United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories

The United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories is a list of countries that, according to the United Nations, are non-decolonized. The list was initially prepared in 1946 pursuant to Chapter XI of the United Nations Charter, and has been updated by the General Assembly on recommendation of the Special Committee on Decolonization and its predecessors. Only permanently inhabited territories are considered for inclusion in this list, excluding many remote atolls (e.g., Clipperton Island and Kingman Reef) and Southern Ocean territories (e.g., French Southern and Antarctic Lands and Heard Island and McDonald Islands). The list currently contains 16 entries.

Contents 1 History 2 Criticism 2.1 Choosing to remain a territory 2.2 Completely autonomous dependencies 2.3 Removed under other circumstances 2.4 Status revocation 2.5 List not complete 3 Current entries 4 Former entries 4.1 Territories that have been removed from the list under any status other than independence 4.2 Former colonized territories which have become independent states 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

History

The list draws its origins from the period of colonialism and the Charter's concept of non-self-governing territories. Thus, Western Sahara was initially included in 1963 by Moroccan demand when it was a Spanish colony. The same can be said about the situation of Namibia (removed upon its independence in 1990), which was seen, due to its former status as a mandate territory, as a vestige of German colonial legacy in Africa. A set of criteria for determining whether a territory is to be considered "non-self-governing" was established in General Assembly Resolution 1541 (XV) of 1960.

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.

Criticism

The list remains controversial for various reasons.

Choosing to remain a territory

One reason for the remaining controversy is the fact that the list includes many dependencies that, some contend, have democratically chosen to maintain their territorial status, and rejected independence (or in some cases the territory periodically organizes referenda, as in the United States Virgin Islands, but there is insufficient voter participation). Other non-self-determining areas are excluded.

Another example is Tokelau. 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".^[1] Tokelau is seen by some as a case in point. 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 voters rejected the offer of self-government. When the first referendum failed, a second was held in 2007, and Tokelauans rejected it again. 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".^[2] The United Nations most likely supported there being a referendum because clear majorities of Tokelauans support self-government in association with New Zealand. This was reinforced by the results of the referendum, which show that over 60% (60.07% in the first referendum, and 64.40% in the second) voted for self-government. However, the terms of the referendum required a two-thirds majority to vote in favor of self-government. On the second occasion, the proposition failed by just 16 votes. 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".^[3] 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".^[4]

Gibraltar is another prime example of resident desires to remain with the status quo. Gibraltar, a largely self-governing British territory on the tip of the Iberian Peninsula whose territory is claimed by Spain has twice held referenda to resolve their status. In the first referendum, held in 1967, the choices in the ballot were either to retain their current status or to become part of Spain. the status quo was favoured by 12,138 votes to 44. In th second referendum, held in 2002, a proposal for a joint Anglo-Spanish administration of the territory was proposed, and was voted down by 17,900 votes to 187 - the "no" vote accounting for more than 85% of Gibraltar's entire voting population.^[5]

Population (or lack thereof) is also an issue regarding at least one territory included on the list: the British colony Pitcairn Islands, with a total population of 48 (many of whom are related), has simply too small a population base (and habitable landmass for expansion), to be realistically viable as an independent state.

Completely autonomous dependencies

Another criticism is that a number of the listed territories, such as Bermuda, consider themselves completely autonomous and self-governing, with the "administering power" retaining limited oversight over matters such as defence and diplomacy.

Removed under other circumstances

Territories that have achieved a status described by the administering countries ("the colonizing power") 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, often under pressure of the colonizing power or similar circumstances. In 1972, for example, Hong Kong (then administered by the United Kingdom) and Macau (then administered by Portugal) were removed from the list at the request of the People's Republic of China, which had just been recognized as holding China's seat at the United Nations. Many critics charge the Committee that drafts this list with the intent of using it as a political instrument.

Some territories that have been annexed and incorporated into the legal framework of the controlling state (such as the overseas departments of France) are considered by the UN to have been decolonized, since they then no longer constitute "non-self-governing" entities; their populations are assumed to have agreed to merge with the former parent state. However, in 1961, the General Assembly voted to end this treatment for the then-"overseas provinces" of Portugal such as Angola and Mozambique, which were active foci of United Nations attention until they attained independence in the mid-1970s.

