Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty

Fact Sheet

Bureau of Intelligence and Research

Washington, DC

October 12, 2016

See also:
Independent States in the World

! New change, since previous list

Short-form name	Long-form name	Sovereignty	!GENC 2A Code (see note 1)	!GENC 3A Code (see note 1)	Administrative Center
Akrotiri (see note 15)	Akrotiri	United Kingdom	QZ	XQZ	Episkopi (see note 16)
American Samoa	Territory of American Samoa	United States	AS	ASM	Pago Pago
Anguilla	Anguilla	United Kingdom	AI	AIA	The Valley
Antarctica	(no long-form name)	None (see note 2)	AQ	ATA	None
Aruba	Aruba	Netherlands	AW	ABW	Oranjestad
Ashmore and Cartier Islands	Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands	Australia	XA	XAC	Administered from Canberra
Baker Island	Baker Island	United States	XB	XBK	Administered from Washington, D.C.
Bermuda	Bermuda	United Kingdom	BM	BMU	Hamilton
Bouvet Island	Bouvet Island	Norway	BV	BVT	Admin. from Oslo
British Indian Ocean Territory (see note 3)	British Indian Ocean Territory	United Kingdom	IO	IOT	None
Cayman Islands	Cayman Islands	United Kingdom	KY	CYM	George Town
Christmas Island	Territory of Christmas Island	Australia	CX	CXR	The Settlement (Flying Fish Cove)
Clipperton Island	Clipperton Island	France	CP	CPT	Administered from Paris
Cocos (Keeling) Islands	Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands	Australia	CC	CCK	West Island
Cook Islands	Cook Islands	New Zealand	CK	COK	Avarua
Coral Sea Islands	Coral Sea Islands Territory	Australia	XC	XCS	Administered from Canberra
Curaçao (see note 11)	! Land Curaçao	Netherlands	CW	CUW	Willemstad
Dhekelia (see note 15)	Dhekelia	United Kingdom	XD	XXD	Episkopi (see note 16)
Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)	Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)	United Kingdom (see note 4)	FK	FLK	Stanley
Faroe Islands	Faroe Islands	Denmark	FO	FRO	Tórshavn
French Guiana (see note 5)			GF	GUF
French Polynesia	French Polynesia	France	PF	PYF	Papeete
French Southern and Antarctic Lands (see note 6)	French Southern and Antarctic Lands	France	TF	ATF	Administered from Paris
Gibraltar	Gibraltar	United Kingdom	GI	GIB	Gibraltar
Greenland	Greenland	Denmark	GL	GRL	Nuuk (Godthåb)
Guadeloupe (see note 5)			GP	GLP
Guam	Territory of Guam	United States	GU	GUM	Hagatna
Guernsey (see note 7)	Bailiwick of Guernsey	British Crown Dependency	GG	GGY	Saint Peter Port
Heard Island and McDonald Islands	Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands	Australia	HM	HMD	Administered from Canberra
Hong Kong	Hong Kong Special Administrative Region	China (see note 8)	HK	HKG	None
Howland Island	Howland Island	United States	XH	XHO	Administered from Washington, D.C.
Isle of Man	Isle of Man	British Crown Dependency	IM	IMN	Douglas
Jan Mayen	Jan Mayen	Norway	XJ	XJM	Administered from Oslo (see note 9)
Jarvis Island	Jarvis Island	United States	XQ	XJV	Administered from Washington, D.C.
Jersey	Bailiwick of Jersey	British Crown Dependency	JE	JEY	Saint Helier
Johnston Atoll	Johnston Atoll	United States	XU	XJA	Administered from Washington, D.C.
Kingman Reef	Kingman Reef	United States	XM	XKR	Administered from Washington, D.C.
Macau	Macau Special Administrative Region	China (see note 10)	MO	MAC	Macau
Martinique (see note 5)			MQ	MTQ
Mayotte (see note 5)			YT	MYT
Midway Islands	Midway Islands	United States	QM	XMW	Administered from Washington, D.C.
Montserrat	Montserrat	United Kingdom	MS	MSR	Plymouth
Navassa Island	Navassa Island	United States	XV	XNV	Administered from Washington, D.C.
New Caledonia	New Caledonia	France	NC	NCL	Nouméa
Niue	Niue	New Zealand	NU	NIU	Alofi
Norfolk Island	Territory of Norfolk Island	Australia	NF	NFK	Kingston
Northern Mariana Islands	Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands	United States	MP	MNP	Saipan
Palmyra Atoll	Palmyra Atoll	United States	XL	XPL	Administered from Washington, D.C.
Paracel Islands	(no long-form name)	Undetermined (see note 12)	XP	XPR	None
Pitcairn Islands	Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno Islands	United Kingdom	PN	PCN	Adamstown
Puerto Rico	Commonwealth of Puerto Rico	United States	PR	PRI	San Juan
Reunion (see note 5)			RE	REU
Saint Barthelemy	Saint Barthelemy	France	BL	BLM	Gustavia
Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha (see note 13)	Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha	United Kingdom	SH	SHN	Jamestown
Saint Martin (see note 17)	Saint Martin	France	MF	MAF	Marigot
Saint Pierre and Miquelon	Territorial Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon	France	PM	SPM	Saint-Pierre
Sint Maarten (see note 11)	Sint Maarten	Netherlands	SX	SXM	Philipsburg
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	United Kingdom (see note 4)	GS	SGS	None
Spratly Islands	(no long-form name)	Undetermined (see note 14)	XS	XSP	None
Svalbard	Svalbard	Norway	XR	XSV	Longyearbyen
Tokelau	Tokelau	New Zealand	TK	TKL	None
Turks and Caicos Islands	Turks and Caicos Islands	United Kingdom	TC	TCA	Grand Turk
Virgin Islands, British	British Virgin Islands	United Kingdom	VG	VGB	Road Town
Virgin Islands, U.S.	United States Virgin Islands	United States	VI	VIR	Charlotte Amalie
Wake Island	Wake Island	United States	QW	XWK	Administered from Washington, D.C.
Wallis and Futuna	Wallis and Futuna	France	WF	WLF	Matâ'utu
Western Sahara	(no long-form name)	To be determined	EH	ESH	None

NOTES

Note 1: Geopolitical Entities, Names, and Codes (GENC) Standard two-letter and three-letter codes. GENC is the replacement standard for FIPS 10-4 and is the U.S. Government profile of the ISO 3166 international country code standard. For more information on GENC please see https://nsgreg.nga.mil/genc/discovery.

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 first-order administrative divisions of overseas 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 and Ascension Island.

Note 14: South China Sea islands claimed in entirety by China and Vietnam and in part by Brunei, 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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