This article presents a list of military occupations, both historic and contemporary, but only those that have taken place since the customary laws of belligerent military occupation were first clarified and supplemented by the Hague Convention of 1907.
As currently understood in international law, "military occupation" is the effective military control by a power of a territory outside of said power's recognized sovereign territory. The occupying power in question may be an individual state or a supranational organization, such as the United Nations.
Ongoing occupations
center|600px|thumb|
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! style="width:1%;" class=unsortable |
! Territory
! Since
! Occupied state/territory
! Occupying state
! Occupier's declared state/territory
! style="width:30%;" | Status
|-
| rowspan="5" style="background-color:#00aa00;" data-sort-value="Russia" |
| Transnistria
| 1992
|
| rowspan=5 |
|
| Occupied by an armed group under the influence of a foreign power
|-
| Abkhazia
| rowspan=2 | 2008
| rowspan=2 |
|
| rowspan=2 | Occupied by an armed group under the influence of a foreign power
| 2014
| rowspan="2" |
| nowrap | Federal subjects of Russia
| Occupied and annexed by a foreign power
| 2024
|
| rowspan=6 |
|
| Occupied by a foreign power
|-
| data-sort-value="Jerusalem" | East Jerusalem
| rowspan=4 | 1967
| rowspan=3 | Palestinian territories;<br />
| Part of the Jerusalem District
| Occupied and annexed by a foreign power
|-
| West Bank
| Judea and Samaria Area
| rowspan="2" | Occupied by a foreign power, with de facto partial annexation in the West Bank The system of control imposed by Israel has been described as an "indirect occupation". Some other legal scholars have disputed the idea that Israel still occupies Gaza.
|
|-
| Golan Heights
| rowspan="2" |
| Part of the Northern District
| Occupied and annexed by a foreign power.
|-
| Parts of Southern Syria
| 2024
|
| Occupied by a foreign power
|-
| style="background-color:#ff2a2a;" data-sort-value="Turkey" |
| data-sort-value="Cyprus" | Northern Cyprus
| 1974
|
|
| nowrap |
| Occupied by an armed group under the influence of a foreign power
|-
| style="background-color:#8d2aff;" data-sort-value="Armenia" |
| Yukhari Askipara, Sofulu, Barxudarlı and Karki
| rowspan="2" | 1992
|
|
| Part of the Tavush and Ararat Provinces
| rowspan="2" | Occupied and de facto annexed by a foreign power
|-
| rowspan="2" style="background-color:#000000;" data-sort-value="Azerbaijan" |
| Artsvashen
| rowspan="2" |
| rowspan="2" |
| Part of the Gadabay Rayon
|-
|Portions of Syunik, Vayots Dzor, and Gegharkunik Provinces
|2021<br/>2022
|
| Occupied by a foreign power,
|-
| style="background-color:#ff8b00;" data-sort-value="Morocco" |
| Majority of Western Sahara
| 1975
|
|
| <br />
| Occupied and annexed by a foreign power
|
|
|Occupation of Albania
| Balkan Wars
| rowspan="3" |No
|-
| Nicaragua
|
|
| rowspan="2" |
| Occupation of Nicaragua
|Banana Wars
|-
| Veracruz
|
|
| Occupation of Veracruz
|Mexican Revolution
|-
|}
World War I and immediate aftermath
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Occupied territory
! Years
! Occupied state
! Occupying state
! Event
! Part of war(s)
! Subsequently annexed?