Status revocation

On December 2, 1986, New Caledonia, then an overseas territory, was reinstated on the list of non-self-governing territories, an action that France protested. New Caledonia is the only French-administered territory now on the list; it has enjoyed the status of a collectivité sui generis, or a one-of-a-kind community, since 1999. Under the 1998 Nouméa Accord, its Territorial Congress has the right to call for a referendum on independence after 2014.

List not complete

Another point of controversy the criteria set down in 1960 by Resolution 1541 (XV), which only focused on colonies of the Western World, namely Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, United Kingdom, and United States. Of the 111 members who joined the UN between 1960 and 2008, 41 were never included on the list. Of those 41 in 1960, eight (mostly Arab) were ruled by the "Western" countries but 12 were ruled by the Soviet Union (now Russia), two by Czechoslovakia (now dissolved), one by Ethiopia, one each by Pakistan and India, and 11 by themselves, namely Andorra, Bhutan, Germany, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Mongolia (still claimed by the Republic of China), Oman, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Korea, San Marino, and Switzerland. Hindsight consideration of the list as incomplete often results in criticism from independence activists for Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization members like the Tibetan independence movement, which sees China as another colonial power. In 1993, the London Conference of International Lawyers recommended "Calls in the United Nations General Assembly to expand the mandate of the Special Committee on Decolonization to include Tibet in its mandate."^[6][7]

Current entries

Continent/Ocean	Country name[8]	Administering country	Status	Other claimants	Population	Area / km2	Area / mi2	See also
Africa	Western Sahara	Spaina	See notea	Morocco  SADR	393,831	266,000	102,700	Legal status of Western Sahara
Atlantic Ocean	Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha	United Kingdom	Overseas territory	None	7,601	413	159.5	Politics of Saint Helena
Atlantic Ocean	Bermuda	United Kingdom	Overseas territory	None	67,837 (listed as 6,997)	53.3	20.6	Politics of Bermuda
Atlantic Ocean	Falkland Islands	United Kingdom	Overseas territory	Argentina	3,140	12,200	4,700	Sovereignty of the Falkland Islands
Caribbean	Anguilla	United Kingdom	Overseas territory	None	14,108	102	39.4	Politics of Anguilla
Caribbean	British Virgin Islands	United Kingdom	Overseas territory	None	24,041	153	59.1	Politics of the British Virgin Islands
Caribbean	Cayman Islands	United Kingdom	Overseas territory	None	47,862	262	101.2	Foreign relations of the Cayman Islands
Caribbean	Montserrat	United Kingdom	Overseas territory	None	5,079	102	39.4	Government of Montserrat
Caribbean	Turks and Caicos Islands	United Kingdom	Overseas territory	None	22,352	430	166.0	Politics of the Turks and Caicos Islands
Caribbean	United States Virgin Islands	United States	Unincorporated organized territory	None	109,840	346.36	133.730	Politics of the United States Virgin Islands
Europe	Gibraltar	United Kingdom	Overseas territory	Spain	28,002	6.5	2.5	Disputed status of Gibraltar
Pacific Ocean	American Samoa	United States	Unincorporated unorganized territory	None	64,827	199	76.8	Politics of American Samoa
Pacific Ocean	Guam	United States	Unincorporated organized territory	None	175,877	541.3	209.0	Politics of Guam
Pacific Ocean	New Caledonia	France	Sui Generis Collectivity	None	224,824	19,060	7,359	Politics of New Caledonia
Pacific Ocean	Pitcairn Islands	United Kingdom	Overseas territory	None	48	47	18.1	Politics of the Pitcairn Islands
Pacific Ocean	Tokelau	New Zealand	Territory	None	1,433	10.	3.9	Politics of Tokelau

^a A Spanish colony up to 1976, 85% of the territory of Western Sahara is now occupied and administered by Morocco. The rest of the territory is under the control of the Polisario Front and administerd by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. The UN however still considers Spain as administrating country.^[9] The rest is administered by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, awaiting the outcome of the ongoing Manhasset negotiations and resulting election to be overseen by the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara.

Former entries

The following territories have all been on the List of Non-Self-Governing Territories in the past. The date, former administering colonial power, and the reason for removal from the list are given for each.

