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, all of which would become microstates: only four have populations in excess of 100,000, and the smallest has a population of only 48.

[[Image:UN Non-Self-Governing Territories.png|thumb|450px|Map of the countries in the UN list:

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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 , 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.

Choose to remain a territory

One reason for this is the fact that it 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". 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". The United Nations most likely supported there being a referendum because clear majorities of Tokelauans support independence. 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 independence. However, the terms of the referendum required a two-thirds majority to vote in favor of independence. 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". 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".

The government of Morocco has repeatedly called for Spain to transfer the sovereignty of Ceuta and Melilla, along with uninhabited islets such as the islands of Alhuceima, Velez and the Perejil islet Isla Perejil, drawing comparisons with Spain's territorial claim to Gibraltar. In both cases, the national governments and local populations of the disputed territories reject these claims by a large majority, similar to the rejection of Spanish sovereignty by the population of Gibraltar. The Spanish position states that both Ceuta and Melilla are integral parts of the Spanish state, and have been since the 15th century, whereas Gibraltar, being a British Overseas Territory, is not and never has been part of the United Kingdom, although it was ceded in perpetuity to the British Crown and remains British territory. However, Morocco denies these claims and maintains that the Spanish presence in Ceuta and the other presidios on its coast is a remnant of the colonial past which should be ended - similar to the Spanish statement about Gibraltar.

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 a limited number of responsibilities such as defense 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 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), six by Yugoslavia (now dissolved), 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, People's Democratic 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.

Current entries

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

Notes

A Spanish colony up to 1976, 85% of the territory of Western Sahara is now occupied by Morocco. 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 (where not obvious from the name), and reason for removal from the List are given for each.

Change of status

Continent	Country name	Main administering country	Current Status	Administering country before change	Population	Area / km2	Area / mi2	Year of change	See also
Africa	Cameroons Trust Territory: Northern Cameroons		Adamawa and Taraba states					1961	Politics of Nigeria
Africa	Cameroons Trust Territory: Southern Cameroons		Northwest and Southwest provinces					1961	Politics of Cameroon
Africa	Ifni		Tiznit wilaya, Souss-Massa-Draâ region					1969	Politics of Morocco
Africa	São João Baptista de Ajuda		Ouidah commune, Atlantique department					1961	Politics of Benin
Africa	South West Africa		Gained independence in 1990.		2,088,669	825,418	318,696	1966	Foreign relations of Namibia
Arctic Ocean			Community within the Kingdom of Denmark		57,564	2,166,086	836,330.5	1954	Politics of Greenland
Asia	French Establishments in India		Puducherry union territory		973,829	492	190.0	1947	Pondicherry Legislative Assembly
Asia	Goa and dependencies		Goa state and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu union territories					1961	Politics of India
Asia			Special Administrative Region		7,018,636	1,092	421.6	1972	Politics of Hong Kong
Asia	Macau and dependencies		Special Administrative Region		545,674	28.2	10.89	1972	Politics of Macau
Atlantic Ocean			Overseas collectivity		7,044	242	93.4	1947	Politics of Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Caribbean Sea	Guadeloupe and Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthelemy dependencies		Guadeloupe: overseas department, Saint-Barthelemy and Saint-Martin: overseas collectivities		408,000	1,628	628.6	1947	Politics of Guadeloupe
Caribbean Sea			Overseas department		401,000	1,128	435.5	1947	Politics of Martinique
Caribbean Sea			Constituent country		225,369	960	371	1951	Politics of the Netherlands Antilles
Caribbean Sea			Unincorporated organized commonwealth		3,958,128	8,870	3,420	1952	Political status of Puerto Rico
Indian Ocean			External territory		596	14	5.4	1984	Shire of Cocos
Indian Ocean			Gained independence in 2002	,	1,108,777	15,007	5,794.2	1975	Politics of East Timor
Indian Ocean	Réunion		Overseas department		793,000	2,512	969.9	1947	Politics of Réunion
North America			State		683,478	1,700,130.	656,424	1959	Government of Alaska
North America			Part of Colón and Panama provinces					1947	Politics of Panama
Pacific Ocean			Sovereign state in free association with New Zealand		12,271	236.7	93.39	1965	Politics of the Cook Islands
Pacific Ocean	French Establishments in Oceania		and overseas collectivities		298,256	4,441	1,714.7	1947	Politics of French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna
Pacific Ocean			State		1,283,388	28,311	10,930.9	1959	Politics of Hawaii
Pacific Ocean	New Caledonia, which returned to the list in 1986		Sui Generis Collectivity		224,824	19,060	7,359	1947	Politics of New Caledonia
Pacific Ocean	Island		Sovereign state in free association with New Zealand		1,444	260	100.4	1974	Politics of Niue
Pacific Ocean			State					1963	Politics of Malaysia
Pacific Ocean			Compact of Free Association since 1986		107,665	702	271	1990	Politics of the Federated States of Micronesia
Pacific Ocean			Compact of Free Association since 1986		63,174	181.3	70.00	1990	Politics of the Marshall Islands
Pacific Ocean	:		Unincorporated organized commonwealth		86,616	477	184.2	1990	Politics of the Northern Mariana Islands
Pacific Ocean			Compact of Free Association since 1994		21,093	458	184	1994	Politics of Palau
Pacific Ocean			State					1963	Politics of Malaysia
Pacific Ocean			State of Malaysia 1963—1965, became independent in 1965		4,608,167	692.7	267.5	1963	Foreign relations of Singapore
South America	French Guiana		Overseas department		209,000	83,534	32,253	1947	Politics of French Guiana
South America			Gained independence in 1975		475,996	163,270	63,038.9	1951	Politics of Suriname

