Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty


Fact Sheet
Bureau of Intelligence and Research
Washington, DC
November 29, 2011

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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
Curaçao
(see note 11)
(no long-form name) Netherlands UC Willemstad
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
(see note 5)
       
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.
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, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha 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
Sint Maarten
(see note 11)
(no long-form name) Netherlands NN Philipsburg
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. On September 2, 2008 the National Institute of Standards and Technology withdrew FIPS 10-4 as a United States Government standard. No successor standard for country codes has been identified.

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, Mayotte 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: The Netherlands Antilles dissolved on October 10, 2010. Curaçao and Sint Maarten (the Dutch two-fifths of the island of Saint Martin) became autonomous territories of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius now fall under the direct administration of the Netherlands.

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) is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

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



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