United Nations list of non-self-governing territories

Chapter XI of the United Nations Charter defines a non-self-governing territory (NSGT) as a territory "whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government". Chapter XI of the UN Charter also includes a "Declaration on Non-Self-Governing Territories" that the interests of the occupants of dependent territories are paramount and requires member states of the United Nations in control of such territories to submit annual information reports concerning the development of those territories. Since 1946, the UNGA has maintained a list of non-self governing territories under member states' control. Since its inception, dozens of territories have been removed from the list, typically when they attained independence or internal self-government, while other territories have been added as new administering powers joined the United Nations or the UN General Assembly (UNGA) reassessed their status.

Since 1961 the list has been maintained by the Special Committee on Decolonization.

History

Chapter XI of the UN Charter contains a Declaration Concerning Non-Self-Governing Territories. Article 73(e) requires UN member states to report to the United Nations annually on the development of NSGTs under their control. From the initial reports provided by eight member states (Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States), a list was compiled in 1946 listing 72 NSGTs. In several instances, administering powers were later allowed to remove dependent territories from the list, either unilaterally (as in the case of French overseas territories such as French Polynesia), or by a vote of the General Assembly (as in the cases of Puerto Rico, Greenland, the Netherlands Antilles and Suriname). Also in 1960, the General Assembly adopted Resolution 1514 (XV), promulgating the "Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples", which declared that all remaining non-self-governing territories and trust territories were entitled to self-determination and independence. The following year, the General Assembly established the Special Committee on the Situation with Regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (sometimes referred to as the Special Committee on Decolonization, or the "Committee of 24" because for much of its history the committee was composed of 24 members), which reviews the situation in non-self-governing territories each year and reports to the General Assembly. A revised list in 1963 listed 64 NSGTs.

Resolutions adopted

1946

UNGA Resolution 64(I) regarding the Establishment of the Trusteeship Council.
UNGA Resolution 66(I) regarding Transmission of information under Article 73 e of the Charter.

1947

UNGA Resolution 142(II) regarding Standard form for the guidance of Members in the preparation of information to be transmitted under Article 73 e of the Charter.
UNGA Resolution 143(II) regarding Supplemental documents relating to information transmitted under Article 73 e of the Charter.
UNGA Resolution 144(II) regarding Voluntary transmission of information regarding the development of self-governing institutions in the Non-Self-Governing Territories.
UNGA Resolution 145(II) regarding Collaboration of the specialized agencies in regard to Article 73 e of the Charter.
UNGA Resolution 146(II) regarding Creation of a special committee on information transmitted under Article 73 e of the Charter.

1960

UNGA Resolution 1514 (XV) Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples.
UNGA regarding Principles which should guide members in determining whether or an obligation exists to transmit the information called for under Article 73e of the Charter.

1961

UNGA Resolution 1654 (XVI) regarding the situation with regard to the implementation of the Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples.

1966

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted by the UNGA on 16 December 1966.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights adopted by the UNGA on 19 December 1966.

1990–2000

UNGA Resolution A/RES/43/45 regarding Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.
UNGA Resolution A/RES/43/46 regarding Dissemination of information on decolonization.
UNGA Resolution A/RES/43/47 regarding International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism.

2001–2010

UNGA Resolution 55/145 regarding Dissemination of information on decolonization.
UNGA Resolution 55/146 regarding 2nd International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism.
UNGA Resolution 55/147 regarding Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.
United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Resolution 2007/25 regarding Support to Non-Self-Governing Territories by the specialized agencies and international institutions associated with the United Nations.

2011–present

UNGA Resolution 65/116 regarding Dissemination of information on decolonization.
UNGA Resolution 65/117 regarding Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.
UNGA Resolution 65/118 regarding Fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.
UNGA Resolution 65/119 regarding 3rd International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism.

Current entries

The following 17 territories are currently included in the list.

<!-- NOTE TO EDITORS:

Unlike many other lists on Wikipedia, this is an ARTICLE ABOUT A REAL LIST.

It is kept by the UN and as such, the list below should match the UN list.