Notes

• French Establishments in Oceania, 1947, on change of status (now known as French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna Islands; New Caledonia subsequently restored to list)
• Goa and dependencies (Portugal), 1961, in response to the invasion of India (now part of India)
• Hong Kong (United Kingdom), 1972, on change of status (returned to People's Republic of China in 1997)
• Macau (Portugal), 1972, on change of status (returned to People's Republic of China in 1999)
• Panama Canal Zone (United States), 1947, on change of status (Panama requested that Canal Zone be removed from the list; now part of Panama)
• Puerto Rico (United States), 1953, on change of status; however, since 1972, the U.N. Decolonization Committee has called for Puerto Rico's decolonization and for the United States to recognize the island's right to self-determination and independence. Most recently, the Decolonization Committee called for the United Nations General Assembly to review the political status of Puerto Rico, a power reserved by the 1953 Resolution.

Former colonized territories which have become independent states

Continent	Country name	Main administering country	Administering country before change	Population	Area / km2	Area / mi2	Year of change	See also
Asia	Republic of India	Republic of India	British India				1947
Africa							1975
Africa	Basutoland						1966
Africa	Bechuanaland						1966
Africa							1960
Africa	British Somaliland						1960
Africa	British Togoland						1961
Africa							1960
Africa	French Togoland						1960
Africa							1965
Africa							1957
Africa							1958
Africa							1963
Africa							1956
Africa							1975
Africa							1960
Africa							1964
Africa	Nyasaland						1964
Africa	Portuguese Guinea						1973
Africa	São Tomé and Principe	São Tomé and Principe					1975
Africa							1961
Africa							1960
Africa							1980
Africa							1968
Africa							1961
Africa							1956
Africa	Ubangi Shari						1960
Africa							1962
Africa							1963
Atlantic Ocean							1973
Atlantic Ocean							1975
Asia / Middle East							1960
Europe							1964
Caribbean							1981
Caribbean							1966
Caribbean							1978
Caribbean							1974
Caribbean							1962
Caribbean							1983
Caribbean							1979
Caribbean	Saint Vincent						1979
Caribbean							1962
North America							1981
Indian Ocean							1975
Indian Ocean							1960
Indian Ocean							1968
Indian Ocean	Netherlands East Indies						1949
Indian Ocean							1976
Pacific Ocean							1984
Pacific Ocean	Fiji Islands						1970
Pacific Ocean	Gilbert Islands						1979
Pacific Ocean							1990
Pacific Ocean							1990
Pacific Ocean	Netherlands New Guinea						1963
Pacific Ocean	New Guinea						1975
Pacific Ocean							1994
Pacific Ocean	Papua						1975
Pacific Ocean							1978
Pacific Ocean							1962
South America							1966