|-
| Albania
| 1916–1918
|
| Occupation of Albania
| rowspan="9" |No
|-
| Montenegro
| 1916–1918
|
|
| Occupation of Montenegro
|-
| Haiti
| 1915–1934
|
|rowspan="3"|
| Occupation of Haiti
|rowspan=3|Banana Wars
|-
| Dominican Republic
| 1916–1924
|
| Occupation of the Dominican Republic
|-
| Cuba
| 1917–1922
|
| Sugar Intervention
|-
| Northeast Italy
| 1917–1918
|
|
| Invasion of Northeastern Italy
| World War I
|-
|
|
|
|
| Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War
| Russian Civil War
|-
| Constantinople
| 1918–1923
| rowspan=2 |
| |
| Occupation of Constantinople
| rowspan="13" | Aftermath of World War I
|-
| Smyrna
| 1919–1922
|
| Occupation of Smyrna
|-
|Western Armenia (Kars, Ardahan, Surmalu)
|1920
|
|
|Turkish invasion of Armenia
|Yes
|-
| Rhineland
| 1918–1930
|
|
| Occupation of the Rhineland
|No
|-
| Eastern Galicia
| rowspan="2" | 1918–1919
|
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | Polish–Ukrainian War
| Yes
|-
| Volhynia
| rowspan="2" |
| Partial
|-
| Ukraine
| 1918–1920
|
| Ukrainian–Soviet War
| Yes
|-
|Dalmatia
|1918–
1921
|
|
|Allied occupation of eastern Adriatic
|Partial
|-
|Transylvania, part of Banat, part of Carpathian Ruthenia, Tiszántúl, Danube–Tisza Interfluve, Budapest, Northwest Transdanubia
| rowspan="3" |1918–1920
| rowspan="4" |
|
| rowspan="4" |Revolutions and interventions in Hungary (1918–1920)
| rowspan="2" |Partial
|-
|Slovakia, Carpathian Ruthenia, part of Northeast Hungary
inc. Sátoraljaújhely (to 1920)
|
|-
|part of Banat, Szeged
|
|No
|-
|Prekmurje, Međimurje, Voivodina, part of Banat, Baranya, Bácska
|1918–1921
|
| rowspan="2" |Partial
|-
|Tyrol
|1918–1920
|
|
|
|-
| rowspan="3" | Transcaucasia
| 1920
| Armenia
| rowspan="3" |
| Invasion of Armenia
| rowspan="3" | Russian Civil War
| rowspan="3" | Yes
|-
|1920
| Azerbaijan
|Invasion of Azerbaijan
|-
| 1921
|
| Invasion of Georgia
|-
| Ruhr
| 1923–1924
|
|
| Occupation of the Ruhr
| Aftermath of World War I
| rowspan="3" | No
|}
World War II: build up and immediate aftermath
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Occupied territory
! Years
! Occupied state
! Occupying state
! Event
! Part of war(s)
! Subsequently annexed?
|-
| Manchuria / Manchukuo
| 1931–1945
| rowspan=2 |
|
| Invasion of Manchuria
| Second Sino-Japanese War
| No
|-
| Xinjiang
| 1934
|
| Invasion of Xinjiang
| Kumul Rebellion
| No
|-
| Ethiopia
| 1935–1941
|
|
| Invasion of Ethiopia
|Second Italo-Ethiopian War
|Yes
|-
| Parts of China
| rowspan="2" | 1937–1945
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 | Second Sino-Japanese War
| rowspan=2 | World War II
| rowspan="2" | No
|-
| Shanghai
|-
| Austria
| rowspan="2" | 1938
|
| rowspan=4 |
| Anschluss
| rowspan="5" | Events preceding World War II in Europe
| rowspan="2" | Yes
|-
| Sudetenland
| rowspan=2|
| Munich Agreement
|-
| Bohemia and Moravia
| rowspan="4" | 1939–1945
| Occupation of Czechoslovakia
| No
|-
| Memel Territory
|
| Occupation of Memel
| Yes
|-
| Albania
|
|
| Invasion of Albania
|No
|-
| Poland
|rowspan="2"|
|
| Invasion of Poland
|rowspan=63"| World War II
|Partial
|-
| Eastern Poland
| 1939–1941
| rowspan="2"|
| Annexation of Polish territories
|Partial
|-
| Parts of Finland
| 1939–1940
|
| Winter War
|Partial
|-
| British Somaliland
| 1940–1941
|
|
| Italian invasion of British Somaliland
|Yes
|-
| Belgium
| rowspan="4" | 1940–1945
|
| rowspan=2 |
| Invasion of Belgium
| rowspan="10" | No
|-
| Denmark
|rowspan=3 |
| Invasion of Denmark
|-
| Faroe Islands
|
| Occupation of the Faroe Islands
|-
| Greenland
|
| Greenland in World War II
|-
| Hankoniemi
| 1940–1941
|
|
| Winter War
|-
| rowspan=2 | Iceland
| rowspan=2 | 1940–1945
| rowspan=2 |
|
| rowspan=2 | Occupation of Iceland
|-
|
|-
| Northern France
| 1940–1944
| rowspan=3 |
|
| Invasion of Northern France
|-
| Southeastern France
| 1940–1943
