List of dependent territories

Dependent areas are territories and overseas territories that do not possess full independence or sovereignty as states/countries. 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.

List of dependencies by Commonwealth sovereignty

All these are, as such or as part of a Commonwealth state in personal union under the same British Monarch.

Australia

Ashmore and Cartier Islands: territory administered by the Australian Attorney-General's Department
Christmas Island: territory administered by the Australian Attorney-General's Department
Cocos (Keeling) Islands: territory administered from Canberra by the Australian Attorney-General's Department
Coral Sea Islands: territory administered from Canberra by the Australian Attorney-General's Department
Heard Island and McDonald Islands: territory administered from Canberra by the Australian Antarctic Division of the Department the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts
Norfolk Island: territory of Australia; administered from Canberra by the Australian Attorney-General's Department
Australian Antarctic Territory: territory administered from Canberra by the Australian Antarctic Division of the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts

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 - Tokelau and New Zealand have agreed to a draft constitution as Tokelau moves toward free association with New Zealand; a UN sponsored referendum on self-governance, in February 2006, did not produce the two thirds majority vote necessary for changing the current political status
Ross Dependency: land and islands claimed in Antarctica

United Kingdom

Akrotiri: a special form of 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 (a self-governing territory as defined by the UK. A non-self-governing territory as listed by the UN)
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 (a non-self-governing territory as listed by the UN)
Cayman Islands: overseas territory (a non-self-governing territory as listed by the UN)
Dhekelia: a special form of overseas territory administered by an administrator who is also the Commander of the British Forces Cyprus
Falkland Islands: overseas territory; also claimed by Argentina (a non-self-governing territory as listed by the UN)
Gibraltar: overseas territory (a self-governing territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula)
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)
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 the governor-general of the Falkland Islands, representing 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)

British Crown Dependencies

Allied to the British monarch, not the government

List of dependencies by other country

Denmark

Faroe Islands: part of the Kingdom of Denmark, but not of the European Union; self-governing overseas administrative division since 1948
Greenland: part of the Kingdom of Denmark, but not of the European Union; self-governing overseas administrative division since 1979

France

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

Clipperton Island: possession administered directly by the Minister of Overseas France (no permanent population)
French Polynesia: overseas collectivity since 2003 (designated as an overseas country since 2004)
French Southern and Antarctic Lands: overseas territory since 1955 administered from Paris by Administrateur Superieur Eric Pilloton (since April 10 2007); includes Îles Amsterdam, Île Saint-Paul, Îles Crozet, Îles Éparses which surround Madagascar and Îles Kerguelen in the southern Indian Ocean, along with Adélie Land, the French-claimed sector of Antarctica (no permanent population).
Mayotte: overseas collectivity since 2003 (designated as a departmental collectivity since 2001)
New Caledonia: territory with a unique status since 1999 (a non-self-governing territory as listed by the UN)
Saint-Barthélemy: overseas collectivity since 2007 (before, part of Guadeloupe)
Saint-Martin: overseas collectivity since 2007 (before, part of Guadeloupe)
Saint Pierre and Miquelon: overseas collectivity since 2003 (designated as a territorial collectivity since 1985)
Wallis and Futuna: overseas collectivity since 2003 (designated as a territory since 1961)

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.

Norway

Bouvet Island
Peter I Island (Antarctica)
Queen Maud Land (Antarctica)

United States

The smallest island entities belong to the United States Minor Outlying Islands

In the Caribbean

Navassa Island: unincorporated territory of the U.S.; administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. 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
Puerto Rico: unincorporated, organized territory of the US with commonwealth status; policy relations between Puerto Rico and the US conducted under the jurisdiction of the Office of the President
U.S. Virgin Islands: organized, unincorporated territory with policy relations between the Virgin Islands and the U.S. under the jurisdiction of the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior (a non-self-governing territory as listed by the UN)

In the Pacific

American Samoa: unincorporated and unorganized territory administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior (a non-self-governing territory as listed by the UN)
Guam: organized, unincorporated territory with policy relations between Guam and the U.S. under the jurisdiction of the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior (a non-self-governing territory as listed by the UN)
Northern Mariana Islands: commonwealth in political union with the U.S.; federal funds to the Commonwealth administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Insular Affairs
Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef & Midway Atoll: unincorporated territories of the US; 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
Palmyra Atoll: incorporated Territory of the US; partly privately owned and partly federally owned; 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
Wake Island: unincorporated territory administered from Washington, D.C., by the Department of the Interior; activities on the island are conducted by the US Air Force, the ownership of the territory is disputed with the Marshall Islands.

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