This is not a list of territories that we, you or anyone else thinks *should* be self-governed—it merely reflects the UN list. Please think about this before you edit it.

If you add a nation that's not on the UN list, your edit will simply be reverted.

Thanks. -->

{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header-multi plainrowheaders"

|+ Overview of non-self-governing territories

!scope="col" rowspan="2" | Territory

!scope="col" rowspan="2" | Administering power

!scope="col" rowspan="2" | Domestic legal status

!scope="col" rowspan="2" | Other claimant(s)

!scope="col" rowspan="2" data-sort-type="number" | Population

!scope="colgroup" colspan="2" data-sort-type="number" | Area

!scope="col" rowspan="2" | Referendum(s)

!scope="col" rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | See also

!scope="col" data-sort-type="number" |

!scope="row"|

| Unincorporated unorganized territory

| 55,519

| No official referendum has been held.

| Politics of American Samoa

!scope="row"|

| Overseas territory

| 14,108

| No official referendum has been held.

| Politics of Anguilla

!scope="row"|

| Overseas territory

| 62,000

| A 1995 Bermudian independence referendum was held. 74% of votes cast were against independence.

| Politics of Bermuda

!scope="row"|

| Overseas territory

| 28,103

| No official referendum has been held.

| Politics of the British Virgin Islands

!scope="row"|

| Overseas territory

| 55,500

| No official referendum has been held.

| Foreign relations of the Cayman Islands

!scope="row"|

| Overseas territory

| 3,662

| Two referendums have been held in 1986 and 2013 on whether the Falklands should join Argentina. On both occasions, voters overwhelmingly chose continued British control.

| Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute

!scope="row"|

| Overseas country

| 271,000

| No official referendum has been held.

| Politics of French Polynesia

!scope="row"|

| Overseas territory

| 29,752

| There were referendums in 1967 and in 2002, both returning an overwhelming victory for the pro-British side.

| Status of Gibraltar

!scope="row"|

| Unincorporated organized territory

| 159,358

| Three status referendums have been held, one in 1976 and two in 1982 (one in January and the other in September), with all three of them supporting an improved Commonwealth status under US control.

| Politics of Guam

!scope="row"|

| Overseas territory

| 5,000

| No official referendum has been held.

| Government of Montserrat

!scope="row"|

| Sui generis collectivity

| 252,000

| There were referendums in 1987, 2018, 2020, and 2021, all deciding against independence. The 2021 referendum was boycotted, and unrest broke out in the middle of 2024 from constitutional changes proposed from the 2021 vote.

| Politics of New Caledonia

!scope="row"|

| Overseas territory

| 50

| No official referendum has been held.

| Politics of the Pitcairn Islands

!scope="row"|

| Overseas territory

| 5,396

| No official referendum has been held.

| Politics of Saint Helena

!scope="row"|

| Territory

| 1,411

| There were two referendums on self-determination in Tokelau in 2006 and 2007, with both coming just shy of the required two-thirds "yes" margin.

| Politics of Tokelau

!scope="row"|

| Overseas territory

| 31,458

| No official referendum has been held.

| Politics of the Turks and Caicos Islands

!scope="row"|

| Unincorporated organized territory

| 106,405

| A 1993 United States Virgin Islands status referendum was held. The status quo was widely preferred among voters, but the result was invalidated because of the low turnout.

| Politics of the United States Virgin Islands

!Western Sahara

| Disputed

|Disputed

|619,060

|The United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara has attempted to organize a referendum since 1991, but none has been held so far.

|Political status of Western Sahara

Notes

Former entries

The following territories were originally listed by UN General Assembly Resolution 66 (I) of 14 December 1946 as Trust and Non-Self-Governing Territory. The dates show the year of independence or other change in a territory's status which led to their removal from the list, after which information was no longer submitted to the United Nations.