|
| Italian invasion of France
|-
| Vietnam
| 1940–1945
|
| Invasion of French Indochina
|-
| rowspan=3 | Baltic states
| rowspan=3 | 1940–1941
|
| rowspan=3 |
| rowspan=3 | Soviet occupation of the Baltic states
| rowspan=3 | Yes
|-
|
|-
|
|-
| Luxembourg
| rowspan="3" | 1940–1945
|
| rowspan=3 |
| Occupation of Luxembourg
| rowspan="3" |No
|-
| Netherlands
|
| Invasion of the Netherlands
|-
| Norway
|
| Invasion of Norway
|-
| Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina and the Hertsa region
|1940
|
|
| Occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina
|Yes
|-
| Channel Islands
| 1940–1945
|
|
| Occupation of the Channel Islands
| rowspan="31" |No
|-
| Cambodia
| 1941–1945
|
|
| Invasion of Cambodia
|-
| Greece
| 1941–1944
|
|
| Occupation of Greece
|-
| Iran
| 1941–1946
|
|
| Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran
|-
| Byelorussia
| rowspan="7" | 1941–1944
| rowspan=5 |
| rowspan=4 |
| Occupation of Byelorussia
|-
| Ukraine
| Occupation of Ukraine
|-
| Baltic states
| Occupation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (de jure independent, de facto under Soviet rule)
|-
| Parts of European Russia
| Eastern Front
|-
| Eastern Karelia
|
| Continuation War
|-
| Guam
|
|
| Occupation of Guam
|-
| Transnistria
|
|
| Operation Barbarossa
|-
| Borneo
| rowspan="4" | 1941–1945
| rowspan=3 |
| rowspan=3 |
| Occupation of British Borneo
|-
| Hong Kong
| Occupation of Hong Kong
|-
| Malaya
| Occupation of Malaya
|-
| Yugoslavia
|
|
| Military operations in the territory of Yugoslavia
|-
| New Caledonia
| rowspan="9" | 1942–1945
|
|
| New Caledonia during WWII
|-
| New Guinea
|
| rowspan=10 |
| New Guinea campaign
|-
| Nauru
|
| Occupation of Nauru
|-
| Andaman Islands
|
| Occupation of the Andaman Islands
|-
| Dutch East Indies
|
| Occupation of Dutch East Indies
|-
| Philippines
|
| Occupation of the Philippines
|-
| Portuguese Timor
|
| Battle of Timor
|-
| Burma (Myanmar)
| rowspan=2 |
| Occupation of Burma
|-
| Singapore
| Occupation of Singapore
|-
| Kiska
| rowspan="2" | 1942–1943
| rowspan=2 |
| Occupation of Kiska
|-
| Attu
| Occupation of Attu
|-
| Italian Libya
| 1943–1951
|
|
| Allied occupation of Libya
|-
| Italy
| 1943–1945
|
| rowspan=2 |
| Occupation of Italy, Italian campaign
|-
| Hungary
| 1944–1945
|
| Occupation of Hungary
|-
| Italy
| 1943–1945
|
|
| Occupation of Italy, Italian campaign
|-
| France
| 1944–1946
|
|
| Liberation of France
|-
| rowspan=3 | Baltic states
| rowspan=3 | 1944–1991
|
| rowspan=11 |
| rowspan=3 | 1944 Soviet re-occupation,<br />Baltic states under Soviet rule
| rowspan=3 | Yes
|-
|
|-
|
|-
| Bulgaria
| 1944–1947
|
| Occupation of Bulgaria
| rowspan="5" | No
|-
| Romania
| 1944–1958
|
| Occupation of Romania
|-
| Poland
| 1944–1956
|
| Soviet presence in Poland
|-
| Hungary
| 1944–1949
|
| Occupation of Hungary
|-
| Porkkalanniemi
| 1944–1956
|
| Continuation War
|-
| Carpathian Ruthenia
| 1944–1945
|
| Annexation of Carpathian Ruthenia
| rowspan="2" | Yes
|-
| Northern part of East Prussia/Kaliningrad Oblast
| 1945
|
| East Prussian offensive
|-
| Manchuria
| 1945–1946
|
| Soviet–Japanese War
| rowspan="15" |No
|-
| Austria
| 1945–1955
|
|
| Allied-occupied Austria
| rowspan=14 | Aftermath of World War II
|-
| East Germany, incl. East Berlin
| rowspan="2" | 1945–1949
| rowspan=4 |
|
| rowspan=3 | Allied-occupied Germany
|-
| West Germany
| rowspan=2 |
|-
| West Berlin
| 1945–1990
|-
| Saarland
| 1945–1957
|
| Saar Protectorate
|-
| Northern Iran
| 1945–1946
|
|
| Iran crisis of 1946
|-
| Japan (mainland)
| 1945–1951
| rowspan=5 |
| rowspan=5 |
| rowspan=5 | Occupation of Japan
|-
| Tokara Islands
| 1945–1952
|-
| Amami Islands
|1945–1953
|-
| Ogasawara archipelago
| 1945–1968
|-
| Daitō Islands and Ryukyu Islands
| 1945–1972
|-
| Pescadores and Itu Aba
| 1945–1952
|
| rowspan=2 | Post-Mandate Palestine