Territories that have been removed from the list under any status other than independence

Continent	Non-Self-Governing Territory[10]	Reason for removal	Current status	Administering country before removal	Population	Area / km2	Area / mi2	Year of removal	See also
Africa	Cameroons Trust Territory	Northern Cameroons integrated into Nigeria; Southern Cameroons integrated into Cameroon	Adamawa and Taraba states of Nigeria, Northwest and Southwest provinces of Cameroon	United Kingdom				1961	Politics of Nigeria Politics of Cameroon
Africa	Ifni	Integrated into Morocco	Tiznit Province, Souss-Massa-Draâ region, Morocco	Spain	51,517	1,502	580	1969	Politics of Morocco
Africa	São João Batista de Ajuda	Integrated into Benin	Ouidah commune, Atlantique department, Benin	Portugal	2			1961	Politics of Benin
Africa	South West Africa	Mandate terminated	Independent nation of Namibia	South Africa	2,088,669	825,418	318,696	1966	Foreign relations of Namibia
Africa	British Togoland Trust Territory	Joined British Gold Coast to form Ghana	Volta, Northern and Upper East Region of Ghana	United Kingdom				1957	Foreign relations of Ghana
Arctic Ocean	Greenland	Gained home rule	Community within the Kingdom of Denmark[11][12]	Denmark	57,564	2,166,086	836,330.5	1954	Politics of Greenland
Asia	French Establishments in India	Integrated into Union of India	Puducherry union territory of India	France	973,829	492	190.0	1947	Pondicherry Legislative Assembly
Asia	Goa and Dependencies	Integrated into India	Goa state and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu union territories of India	Portugal				1961
Asia	Hong Kong	Removed from the list on request of the PRC	Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China	United Kingdom	7,018,636	1,092	421.6	1972	Politics of Hong Kong
Asia	Macau and dependencies	Removed from the list on request of the PRC	Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China	Portugal	545,674	28.2	10.89	1972	Politics of Macau
Atlantic Ocean	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	Integrated into French Republic	Overseas collectivity of France	France	7,044	242	93.4	1947	Politics of Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Caribbean	Guadeloupe and Dependencies	Integrated into French Republic	French Overseas department of Guadeloupe and overseas collectivities of Saint-Barthelemy and Saint-Martin	France	408,000	1,628	628.6	1947	Politics of Guadeloupe
Caribbean	Martinique	Integrated into French Republic	Overseas department of France	France	401,000	1,128	435.5	1947	Politics of Martinique
Caribbean	Netherlands Antilles	Became constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands	Constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands	Netherlands	225,369	960	371	1951	Politics of the Netherlands Antilles
Caribbean	Puerto Rico	Gained self-rule	Unincorporated organized commonwealth of the United States	United States	3,958,128	8,870	3,420	1952	Political status of Puerto Rico
Indian Ocean	Cocos (Keeling) Islands	Gained self-rule	External territory of Australia	Australia	596	14	5.4	1984	Shire of Cocos
Indian Ocean	Réunion	Integrated into French Republic	Overseas department of France	France	793,000	2,512	969.9	1947	Politics of Réunion
North America	Alaska	Integrated into the United States of America	U.S. state	United States	683,478	1,700,130.	656,424	1959	Legal status of Alaska
North America	Panama Canal Zone	Panama requested that Canal Zone be removed from the list	Part of Colón and Panama provinces of Panama	United States				1947	Politics of Panama
Pacific Ocean	Cook Islands	Gained self-rule	Sovereign state in free association with New Zealand	New Zealand	12,271	236.7	93.39	1965	Politics of the Cook Islands
Pacific Ocean	French Establishments in Oceania	Integrated into French Republic	French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna overseas collectivities of France	France	298,256	4,441	1,714.7	1947	Politics of French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna
Pacific Ocean	Hawaii	Became state	U.S. state	United States	1,283,388	28,311	10,930.9	1959	Legal status of Hawaii
Pacific Ocean	Netherlands New Guinea	Integrated into Indonesia	Papua and West Papua provinces of Indonesia	Netherlands		420,540	162,371	1963	Act of Free Choice
Pacific Ocean	New Caledonia and Dependencies (returned to the list in 1986)	Integrated into French Republic	Sui Generis Collectivity of France	France	224,824	19,060	7,359	1947	Politics of New Caledonia
Pacific Ocean	Niue Island	Became associated state of New Zealand	Sovereign state in free association with New Zealand	New Zealand	1,444	260	100.4	1974	Politics of Niue
Pacific Ocean	Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands	Micronesia, Marshall Islands and Palau became associated states of and Northern Mariana Islands became Commonwealth of the United States	Independent nations of Marshall Islands, Palau and Federated States of Micronesia and US Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands	United States	132,929	1,779	687	1990 (Micronesia, Marshall Islands and Northern Mariana Islands; 1994 (Palau)
Pacific Ocean	Colony of Sarawak	Incorporated into Federation of Malaysia[13]	Sarawak state of Malaysia	United Kingdom		124,450	48,050	1963	Politics of Malaysia
Pacific Ocean	North Borneo	Incorporated into Federation of Malaysia[13]	Sabah state of Malaysia	United Kingdom	285,000	76,115	29,388	1963	Politics of Malaysia
South America	French Guiana	Integrated into French Republic	Overseas department of France	France	209,000	83,534	32,253	1947	Politics of French Guiana
South America	Surinam	Became a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands	Independent nation of Suriname	Netherlands	475,996	163,270	63,038.9	1951	Politics of Suriname