!scope="col"| Change in status

| Became an overseas territory (semi-autonomous collectivity of the French Republic)

| Overseas country of France: Overseas state private property of France: Clipperton Island

| '

| 298,256

| 4,441

| 1,715

| 1947

| Politics of French Polynesia

!scope="row"|

| Incorporated into Denmark as Greenland County (1953). Gained home rule as a Country within the Kingdom of Denmark (1979). Increased autonomy (2009)

| Autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark

| Denmark

| 57,564

| 2,166,086

| 836,330

| 1954

| Politics of Greenland

!scope="row"|

| Became an overseas department (full integration with the French Republic)

| Overseas department and region of France: Overseas collectivities of France: Saint Martin

| '

| 408,000

| 1,628

| 629

| 1947

| Politics of Guadeloupe, Saint Barthélemy, and Saint Martin

!scope="row"|

| Granted statehood (full integration with the United States)

| US state

| 1,283,388

| 28,311

| 10,931

| 1959

| Legal status of Hawaii

!scope="row" data-sort-value="Hong Kong" | 23px Hong Kong

| Removed from the list on request of China

| Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (since 1 July 1997):

| United Kingdom

| 7,018,636

| 1,092

| 422

| 1972

| Politics of Hong Kong

!scope="row" data-sort-value="Macau" | 23px Macau

| Removed from the list on request of China

| Became an overseas territory (semi-autonomous collectivity of the French Republic)

| Sui generis collectivity of France Overseas collectivity of France:

| '

| 224,824

| 19,060

| 7,359

| 1947

|Politics of New Caledonia Politics of Wallis and Futuna

!scope="row"|

| Gained self-rule

| State in free association with New Zealand

| New Zealand

| 1,444

| 260

| 100

| 1974

| Politics of Niue

!scope="row"|

| Became a Commonwealth

| Unincorporated territory of the United States with Commonwealth status

| 53,883

| 168

| 65

| 1990

| Politics of the Northern Mariana Islands

!scope="row"| '

| Removed from the list on request of Panama

| Part of Colón, Panamá, and Panamá Oeste provinces of Panama

| 1947

| Politics of Panama

!scope="row"|

| Became a Commonwealth (semi-autonomous unincorporated territory of the United States)

| Unincorporated territory of the United States with Commonwealth status

| 3,958,128

| 8,870

| 3,420

| 1952

| Political status of Puerto Rico

!scope="row" data-sort-value="Reunion" |

| Became an overseas department (full integration with the French Republic)

| Overseas department and region of France

| '

| 868,000

| 2,512

| 970

| 1947

| Politics of Réunion

!scope="row"|

| Became an overseas department and then an overseas territory (semi-autonomous collectivity of the French Republic)

| Overseas collectivity of France

| '

| 7,044

| 242

| 93

| 1947

| Politics of Saint Pierre and Miquelon

!scope="row" data-sort-value="Guiana" | 23px Suriname

| Granted more autonomy (became independent in 1975)

| data-sort-value="Suriname" | Independent as

| 475,996

| 163,270

| 63,039

| 1955

| Politics of Suriname

Joined another state

{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header-multi plainrowheaders"

|+ Overview of non-self-governing territories that joined another state

!scope="col" rowspan="2" | Non-self-governing territory

!scope="row" data-sort-value="Sao Joao Baptista" | São João Batista de Ajuda

| Integrated into the Republic of Dahomey (now Benin)

| Ouidah commune, Atlantique department, Benin

| 1961

| Politics of Benin

!scope="row" data-sort-value="Sarawak" | Sarawak

| Joined with Malaya to form Malaysia

| 1975

| Including the enclave of Cabinda

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Bahamas" |

| data-sort-value="Bahamas" |

| 1973

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Barbados" |

| data-sort-value="Barbados" |

| 1966

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Basutoland" | Basutoland

| data-sort-value="Lesotho" |

| 1966

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Bechuanaland" | Bechuanaland

| data-sort-value="Botswana" |

| 1966

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Brunei" |

| data-sort-value="Brunei" |

| 5,765

| 1984

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Cameroun" | French Cameroon

| data-sort-value="Cameroon" |

| 1960

| Trust Territory

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Cape Verde" | Cape Verde

| data-sort-value="Cape Verde" |

| 1975

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Congo"|

| data-sort-value="Congo Leopoldville" | Congo-Léopoldville

| 16,610,000

| 1960

| Now generally referred to as the Democratic Republic of the Congo

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Cyprus" | Cyprus

| data-sort-value="Cyprus" |

| 1960

| Parts of Cyprus are controlled by the partially recognised state of Northern Cyprus

