Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty

See also:
Independent States in the World
State Department Country Background Notes
!  New change, since previous list

Short-form name	Long-form name	Sovereignty	FIPS Code (see note 1)	Administrative Center
! Akrotiri (see note 15)	Akrotiri	United Kingdom	AX	Episkopi (see note 16)
American Samoa	Territory of American Samoa	United States	AQ	Pago Pago
Anguilla	Anguilla	United Kingdom	AV	The Valley
Antarctica	(no long-form name)	None (see note 2)	AY	None
Aruba	(no long-form name)	Netherlands	AA	Oranjestad
Ashmore and Cartier Islands	Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands	Australia	AT	Administered from Canberra
Baker Island	(no long-form name)	United States	FQ	Administered from Washington, D.C.
Bermuda	Bermuda	United Kingdom	BD	Hamilton
Bouvet Island	(no long-form name)	Norway	BV	Admin. from Oslo
British Indian Ocean Territory (see note 3)	British Indian Ocean Territory	United Kingdom	IO	None
Cayman Islands	Cayman Islands	United Kingdom	CJ	George Town
Christmas Island	Territory of Christmas Island	Australia	KT	The Settlement (Flying Fish Cove)
Clipperton Island	(no long-form name)	France	IP	Administered from Paris
Cocos (Keeling) Islands	Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands	Australia	CK	West Island
Cook Islands	(no long-form name)	New Zealand	CW	Avarua
Coral Sea Islands	Coral Sea Islands Territory	Australia	CR	Administered from Canberra
! Dhekelia (see note 15)	Dhekelia	United Kingdom	DX	Episkopi (see note 16)
Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)	Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)	United Kingdom (see note 4)	FK	Stanley
Faroe Islands	(no long-form name)	Denmark	FO	Tórshavn
French Guiana (see note 5)
French Polynesia	(no long-form name)	France	FP	Papeete
French Southern and Antarctic Lands (see note 6)	(no long-form name)	France	FS	Administered from Paris
Gibraltar	Gibraltar	United Kingdom	GI	Gibraltar
Greenland	(no long-form name)	Denmark	GL	Nuuk (Godthåb)
Guadeloupe (see note 5)
Guam	Territory of Guam	United States	GQ	Hagatna
Guernsey (see note 7)	Bailiwick of Guernsey	British Crown Dependency	GK	Saint Peter Port
Heard Island and McDonald Islands	Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands	Australia	HM	Administered from Canberra
Hong Kong	Hong Kong Special Administrative Region	China (see note 8)	HK	None
Howland Island	(no long-form name)	United States	HQ	Administered from Washington, D.C.
Isle of Man	(no long-form name)	British Crown Dependency	IM	Douglas
Jan Mayen	(no long-form name)	Norway	JN	Administered from Oslo (see note 9)
Jarvis Island	(no long-form name)	United States	DQ	Administered from Washington, D.C.
Jersey	Bailiwick of Jersey	British Crown Dependency	JE	Saint Helier
Johnston Atoll	(no long-form name)	United States	JQ	Administered from Washington, D.C.
Kingman Reef	(no long-form name)	United States	KQ	Administered from Washington, D.C.
Macau	Macau Special Administrative Region	China (see note 10)	MC	Macau
Martinique (see note 5)
Mayotte	Departmental Collectivity of Mayotte	France	MF	Mamoudzou
Midway Islands	(no long-form name)	United States	MQ	Administered from Washington, D.C.
Montserrat	Montserrat	United Kingdom	MH	Plymouth
Navassa Island	(no long-form name)	United States	BQ	Administered from Washington, D.C.
Netherlands Antilles (see note 11)	(no long-form name)	Netherlands	NT	Willemstad
New Caledonia	(no long-form name)	France	NC	Nouméa
Niue	(no long-form name)	New Zealand	NE	Alofi
Norfolk Island	Territory of Norfolk Island	Australia	NF	Kingston
Northern Mariana Islands	Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands	United States	CQ	Saipan
Palmyra Atoll	(no long-form name)	United States	LQ	Administered from Washington, D.C.
Paracel Islands	(no long-form name)	undetermined (see note 12)	PF	None
Pitcairn Islands	Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno Islands	United Kingdom	PC	Adamstown
Puerto Rico	Commonwealth of Puerto Rico	United States	RQ	San Juan
Reunion (see note 5)
! Saint Barthelemy	Saint Barthelemy	France	TB	Gustavia
Saint Helena (see note 13)	Saint Helena	United Kingdom	SH	Jamestown
! Saint Martin (see note 17)	Saint Martin	France	RN	Marigot
Saint Pierre and Miquelon	Territorial Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon	France	SB	Saint-Pierre
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	United Kingdom (see note 4)	SX	None
Spratly Islands	(no long-form name)	undetermined (see note 14)	PG	None
Svalbard	(no long-form name)	Norway	SV	Longyearbyen
Tokelau	(no long-form name)	New Zealand	TL	None
Turks and Caicos Islands	Turks and Caicos Islands	United Kingdom	TK	Grand Turk
Virgin Islands, British	Virgin Islands, British	United Kingdom	VI	Road Town
Virgin Islands, U.S.	United States Virgin Islands	United States	VQ	Charlotte Amalie
Wake Island	(no long-form name)	United States	WQ	Administered from Washington, D.C.
Wallis and Futuna	(no long-form name)	France	WF	Matâ'utu
Western Sahara	(no long-form name)	To be determined	WI	None