Former colonized territories which have become independent states

Continent	Non-Self-Governing Territory[10]	Independent country[10]	Administering country before independence	Population	Area / km2	Area / mi2	Year of removal	See also
Asia	Aden Colony and Protectorate	South Yemen	United Kingdom		285,192	111,013	1967
Asia	French Indochina	Viet Nam Laos Cambodia	France	21,599,582[14]	750,000	289,577	1945 (Viet Nam) 1949 (Laos) 1953 (Cambodia)
Africa	Portuguese Angola including the enclave of Cabinda	Angola	Portugal		1,246,700	481,354	1975
Africa	Basutoland	Lesotho	United Kingdom		30,355	12,727	1966
Africa	Bechuanaland Protectorate	Botswana	United Kingdom				1966
Africa	Belgian Congo	Congo Léopoldville	Belgium	16,610,000[15]	2,344,858	905,355	1960
Africa	British Somaliland	Somalia	United Kingdom				1960
Africa	Fernando Póo and Río Muni	Equatorial Guinea	Spain		28,051	10,828	1968
Africa	Cameroons Trust Territory	Cameroon	France				1960
Africa	French Togoland Trust Territory	Togo	France				1960
Africa	Gambia	The Gambia	United Kingdom		10,380	4,007	1965
Africa	Gold Coast Colony and Protectorate	Ghana	United Kingdom				1957
Africa	French Equatorial Africa	Chad  Gabon  Congo (Brazzaville)  Central African Republic	France				1960
Africa	Colony and Protectorate of Kenya	Kenya	United Kingdom				1963
Africa	French protectorate of Morocco	Morocco	France				1956
Africa	Portuguese Mozambique	Mozambique	Portugal	7,300,000[16]	784,955	303,073	1975
Africa	British Nigeria	Nigeria	United Kingdom				1960
Africa	Northern Rhodesia	Zambia	United Kingdom	3,545,200[17]	752,618	290,587	1964
Africa	Nyasaland	Malawi	United Kingdom		752,618	290,587	1964
Africa	Portuguese Guinea	Guinea-Bissau	Portugal		36,125	13,948	1974
Africa	Ruanda-Urundi Trust Territory	Rwanda  Burundi	Belgium				1962
Africa	São Tomé and Príncipe	São Tomé and Príncipe	Portugal		1,001	372	1975
Africa	Sierra Leone	Sierra Leone	United Kingdom		71,740	27,69	1961
Africa	Italian Somaliland Trust Territory	Somalia	Italy				1960
Africa	French Somaliland	Djibouti	France	200,000[18]	23,200	8,958	1977
Africa	Southern Rhodesia	Zimbabwe	United Kingdom	6,930,000[19]	390,580	150,804	1980
Africa	Swaziland	Swaziland	United Kingdom		17,364	6,70	1968
Africa	Tanganyika Trust Territory	United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar	United Kingdom				1963
Africa	French Tunisia	Tunisia	France		163,610	63,170	1956
Africa	Uganda Protectorate	Uganda	United Kingdom				1962
Africa	French West Africa	Dahomey  Guinea Mali Federation  Ivory Coast  Mauritania  Niger  Upper Volta	France				1958 (Guinea) 1960
Africa	Zanzibar	United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar	United Kingdom		2,643	1,020.5	1963
Atlantic Ocean	Bahamas	The Bahamas	United Kingdom		13,878	5,358	1973
Atlantic Ocean	Cape Verde Archipelago	Cape Verde	Portugal		4,033	1,557	1975
Middle East	Protectorate of Cyprus	Cyprus	United Kingdom		9,251	3,572	1960
Europe	Malta	Malta	United Kingdom		316	121	1964