Notes

• Aden Colony and Protectorate, 1967, on independence from the United Kingdom as South Yemen (also referred to as Democratic Yemen from 1970 to 1990, now part of Yemen)
• Belgian Congo became Republic of the Congo in 1960, Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1964, Zaire in 1971, and again Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1997.
• Cambodia, formerly part of French Indo-China, 1953, on independence from France
• Cameroons French Trust Territory, 1960, on independence from France as Cameroon
• Cameroons British Trust Territory, 1961, on merger with Nigeria and Cameroon
• East Timor, May 20, 2002, on independence from Indonesia, which had ruled it since 1975, the year of its independence from Portugal (now known in the United Nations as Timor-Leste)
• Ellice Islands formerly part of Gilbert & Ellice Islands Colony, 1978, on independence from the United Kingdom as Tuvalu
• Fernando Po and Río Muni, formerly known as Spanish Guinea, 1968, on independence from Spain as Equatorial Guinea
• French Equatorial Africa, 1960, on independence from France as Chad, Congo (now the Republic of the Congo), Central African Republic and Gabon
• French Somaliland, also known as French Territory of the Afars and the Issas, 1977, on independence from France as Djibouti
• French West Africa, 1960, on independence from France as Dahomey (now Benin), Côte d'Ivoire, Mauritania, Niger, French Sudan as the Mali Federation (now Republic of Mali and Senegal), and Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso). French Guinea (now Guinea) achieved independence from French West Africa in 1958.
• Laos (formerly part of French Indo-China), 1949, on independence from France
• Malaya, 1957, on independence from the United Kingdom (now part of Malaysia)
• Nauru, 1968, on independence from United Nations trusteeship administered by Australia on behalf of the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand
• New Hebrides, 1980, on independence from Anglo-French Condominium as Vanuatu
• North Borneo (also known as Sabah), 1963, on joining Malaysia
• Ruanda-Urundi, 1962, on independence from Belgium as Rwanda and Burundi
• Sarawak, 1963, on joining Malaysia
• Singapore, 1963, on joining Malaysia (Singapore became independent from Malaysia in 1965)
• South-West Africa, March 21, 1990, on independence from South Africa as Namibia
• Suriname (Netherlands), 1953, on change of status (now independent as Suriname)
• Vietnam (formerly part of French Indo-China), 1954, on independence from France (known as Viet Nam in the United Nations)

Sources

• Non-Self-Governing Territories listed by General Assembly of the United Nations in 2002.

1. "Tokelau wonders 'What have we done wrong?'", Michael Field, AFP, June 2, 2004
2. "Congratulations Tokelau", National Party press release, October 26, 2007
3. "Colonialism has no place in today's world," says Secretary General in message to Decolonization Seminar in Indonesia", United Nations press release, May 14, 2008
4. "Tokelau decolonization high on agenda", New Zealand Herald, May 17, 2008
5. UN General Assembly Resolution 34/37 and UN General Assembly Resolution 35/19
6. Infobox image in "History" section of "About Greenland", English version of the official country government website. Accessed online 2008-09-28, Sunday.
7. http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/06/greenland-takes-over-courts-police.php
8. SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON DECOLONIZATION CALLS ON UNITED STATES TO EXPEDITE PUERTO RICO’S SELF-DETERMINATION PROCESS - General Assembly GA/COL/3160 - Department of Public Information - June 14, 2007

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

External links

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