A dependent territory, dependent area or dependency is a territory that does not possess full political independence or sovereignty as a sovereign state yet remains politically outside of the controlling state's integral area.
Contents
- Summary of list contents
- Lists of dependent territories
- New Zealand
- Norway
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Lists of other entities
- Australia
- China
- Denmark
- Finland
- France
- Netherlands
- Description
- References
A dependency is commonly distinguished from subnational entities in that they are not considered to be part of the integral territory of the governing state. A subnational entity typically represents a division of the state proper, while a dependent territory often maintains a great degree of autonomy from the controlling state. Historically, most colonies were considered to be dependencies of their controlling state. The dependencies that remain generally maintain a very high degree of political autonomy. At the same time, not all autonomous entities are considered to be dependencies, and not all dependencies are autonomous. Most inhabited dependent territories have their own ISO 3166 country codes.
Some political entities have a special position recognized by international treaty or agreement resulting in a certain level of autonomy or differences in immigration rules. These are sometimes considered dependencies, but are officially considered by their controlling states to be integral parts of the state. Examples are Åland (Finland) and Hong Kong (China).
Summary of list contents
The following listings indicate (or can be interpreted to indicate):
Lists of dependent territories
This list includes all territories that have not been legally incorporated into their governing state, including several territories that are not on the list of non-self-governing territories listed by the General Assembly of the United Nations. Dependency claims without general international recognition, including all claims in Antarctica, are listed in italics.
New Zealand
Summary: The Realm of New Zealand includes two self-governing states in free association with New Zealand, one territory (Tokelau), and a territorial claim in Antarctica.
Norway
Summary: Norway has 1 dependent territory and 2 dependency claims.
United Kingdom
Summary: the United Kingdom has 12 Overseas Territories (10 autonomous, 1 restricted to military personnel and 1 uninhabited), 3 Crown dependencies (autonomous), 1 group of Sovereign Base Areas, and 1 dependency claim.
United States
Summary: the United States has 11 dependent territories and 2 dependency claims. The United States also has one incorporated territory.
Lists of other entities
The following entities are according to the law of their state, integral parts of the state, but exhibit many characteristics of dependent territories. This list is generally limited to entities which are either subject to an international treaty on their status, uninhabited, or have a unique level of autonomy and are largely self-governing in matters other than international affairs. As a result, it does not include most entities with no unique autonomy, such as the overseas regions of France, or only limited unique autonomy, such as the Autonomous Regions of Portugal. Dependency claims without general international recognition, including all claims in Antarctica, are listed in italics.
Australia
Summary: Australia has 6 territories in its administration and 1 dependency claim.
Although all territories of Australia are considered to be fully integrated in its federative system, and the official status of an external territory does not differ largely from that of a mainland territory (except in regards to immigration law), debate remains as to whether the external territories are integral parts of Australia, due to their not being part of Australia in 1901, when its constituent states federated. They are often listed separately for statistical purposes.
China
Summary: China has 2 special administrative regions which are governed according to international treaties.
Denmark
The Kingdom of Denmark contains 2 self-governing countries.
Finland
Summary: Finland has 1 autonomous region, which is also subject to international treaties.
France
Summary: France has 6 autonomous collectivities, and 2 uninhabited territories. This does not include the overseas regions (which are also overseas departments) of Réunion, Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, and Mayotte, which although also located overseas, have the same status as metropolitan France's regions. Nonetheless, all of France's overseas territory is considered to be an integral part of the French Republic.
Netherlands
Summary: The Kingdom of the Netherlands consists of 3 Caribbean countries with autonomy in internal affairs, and one country—the Netherlands—with most of its area in Europe, except 3 municipalities also in the Caribbean. The 3 municipalities in the Caribbean—Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius—are not listed as they are directly administered by the Government of the Netherlands. All Dutch citizens of the Kingdom share the same nationality and are thus citizens of the European Union.
Norway
Summary: Norway has one internal territory with limited Norwegian sovereignty—Svalbard, and another uninhabited internal territory, Jan Mayen. These are part of the Kingdom of Norway, unlike the country's Antarctic dependent territory—Bouvet Island, and two dependency claims (see above).
Description
Three Crown dependencies are in a form of association with the UK. They are independently administrated jurisdictions, although the British Government is solely responsible for defence and international representation, and has ultimate responsibility for ensuring good government. They do not have diplomatic recognition as independent states, but they are not an integrated part of the UK, nor do they form part of the European Union. The UK Parliament retains the ability to legislate for the Crown dependencies even without the agreement of the insular legislatures. None of the Crown dependencies has representatives in the UK Parliament. Bermuda and Gibraltar have similar relationships to the UK as the Crown dependencies. While Britain is officially responsible for defence and international representation, these jurisdictions maintain their own militaries and have been granted limited diplomatic powers, in addition to having internal self-government. Nevertheless, they are British Overseas Territories.
New Zealand and dependencies share the same Governor-General and constitute one realm. The Cook Islands and Niue are officially termed associated states.
Puerto Rico (since 1952) and the Northern Mariana Islands (since 1986) are non-independent states freely associated with the United States. The mutually negotiated Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) in Political Union with the United States was approved in 1976. The Covenant was fully implemented November 3, 1986, pursuant to Presidential Proclamation no. 5564, which conferred United States citizenship on legally qualified CNMI residents.
Under the Constitution of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico is described as a Commonwealth and Puerto Ricans have a degree of administrative autonomy similar to citizens of a U.S. state. Puerto Ricans "were collectively made U.S. citizens" in 1917 as a result of the Jones-Shafroth Act. The commonly used name in Spanish of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, literally "Associated Free State of Puerto Rico", which sounds similar to "free association" particularly when loosely used in Spanish, is sometimes erroneously interpreted to mean that Puerto Rico's relationship with United States is based on a Compact of Free Association and at other times erroneously held to mean that Puerto Rico's relationship with United States is based on an Interstate compact. This is a constant source of ambiguity and confusion when trying to define, understand and explain Puerto Rico's political relationship with the United States. For various reasons Puerto Rico's political status differs from that of the Pacific Islands that entered into Compacts of Free Association with the United States. As sovereign states, these islands have full right to conduct their own foreign relations, while the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has territorial status subject to United States congressional authority under the Constitution's Territory Clause, "to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory… belonging to the United States.". Puerto Rico does not have the right to unilaterally declare independence, and at the last referendum (1998) the narrow majority voted for "none of the above", which was a formally undefined alternative used by commonwealth supporters to express their desire for an "enhanced commonwealth" option.
This kind of relationship also can be found in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which is a federacy. The continental part is organized like a unitary state but the status of its territories (Aruba, since 1986, and the Netherlands Antilles, since 1954 until 2010) can be considered dependencies or "associated non-independent states". After the split-up of the Netherlands Antilles, Curaçao and Sint Maarten are separate associated states like Aruba.
Additionally, Denmark operates in a similar manner to a federacy. The Faroes and Greenland are two self-governing territories, or regions within the Kingdom. The relationship between Denmark proper and the two territories is semi-officially termed the "Rigsfællesskabet".