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="East Indies" |

| data-sort-value="Indonesia" | (excluding Western New Guinea)

| 1950

| Listed as Netherlands Indies on the United Nations

!scope="row" colspan=2 data-sort-value="East Timor" |

| data-sort-value="East Timor" |

| 2002

| Portuguese Timor de facto ceased to exist from 1975 after becoming independent before an invasion by Indonesia but continued to exist de-jure until 2002

!scope="row" rowspan=4 data-sort-value="Equatorial Africa" |

| Chad

| data-sort-value="Chad" |

| 1960

| Middle Congo

| data-sort-value="Congo" |

| 1960

| Now generally referred to as the Republic of the Congo

| French Gabon

| data-sort-value="Gabon" |

| 1960

| Ubangi-Shari

| data-sort-value="Central African Republic" |

| 1960

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Fiji" | Fiji

| data-sort-value="Fiji" |

| 1970

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Gambia" |25px Gambia

| data-sort-value="Gambia" |

| 1965

!scope="row" rowspan=2 data-sort-value="Gilbert and Ellice Islands" |

| Gilbert Islands

| data-sort-value="Kiribati" |

| 1979

| Ellice Islands

| data-sort-value="Tuvalu" |

| 1978

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Gold Coast" |

| data-sort-value="Ghana" |

| 1957

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Guiana" |

| data-sort-value="Guyana" |

| 1966

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Guinea" |

| data-sort-value="Guinea-Bissau" |

| 1974

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Guinea" |

| data-sort-value="Equatorial Guinea" |

| 1968

| Listed as Fernando Póo and Río Muni on the United Nations

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Honduras" |

| data-sort-value="Belize" |

| 145,000

| 1981

!scope="row" rowspan=6 data-sort-value="Indochina" |

| data-sort-value="Cambodia" | Cambodia

| 1948

| Gained full independence in 1953

| data-sort-value="Laos" | Laos

| data-sort-value="Laos" |

| 1949

| Gained full independence in 1953

| data-sort-value="Indochina" | Tonkin

| rowspan=2 data-sort-value="Vietnam" | Democratic Republic of Vietnam

| rowspan=2 |

| rowspan=2 | 1948

| rowspan=2 | Reunified in 1976, de facto independent from 1945, Vietnam is not listed as being divided on the United Nations

| data-sort-value="Indochina" | Annam (part)

| data-sort-value="Indochina" | Cochinchina

| rowspan=2 data-sort-value="Vietnam" | State of Vietnam

| rowspan=2 |

| rowspan=2 | 1948

| rowspan=2 | Reunified in 1976, gained full independence in 1954, Vietnam is not listed as being divided on the United Nations

| data-sort-value="Indochina" | Annam (part)

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Jamaica" | Jamaica

| data-sort-value="Jamaica" |

| 1962

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Kenya" | Kenya

| data-sort-value="Kenya" |

| 1963

!scope="row" rowspan=2 data-sort-value="Leeward Islands" |

| Antigua

| data-sort-value="Antigua" |

| 1981

| The British Leeward Islands ceased to exist as a entity in 1958

| data-sort-value="Saint Christopher" |

| data-sort-value="Saint Kitts" |

| 1983

| The British Leeward Islands ceased to exist as a entity in 1958, Anguilla was separated from Saint Christoper in 1971 and remains a non-self-governing territory

!scope="row" colspan="2" rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Madagascar" | Madagascar

| data-sort-value="Comoros" |

| 1975

| Mayotte has continued to be part of France since 1975 however is still claimed by Comoros with the United Nations supporting its claim until at least 1995

| data-sort-value="Madagascar" |

| 1960

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Malayan Union" | Malaya

| data-sort-value="Malaya" |

| 132,364

| 1957

| Later became Malaysia

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Malta" | Malta

| data-sort-value="Malta" |

| 1964

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Mauritius" | Mauritius

| data-sort-value="Mauritius" |

| 1968

| The current British Indian Ocean Territory was separated from British Mauritius in 1965 but is still claimed by Mauritius with the United Nations supporting its claim

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Morocco" | French protectorate of Morocco Spanish protectorate of Morocco

| data-sort-value="Morocco" |

|

| 1956

| Morocco is solely listed as French on the United Nations, parts of Ifni were ceded in 1958 while Cape Juby was ceded in 1959, these were also not listed separately unlike the remainder of Ifni

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Mozambique" | Mozambique

| data-sort-value="Mozambique" |

| 7,300,000

| 1975

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Nauru" |25px Nauru

| data-sort-value="Nauru" |

| 1968

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="New Hebrides" |

| data-sort-value="Vanuatu" |

| Anglo-French Condominium

| 100,000

| 1980

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Nigeria" | Nigeria

| data-sort-value="Nigeria" |

| 1960

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Northern Rhodesia" |

| data-sort-value="Zambia" |

| 3,545,200

| 1964

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Nyasaland" |

| data-sort-value="Malawi" | Malawi

| 1964

!scope="row" colspan="2" rowspan="3" data-sort-value="Pacific Islands" |

| data-sort-value="Marshall Islands" |

| 68,000

| 1990

| Independent state in free association with the United States

| data-sort-value="Micronesia" |

| 111,000

| 1990

| Independent state in free association with the United States

| data-sort-value="Palau" |

| 20,956

| 1994

| Independent state in free association with the United States

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Papua and New Guinea" |20px Papua and New Guinea

| data-sort-value="Papua New Guinea" |

| 1975

!scope="row" colspan="2" rowspan="2+ data-sort-value="Ruanda-Urundi" | Ruanda-Urundi

| data-sort-value="Burundi" |

| 1962

| Trust territory

| data-sort-value="Rwanda" |

| 1962

| Trust territory

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="São Tomé and Príncipe" | São Tomé and Príncipe

| data-sort-value="São Tomé and Príncipe" |

| 1975

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Seychelles" |

| data-sort-value="Seychelles" |

| 1976

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Sierra Leone" |25px Sierra Leone

| data-sort-value="Sierra Leone" |

| 1961

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Solomon Islands" | Solomon Islands

| data-sort-value="Solomon Islands" |

| 1978

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Somaliland" |

| data-sort-value="Somaliland" | State of Somaliland

| 1960

| Joined the Trust Territory of Somalia within a week to form the Somali Republic, most of the territory is currently under the control of the partially recognised state of Somaliland

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Somaliland" |

| data-sort-value="Djibouti" |

| 200,000

| 1977

| Was called the Territory of the Afars and Issas from 1967

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Somaliland" | Trust Territory of Somaliland

| data-sort-value="Somalia" |

| 1960

| Joined the State of Somaliland to form the Somali Republic

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="South West Africa" | South West Africa

| data-sort-value="Namibia" |

| 2,088,669

| 1968/1990

| Trust territory, terminated in 1968 but South Africa remained in control of the territory until 1990, both years listed by the United Nations

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="South Arabia" | Federation of South Arabia Protectorate of South Arabia

| data-sort-value="South Yemen" |

| 1967

| Unified with North Yemen in 1990, listed as Aden on the United Nations

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Southern Rhodesia" |

| data-sort-value="Zimbabwe" |

| 6,930,000

| 1980

| De facto independent as the unrecognised state of Rhodesia and Zimbabwe Rhodesia between 1965 and 1979

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Swaziland" | Swaziland

| data-sort-value="Swaziland" |

| 1968

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Tanganyika" |

| data-sort-value="Tanganyika" |

| 1961

| Trust Territory. Later joined with the People's Republic of Zanzibar to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, now Tanzania

