At CountryWatch, we are often asked why we do not cover places such as Bermuda, Puerto Rico or the Cook Islands, as separate country reviews. This is because we cover countries or States and not dependencies, territories and areas of special sovereignty. For further information on this matter, please refer to the section titled "
States or Nation " as well as the section called "
How Many Countries Are There In the World?," which is located along the menu of featured items.
-- Dr. Denise Youngblood Coleman
Editor-in-Chief and Executive Vice President
June, 2007
Dependencies, Territories and Specially Administered Areas
The list following is a delineation of many of the world’s dependencies, territories and specially administered areas, along with their capitals, and the State (or country) which holds jurisdiction over them. (Note: This listing includes Eat Timor, which is now a sovereign country. See "
How Many Countries Are There In the World?" and
"Newest Countries in the World" in "Interesting Facts" section for details.)
| Short-form name | Long-form name | Sovereignty | FIPS Code
(see note 1) | Capital |
| American Samoa | Territory of
American Samoa | United States | AQ | Pago Pago |
| Anguilla | (no long-form name) | 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 | (no long-form name) | 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 | (no long-form name) | 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
French Polynesia |
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 |
| | | | |
| Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) | Colony of the
Falkland Islands | United
Kingdom
(see note 4) | FK | Stanley |
| Faroe Islands | (no long-form name) | Denmark | FO | Tórshavn |
| French Guiana | Department of Guiana | France | FG | Cayenne |
| French Polynesia | Territory of
French Polynesia | France | FP | Papeete |
French
Southern and
Antarctic Lands
(see note 5) | Territory of the
French Southern
and Antarctic Lands | France | FS | Administered
from Paris |
| Gibraltar | (no long-form name) | United Kingdom | GI | Gibraltar |
| Greenland | (no long-form name) | Denmark | GL | Nuuk (Godthåb) |
Guadeloupe
(see note 6) | Department
of Guadeloupe | France | GP | Basse-Terre |
| Guam | Territory of Guam | United States | GQ | Hagatna |
| Guernsey | 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 7) | HK | !Hong Kong |
| Howland Island | (no long-form name) | United States | HQ | Administered from Washington, D.C. |
| Jan Mayen | (no long-form name) | Norway | JN | Administered
from Oslo
(see note 8) |
| 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 9) | MC | Macau |
| Man, Isle of | (no long-form name) | British
Crown Dependency | IM | Douglas |
| Martinique | Department of Martinique | France | MB | Fort-de-France |
| Mayotte | Territorial Collectivity of Mayotte | France | MF | Mamoudzou |
| Midway Islands | (no long-form name) | United States | MQ | Administered from Washington, D.C. |
| Montserrat | (no long-form name) | United Kingdom | MH | Plymouth |
| Navassa Island | (no long-form name) | United States | BQ | Administered from Washington, D.C. |
Netherlands Antilles
(see note 10) | (no long-form name) | Netherlands | NT | Willemstad |
| New Caledonia | Territory of New Caledonia and Dependencies | 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 11) | 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 12) | Department of Reunion | France | RE | Saint-Denis |
Saint Helena
(see note 13) | (no long-form name) | United Kingdom | SH | Jamestown |
| 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 | (no long-form name) | United Kingdom | TK | Grand Turk |
| Virgin Islands, U.S. | United States
Virgin Islands | United States | VQ | Charlotte Amalie |
| Virgin Islands, British | (no long-form name) | United Kingdom | VI | Road Town |
| Wake Island | (no long-form name) | United States | WQ | Administered from Washington, D.C. |
| Wallis and Futuna | Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands | France | WF | Matâ'utu |
| Western Sahara | (no long-form name) | undetermined | WI | None |
(As released by the Office of the Geographer and Global Issues, August 28, 2000 via the United States Department of State)
NOTESNote 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: Dependent territory of the United Kingdom (also claimed by Argentina).
Note 5: "French Southern and Antarctic Lands" includes Île Amsterdam, Île Saint-Paul, Îles Crozet, and Îles Kerguelen in the southern Indian Ocean, along with the French-claimed sector of Antarctica, "Terre Adélie." The United States does not recognize the French claim to "Terre Adélie" (see note 2).
Note 6: The Department of Guadeloupe includes the nearby islands of Marie-Galante and la Désirade and Îles des Saintes, as well as Saint Barthélemy and the northern three-fifths of Saint Martin (the rest of which belongs to Netherlands Antilles).
Note 7: 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 8: Administered from Oslo, Norway, through a governor resident in Longyearbyen, Svalbard.
Note 9: 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 10: 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 11: South China Sea islands occupied by China but claimed by Vietnam.
Note 12: Bassas da India (BS), Europa Island (EU), Glorioso Islands (GO), Juan de Nova Island (JU), and Tromelin Island (TE) are controlled by France and are administered from Reunion. (These islands are claimed by Madagascar; Tromelin Island is also claimed by Mauritius and Seychelles).
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.
Source: Office of The Geographer and Global Issues, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, U.S. Department of State, Washington
For more information about the countries of the world, see
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