|
| Jordanian annexation of the West Bank
| rowspan=2 | 1948 Arab–Israeli War
|-
| Gaza Strip
| 1948–1956<br />1957–1967
| Egypt
| Occupation of the Gaza Strip by Egypt
| No
|-
| Hyderabad
| 1948
|
| rowspan="2" |
| Annexation of Hyderabad
| rowspan=3
| Yes
|-
| Sikkim
| 1949–1950
|
| Intervention in Sikkim
| No
|-
| Tibet
| 1949–1951
|
|
| Annexation of Tibet
| Yes
|-
|-
| Most of South Korea
| 1950–1951
|
|
| North Korean occupation of South Korea, Korean Armistice Agreement
| Korean War
| No
|-
| Northern Jordan Valley
| 1949-1967
|
|
| 1949 Armistice Agreements
| 1948 Arab–Israeli War
| No
|-
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli
| 1954–1974
|
|
| Annexation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli
|
| Yes
|-
| Suez Canal Zone
| 1956
| rowspan=2 | Egypt
|
| rowspan=3 | Suez Crisis
| rowspan=3 | Arab–Israeli conflict
| rowspan="5" | No
|-
| Sinai
| rowspan=2 | 1956–1957
| rowspan=2 |
|-
| Gaza Strip
|
|-
| Hungary
| 1956
|
|
| Hungarian Uprising
| Hungarian Revolution of 1956
|-
| Laos
| 1959–1975
|
|
| Invasion of Laos
| Laotian Civil War
| No
|-
| Goa, Daman and Diu
| 1961–1974
|
|
| Annexation of Goa
|
| rowspan="2" | Yes
|-
| Aksai Chin
| 1962
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 |
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" | Sino-Indian War
|-
| Arunachal Pradesh
| 1962
| rowspan="5" | No
|-
| Dominican Republic
| 1965–1966
|
|
| Invasion of the Dominican Republic
| Dominican Civil War
|-
| Sinai
|
|
|
| Six-Day War
| Arab–Israeli conflict
|-
| Czechoslovakia
|
|
|
| Invasion of Czechoslovakia
| Prague Spring
|}
1970–1991
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Occupied territory
! Years
! Occupied state
! Occupying state
! Event
! Part of war(s)
! Subsequently annexed?
|-
| East Pakistan<br />(became Bangladesh)
| 1971
|
|
| Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
| Bangladesh Liberation War
|-
| Southern half of Vietnam
| rowspan="2" | 1975–1976
|
|
| 1975 spring offensive
| Vietnam War
| Yes
|-
| Parts of Angola
|
|
| South African invasion of Angola
| South African Border War
| rowspan="2" | No
|-
| Tiris al-Gharbiyya
| 1975–1979
|
|
| Battles of La Güera and Tichla
| Western Sahara War
|-
| East Timor
| 1975–1999
|
|
| Invasion of East Timor
| Indonesian occupation of East Timor
| Yes
|-
| Aouzou Strip
| 1976–1987
|
|
| Occupation of the Aouzou Strip
| Chadian–Libyan War
| rowspan="8" | No
|-
| Parts of Lebanon
|
|
|
| Syrian occupation of Lebanon
| Lebanese Civil War
|-
| Kagera Region
| 1978
|
|
| Ugandan invasion of Kagera
| Uganda–Tanzania War
|-
| rowspan=2 | Southern Lebanon
| 1978–1982
| rowspan=2 |
| Free Lebanon State
| rowspan="2" | 1978 Lebanon war
| rowspan="2" | Lebanese Civil War
|-
| March 1978
|
|-
| Cambodia
| 1978–1989
|
|
| Invasion of Kampuchea
| Cambodian–Vietnamese War
|-
| Parts of Vietnam
| 1979
|
|
| Invasion of Vietnam
| Sino-Vietnamese War
|-
| Afghanistan
| 1979–1989
|
|
| Invasion of Afghanistan
| Afghan–Soviet War
|
|-
| Falkland Islands
| 1982
|
|
| Occupation of the Falkland Islands
| Falklands War
| rowspan="6" | No
|-
| South Lebanon
| 1982–2000
|
|
| Israeli occupation of South Lebanon
| 1982 Lebanon War
|-
| Grenada
| 1983
|
|
| Invasion of Grenada
| Grenadian Revolution
|-
| Northern Province
| 1987–1990
|
| rowspan=2 |
| Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan Civil War
| Sri Lankan Civil War
|-
| Maldives
| 1988
|
| 1988 Maldives coup d'état
|
|-
| Panama
| nowrap | 1989–1990
|
|
| Invasion of Panama
| War on drugs
|-
| Kuwait
| 1990–1991
|
|
- Kuwait Governorate
- Saddamiyat al-Mitla' District
| Invasion of Kuwait
| Gulf War
| Yes
|}
1992–1999
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Occupied territory
! Years
! Occupied state
! Occupying state
! Event
! Part of war(s)
! Subsequently annexed?