Caribbean	Barbados	Barbados	United Kingdom		431	167	1966
Caribbean	British Leeward Islands	Antigua and Barbuda  St. Kitts and Nevis  Anguilla (Non-self-governing Territory)	United Kingdom				1981 (Antigua) 1983 (St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla)
Caribbean	Jamaica	Jamaica	United Kingdom		11,100	4,444	1962
Caribbean	Trinidad and Tobago	Trinidad and Tobago	United Kingdom		5,128	1,978	1962
Caribbean	British Windward Islands	Dominica  Grenada  St. Lucia  St. Vincent and the Grenadines	United Kingdom				1974 (Grenada) 1978 (Dominica) 1979 (St. Vincent and St. Lucia)
North America	British Honduras	Belize	United Kingdom	145,000[20]	22,966	8,867	1981
Indian Ocean	East Timor	Timor Leste	Portugal ( –1975)  Indonesia (1975–2002)	688,711[21]	15,007	5,794.2	2002	Politics of East Timor
Indian Ocean	Madagascar and Dependencies	Madagascar  Comoros	France				1960 (Madagascar) 1975 (Comoros)
Indian Ocean	Mauritius	Mauritius	United Kingdom		2,040	787	1968
Indian Ocean	Netherlands Indies	Indonesia	Netherlands				1949
Indian Ocean	Seychelles	Seychelles	United Kingdom		451	174	1976
Pacific Ocean	Singapore	Singapore[13]	United Kingdom	4,608,167	692.7	267.5	1965	Foreign relations of Singapore
Pacific Ocean	Brunei	Brunei Darussalam	United Kingdom		5,765	2,226	1984
Pacific Ocean	Fiji Islands	Fiji	United Kingdom				1970
Pacific Ocean	Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony	Kiribati  Tuvalu	United Kingdom				1978 (Tuvalu) 1979 (Kiribati)
Pacific Ocean	Malayan Union	Federation of Malaysia	United Kingdom		132,364	51,106	1963
Pacific Ocean	Nauru Trust Territory	Nauru	Australia		21	8.1	1968
Pacific Ocean	New Hebrides	Vanuatu	Anglo-French Condominium	100,000[22]	12,189	4,706	1980
Pacific Ocean	Trust Territory of New Guinea	Papua New Guinea	Australia				1975
Pacific Ocean	Territory of Papua	Papua New Guinea	Australia				1975
Pacific Ocean	Solomon Islands Protectorate	Solomon Islands	United Kingdom		28,896	11,157	1978
Pacific Ocean	Western Samoa Trust Territory	Western Samoa	New Zealand				1962
South America	British Guiana	Guyana	United Kingdom				1966

See also

• Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization
• List of active autonomist and secessionist movements
• List of dependent territories
• List of sovereign states
• List of states with limited recognition

References

• Non-Self-Governing Territories listed by General Assembly of the United Nations.

External links

• Decolonization Committee homepage
• United Nations official homepage
• Current list

United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories United Kingdom Anguilla · Bermuda · British Virgin Islands · Cayman Islands · Falkland Islands · Gibraltar · Montserrat · Pitcairn Islands · Saint Helena · Turks and Caicos Islands United States American Samoa · Guam · United States Virgin Islands France New Caledonia Morocco Western Sahara New Zealand Tokelau Category · Portal