NOTES

Note 1: Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 10-4 codes.

Note 2: Antarctica consists of the territory south of 60 degrees south latitude.   This area includes claims by Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the legal status of which remains in suspense under the terms of the Antarctic Treaty of 1959.   The United States recognizes no claims to Antarctica.

Note 3: Chagos Archipelago (including Diego Garcia).

Note 4: U.K. Overseas Territory (also claimed by Argentina).

Note 5: French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Reunion are departments (first-order administrative units) of France, and are therefore not dependencies or areas of special sovereignty. They are included in this list only for the convenience of the user. The Department of Guadeloupe includes the nearby islands of Marie-Galante, La Desirade, and Iles des Saintes.

Note 6: The French Southern and Antarctic Lands includes Île Amsterdam, Île Saint-Paul, Îles Crozet, and Îles Kerguelen in the southern Indian Ocean; the "Iles Eparses" (Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova Island and Tromelin Island) in the Mozambique Channel and western Indian Ocean; and the French-claimed sector of Antarctica, "Terre Adélie." The United States does not recognize the French claim to "Terre Adélie" (see note 2).

Note 7: The Bailiwick of Guernsey includes the islands of Alderney, Guernsey, Herm, Sark, and nearby smaller islands.

Note 8: Under a Sino-British declaration of September 1984, Hong Kong reverted to Chinese control on July 1, 1997. It is now a semi-autonomous entity that exists pursuant to international agreement and maintains its own government apart from the People's Republic of China.

Note 9: Administered from Oslo, Norway, through a governor resident in Longyearbyen, Svalbard.

Note 10: Under the Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau signed in 1987, Macau reverted to Chinese control on December 20, 1999.   It is now a semi-autonomous entity that exists pursuant to international agreement and maintains its own government apart from the People's Republic of China.

Note 11: Netherlands Antilles 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.

Note 12: South China Sea islands occupied by China but claimed by Vietnam.

Note 13: The territory of Saint Helena includes the Island group of Tristan da Cunha; Saint Helena also administers Ascension Island.

Note 14: South China Sea islands claimed in entirety by China and Vietnam and in part by the Philippines and Malaysia; each of these states occupies some part of the islands.

Note 15: United Kingdom sovereign base area on the island of Cyprus.

Note 16: The joint force headquarters under the Commander of the British Forces, Cyprus administers both sovereign base areas from Episkopi.

Note 17: The island of Saint Martin is divided: the northern three-fifths form the French collectivity of Saint-Martin, while the southern two-fifths (Sint Maarten) are part of the Netherlands Antilles.

Source: Office of The Geographer and Global Issues, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC.