Sea Islands: territory administered from Canberra by the Department of the Environment, Sport, and Territories
  • Heard Island and McDonald Islands: territory administered from Canberra by the Australian Antarctic Division of the Department of the Environment and Heritage
  • Norfolk Island: territory of Australia; Canberra administers Commonwealth responsibilities on Norfolk Island through the Department of Environment, Sport, and Territories
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British Crown

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Denmark

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France

France includes also the overseas departments of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion, see notes
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The Netherlands

  • Aruba: part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but not of the European Union; full autonomy in internal affairs obtained in 1986 upon separation from the Netherlands Antilles; Dutch Government responsible for defense and foreign affairs
  • Netherlands Antilles: part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but not of the European Union; full autonomy in internal affairs granted in 1954; Dutch Government responsible for defense and foreign affairs; comprises two groupings of islands: Curaçao and Bonaire are located off the coast of Venezuela; Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten (the Dutch two-fifths of the island of Saint Martin) lie 800 km to the north.
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New Zealand

  • Cook Islands: self-governing in free association with New Zealand; Cook Islands is fully responsible for internal affairs; New Zealand retains some responsibility for external affairs and defense, in consultation with the Cook Islands. As of 2005 the Cook Islands has diplomatic relations in its own name with 18 countries.
  • Niue: self-governing in free association with New Zealand since 1974; Niue fully responsible for internal affairs; New Zealand retains responsibility for external affairs and defense; however, these responsibilities confer no rights of control and are only exercised at the request of the Government of Niue
  • Tokelau: self-administering territory of New Zealand; note - Tokelauans are drafting a constitution and developing institutions and patterns of self-government as Tokelau moves toward free association with New Zealand (a non-self-governing territory as listed by the UN)
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Norway

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United Kingdom

See also British Crown
  • Akrotiri: overseas territory administered by an administrator who is also the Commander of the British Forces, Cyprus
  • Anguilla: overseas territory (a non-self-governing territory as listed by the UN)
  • Bermuda: overseas territory
  • British Antarctic Territory: land and islands claimed in Antarctica
  • British Indian Ocean Territory: overseas territory administered by a commissioner, resident in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London
  • British Virgin Islands: overseas territory with internal self-government
  • Cayman Islands: overseas territory (a non-self-governing territory as listed by the UN)
  • Dhekelia: overseas territory administered by an administrator who is also the Commander of the British Forces, Cyprus
  • Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas): overseas territory; also claimed by Argentina (a non-self-governing territory as listed by the UN)
  • Gibraltar: overseas territory (a non-self-governing territory as listed by the UN)
  • Montserrat: overseas territory (a non-self-governing territory as listed by the UN)
  • Pitcairn Islands: overseas territory (a non-self-governing territory as listed by the UN, under dispute)
  • Saint Helena: overseas territory (a non-self-governing territory as listed by the UN); it includes the Island group of Tristan da Cunha; Saint Helena also administers Ascension Island.
  • South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands: overseas territory, also claimed by Argentina; administered from the Falkland Islands by a commissioner, who is concurrently governor of the Falkland Islands, representing Queen Elizabeth II; Grytviken, formerly a whaling station on South Georgia, is a scientific base
  • Turks and Caicos Islands: overseas territory (a non-self-governing territory as listed by the UN)
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United States