|-
| Seven districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh
| 1992–2020
| rowspan="2" |
|
| rowspan="2" | First Nagorno-Karabakh War
| rowspan="2" | Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
| Yes (by Artsakh)
|-
| Bağanıs Ayrım, Aşağı Əskipara, Xeyrimli and Ghizilhajili
| 1992–2024
|
| rowspan="4" | No
|-
| Haiti
| 1994–1995
|
|
| Operation Uphold Democracy
| 1991 Haitian coup d'état
|-
| Lesotho
| 1998–1999
|
|
| Operation Boleas
| Lesotho general election riots
|-
| Parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
| nowrap | 1998–2002
|
|
| Foreign support to the DR Congo
| Second Congo War
|}
2000–2019
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Occupied territory
! Years
! Occupied state
! Occupying state
! Event
! Part of war(s)
! Subsequently annexed?
|-
| Northern Red Sea and Southern Red Sea<br />regions of Eritrea
| 2000–2018
|
|
| Regions were seized at the end of the Eritrean–Ethiopian War in 2000, and subsequently delimited and demarcated by the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague to be Eritrean territory.
Eritrea recaptured the lands during the Tigray war.
| Eritrean–Ethiopian War
| rowspan="11" | No
|-
| Afghanistan
| 2001–2002
|
|
| United States invasion of Afghanistan
| War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
|-
| Iraq
| 2003–2004
|
| nowrap |
|
| Iraq War
|-
| Parts of Somalia
|
|
|
| Somalia War (2006–2009)
| nowrap | Somali Civil War
|-
| Gori and Poti
| 2008
| rowspan=2 |
| rowspan=2 |
| Occupation of Gori and Poti
| rowspan=2 | Russo-Georgian War
|-
| Perevi
| 2008–2010
| Occupation of Perevi
|-
| Al-Tanf
| 2016–2026
| rowspan="4" nowrap="" | Syrian Interim Government
|
| Al-Tanf offensive (2016), Fall of the Assad regime
| rowspan="4" | Syrian Civil War
|-
| Azaz, al-Bab and Jarabulus Districts
| nowrap | 2016–2025
| rowspan="3" |
| Turkish military intervention in Syria
|-
| Afrin District
| nowrap | 2018–2025 as well as the outer portion of the Kinburn Peninsula. Earlier, Russia occupied and annexed Crimea (including Sevastopol) in 2014, which was also previously administered by Ukraine.|Chernobyl Exclusion Zone|Snake Island
| 2022–2024
|
|
| Russian invasion of Ukraine
| Russo-Ukrainian War
| No
|-
| Parts of Bryansk Oblast, Belgorod Oblast and Kursk Oblast
| 2023–2025 (uncontinuous)
|
|
| 2023 Bryansk Oblast raid, 2023 Belgorod Oblast incursions, March 2024 western Russia incursion, Kursk campaign
| Russo-Ukrainian War
| No
|}
See also
- Russian-occupied territories
- Israeli-occupied territories
- Military occupations by the Soviet Union
- Peacekeeping – military deployments for peace-keeping purposes
- List of military and civilian missions of the European Union
- Annexation
- Revanchism
- For a list of states that have seceded unilaterally see List of states with limited recognition
- For a list of cases where territory is disputed between countries, see List of territorial disputes