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Togoland" | French Togoland

| data-sort-value="Togo" |

| 1960

| Trust Territory

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Trinidad and Tobago" |

| data-sort-value="Trinidad" |

| 1962

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Tunisia" | Tunisia

| data-sort-value="Tunisia" |

| 1956

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Uganda" | Uganda Protectorate

| data-sort-value="Uganda" |

| 1962

!scope="row" rowspan="7" data-sort-value="West Africa" |

| Dahomey

| data-sort-value="Dahomey" |

| 1960

| French Guinea

| data-sort-value="Guinea" |

| 1958

| Ivory Coast

| data-sort-value="Ivory Coast" |

| 1960

| data-sort-value="Mali" |

| 1960

| Split into the countries of Mali and Senegal two months after independence, both are listed separately on the United Nations

| Mauritania

| data-sort-value="Mauritania" |

| 1960

| data-sort-value="Niger" | Niger

| data-sort-value="Niger" |

| 1960

| data-sort-value="Niger" | Upper Volta

| data-sort-value="Upper Volta" |

| 1960

| Now called Burkina Faso

!scope="row" colspan="2" data-sort-value="Western Samoa" |25px Western Samoa

| data-sort-value="Western Samoa" |

| 1962

| Trust territory, now called Samoa

!scope="row" colspan="2" rowspan="4" data-sort-value="Windward Islands" |

| data-sort-value="Dominica" |

| 1978

| The British Windward Islands ceased to exist as an entity in 1958

| data-sort-value="Grenada" |

| 1974

| The British Windward Islands ceased to exist as an entity in 1958

| data-sort-value="Saint Lucia" |

| 1979

| The British Windward Islands ceased to exist as an entity in 1958

| data-sort-value="Saint Vincent" |

| 1979

| The British Windward Islands ceased to exist as an entity in 1958

!scope="row" colspan="2" rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Zanzibar" | Zanzibar

| data-sort-value="Kenya" |

| 1963

| The Dominion of Kenya was formed by the unification of the Colony of Kenya and the Protectorate of Kenya; the protectorate, a coastal strip (Mwambao), had been under Zanzibari sovereignty and administered by the UK

| data-sort-value="Zanzibar" |25px Zanzibar

| 1963

| The British protectorate over the Sultanate of Zanzibar was terminated in 1963 and the state was admitted to the UN; in 1964, the sultan was deposed and the People's Republic of Zanzibar was proclaimed; later that year, it joined with the Republic of Tanganyika to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, now Tanzania

Disputes

The list remains controversial in some countries for various reasons:

Referendums

One reason for controversy is that the list includes some dependencies that have democratically chosen to maintain their current status, or have had a referendum in which local government requirements were not met regarding the number of votes required to support a change of status or the number of voters participating (e.g., in the United States Virgin Islands).

Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands is a British Overseas Territory that is claimed by Argentina.

Gibraltar

Gibraltar is largely a self-governing British territory on the tip of the Iberian Peninsula with a population of about 30,000 people, whose territory is claimed by Spain. It continues to be listed as an NSGT though its residents expressed a preference in two referendums to retain the status quo. In 1967, they were asked whether to retain their current status or to become part of Spain. The status quo was favoured by 12,138 votes to 44. In 2002, a proposal for a joint British–Spanish administration of the territory was voted down by 17,900 votes to 187. (The "no" vote accounted for more than 85% of Gibraltar's entire electorate). The United Nations did not recognise either referendum, with the 1967 referendum being declared in contravention of previous UN resolutions. The Spanish government does not recognize any right of the current Gibraltar inhabitants to self-determination, on the grounds that they are not the original population of the territory, but residents transferred by the colonial power, the United Kingdom.

Tokelau

The territory of Tokelau divides political opinion in New Zealand. In response to attempts at decolonizing Tokelau, New Zealand journalist Michael Field wrote in 2004: "The UN ... is anxious to rid the world of the last remaining vestiges of colonialism by the end of the decade. It has a list of 16 territories around the world, virtually none of which wants to be independent to any degree." Field further notes that Patuki Isaako, who was head of Tokelau's government at the time of a UN seminar on decolonization in 2004, informed the United Nations that his country had no wish to be decolonized, and that Tokelauans had opposed the idea of decolonization ever since the first visit by UN officials in 1976.