  • American Samoa: unincorporated and unorganized territory administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, US Department of the Interior (a non-self-governing territory as listed by the UN)
  • Baker Island: unincorporated territory administered from Washington, DC, by the Fish and Wildlife Service of the US Department of the Interior as part of the National Wildlife Refuge system
  • Guam: organized, unincorporated territory with policy relations between Guam and the US under the jurisdiction of the Office of Insular Affairs, US Department of the Interior (a non-self-governing territory as listed by the UN)
  • Howland Island: unincorporated territory administered from Washington, DC, by the Fish and Wildlife Service of the US Department of the Interior as part of the National Wildlife Refuge system
  • Jarvis Island: unincorporated territory administered from Washington, DC, by the Fish and Wildlife Service of the US Department of the Interior as part of the National Wildlife Refuge system
  • Johnston Atoll: unincorporated territory administered from Honolulu, HI, by Pacific Air Forces, Hickam Air Force Base, and the Fish and Wildlife Service of the US Department of the Interior as part of the National Wildlife Refuge system
  • Kingman Reef: unincorporated territory administered from Washington, DC, by the US Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior: note: on 1 September 2000, the Department of the Interior accepted restoration of its administrative jurisdiction over Kingman Reef from the Department of the Navy; Executive Order 3223 signed 18 January 2001 established Kingman Reef National Wildlife Refuge to be administered by the Director, US Fish and Wildlife Service; this refuge is managed to protect the terrestrial and aquatic wildlife of Kingman Reef out to the 12-nautical-mile territorial sea limit
  • Midway Islands: unincorporated territory formerly administered from Washington, DC, by the US Navy, under Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Pacific Division; this facility has been operationally closed since 10 September 1993; on 31 October 1996, through a presidential executive order, the jurisdiction and control of the atoll was transferred to the Fish and Wildlife Service of the US Department of the Interior as part of the National Wildlife Refuge system
  • Navassa Island: unincorporated territory of the US; administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service, US Department of the Interior, from the Caribbean Islands National Wildlife Refuge in Boqueron, Puerto Rico; in September 1996, the Coast Guard ceased operations and maintenance of Navassa Island Light, a 46-meter-tall lighthouse on the southern side of the island; there has also been a private claim advanced against the island
  • Northern Mariana Islands: commonwealth in political union with the US; federal funds to the Commonwealth administered by the US Department of the Interior, Office of Insular Affairs
  • Palmyra Atoll: incorporated territory; privately owned, but administered from Washington, DC, by the Fish and Wildlife Service of the US Department of the Interior; the Office of Insular Affairs of the US Department of the Interior continues to administer nine excluded areas comprising certain tidal and submerged lands within the 12 nm territorial sea or within the lagoon
  • Puerto Rico: commonwealth associated with the US
  • U.S. Virgin Islands: organized, unincorporated territory with policy relations between the Virgin Islands and the US under the jurisdiction of the Office of Insular Affairs, US Department of the Interior (a non-self-governing territory as listed by the UN)
  • Wake Island: unincorporated territory administered from Washington, DC, by the Department of the Interior; activities on the island are conducted by the US Army under a caretaker permit from the US Air Force
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No sovereignty, or disputed sovereignty

See also List of disputed or occupied territories
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Notes

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France

French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion are departments (first-order administrative units) of France, and are therefore not dependencies or areas of special sovereignty, similar to how the island state of Hawaii is a first-order political unit of the United States. The Department of Guadeloupe includes the nearby islands of Marie-Galante, La Desirade, and Iles des Saintes, as well as Saint Barthelemy and the northern three-fifths of Saint Martin (the rest of which belongs to Netherlands Antilles). The islands of Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova Island, and Tromelin Island are administered from Reunion; all these islands are claimed by Madagascar, and Tromelin Island is claimed by Mauritius.

France has not had colonies since the 1960s. All citizens of the listed territorial entities enjoy full French citizenship rights, including the right to vote for national elections. All the inhabited entities, whatever their status, are represented by deputies and senators to the national parliament.

French Polynesia (overseas country), New Caledonia (collectivity sui generis), and Wallis and Futuna (overseas territorial collectivity) enjoy some substantial legislative autonomy and have a separate currency (the CFP Franc). Whether they will choose independence in the future is an open question.

See Islands controlled by France in the Indian and Pacific oceans

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Spratly Islands and Paracel Islands

Both the People's Republic of China and Republic of China (Taiwan) government regard the two groups of islands under the jurisdiction of Hainan (province of the PRC, suspended/abolished special administrative region of the ROC). The ROC government currently delegates administrative responsibility of Taiping, the only island it controls, to the Kaohsiung City government.

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United States

Citizens of U.S. overseas possessions, including Puerto Rico, do not have the right to vote in U.S. federal elections. The U.S. Department of State uses the term Insular areas to refer to the areas listed above (with the exception of Guantanamo Bay). Although the U.S. state of Hawaii is an island and is technically overseas from the rest of the U.S., it is fully a state of the Union and shares equal status under the U.S. constitution with all of the other states.

The U.S. does not claim sovereignty on Guantanamo Bay, but exercises permanent control and pays rent under terms of treaties with Cuba.

This article incorporates information from The World Factbook, which is in the public domain.

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See also

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External link

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dependent_territories"
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