In 2006, a UN-supervised referendum on decolonization was held in Tokelau, where 60.07% of voters supported the offer of self-government. However, the terms of the referendum required a two-thirds majority to vote in favor of self-government. A second referendum was held in 2007, in which 64.40% of Tokelauans supported self-government, falling short of the two-thirds majority by 16 votes. This led New Zealand politician and former diplomat John Hayes, on behalf of the National Party, to state that "Tokelau did the right thing to resist pressure from [the New Zealand government] and the United Nations to pursue self-government". In May 2008, the United Nations' Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged colonial powers "to complete the decolonization process in every one of the remaining 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories". This led the New Zealand Herald to comment that the United Nations was "apparently frustrated by two failed attempts to get Tokelau to vote for independence from New Zealand".

Viability

A lack of population and landmass is an issue for at least one territory included on the list: the British overseas territory Pitcairn Islands, which has a population of less than 50 descended primarily from indigenous Polynesians and mutineers from HMS Bounty. Regardless, the territory's colonial status was disputed during the 2004 sexual assault trial where the seven defendants – comprising a third of the adult male population – unsuccessfully argued that the islanders had rejected British control ever since the 1789 mutiny and, as a result, British criminal law did not apply to them. Four other territories – Tokelau, Montserrat, the Falkland Islands and Saint Helena – are also less populous than any current UN member state.

In addition, some territories are financially dependent on their administering power.

Completely autonomous dependencies

[[File:UN Non-Self-Governing Territories.png|thumb|upright=2|

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Another criticism is that a number of the listed territories, such as Bermuda (see Politics of Bermuda), the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar, consider themselves completely autonomous and self-governing, with the "administering power" retaining limited oversight over matters such as defence and diplomacy. In past years, there were ongoing disputes between some administering powers and the Decolonization Committee over whether territories such as pre-independence Brunei and the West Indies Associated States should still be considered "non-self-governing", particularly in instances where the administering power was prepared to grant full independence whenever the territory requested it. These disputes became moot as those territories eventually received full independence.

Removed under other circumstances

Territories that have achieved a status described by the administering powers as internally self-governing – such as Puerto Rico, the Netherlands Antilles, and the Cook Islands – have been removed from the list by vote of the General Assembly,

List not complete

Also controversial are the criteria set down in 1960 to 1961 by the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV), United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1541 (XV), Principle 12 of the Annex, and United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1654 (XVI) which only focused on colonies of the Western world, namely Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This list of administering powers was not expanded afterwards.

Nevertheless, some of the 111 members who joined the UN after 1960 gained independence from countries not covered by Resolution 1541 and were themselves not classified as "Non-Self-Governing Territories" by the UN. Of these that joined the UN between 1960 and 2008, 11 were independent before 1960 and 71 were included on the list (some as a group). Twenty new UN countries resulted from breakup of Second World states and of Yugoslavia: six were part of Yugoslavia, two were part of Czechoslovakia, and 12 were part of the Soviet Union (Ukraine and Belarus already had UN seats before the dissolution of the USSR, whose seat was reused by the Russian Federation without acceding anew). Out of the other ten, seven (mostly Arab) were colonies or protectorates of the "Western" countries, and one each was a non-self-governing part of Ethiopia (later independent Eritrea), Pakistan (East Pakistan, later independent Bangladesh) and Sudan (later independent South Sudan). Also, the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), which considered themselves illegally occupied by the Soviet Union, were not on the list either. Western New Guinea (also known as West Papua), which was ceded to Indonesia, is also not on the list as well as Sarawak and Sabah, which were handed to Malaya during its territorial expansion through the formation of Malaysia in 1963. In 2018, the government of Vanuatu started seeking international support to have West Papua added to the list in 2019.

After the revocation of Norfolk Island's self-governing status by the Australian government in 2015, an island community group requested the UN add the island to the list of non-self-governing territories.

References

External links

The United Nations and Decolonization
United Nations Trusteeship Council
Non-Self-Governing Territories , listed by the United Nations General Assembly
List of former Trust and Non-Self-Governing Territories , listed by United Nations
United Nations and Decolonization – Committee of 24 – Resumed session, Monday, 13 June 2011
The Countries of the World – Appendix: Dependencies or Not?