The United Nations maintains a list of territories that do not govern themselves. The list is prepared by the Special Committee on Decolonization and presented to the General Assembly. This list is called the . Only permanently inhabited territories are considered for inclusion in this list.
United Nations emphasise that the list is one that draws its origins from the period of Colonialism . Thus, Western Sahara is included not solely on the grounds that it is under Moroccan occupation (and seen as an integral part of the Kingdom) but also because it was a former Spanish colony. The same can be said about the situation of Namibia (excluded in 1990), which was seen, due to its former status as a Mandate Territory , as a vestige of German Colonial Legacy in Africa . According to this criterion of pertaining to the process of Decolonisation , criticism from many activists, most notable of which are pro- Tibetan activists, is found groundless.
The list, however, remains controversial. One reason for this is the fact that it includes many dependencies that have democratically elected to maintain their territorial status, and rejected independence (or in some cases the parent state periodically organizes referenda, as in the United States Virgin Islands , but there is insufficient voter interest), while other non-self-determining areas (many of the French Overseas Territories ) are excluded. Another is that a number of the listed territories, such as Bermuda , also consider themselves completely autonomous and self-governing, with the mother nation being granted a limited number of responsibilities - such as defence and diplomacy - that are often still handled by the territory. Many critics charge the Committee that drafts this list of using it as a purely ulterior political instrument. This list also does not include Kurdistan .
It is worth noting that territories which 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, but rather their populations are assumed to have agreed to Merge with their former parent state.
On December 2 1986 , New Caledonia , then a '' Territoire D'outre-mer '', was included in the list, an act that caused protest from France . New Caledonia is the first and only French territory present in the list although it has been enjoying the status of a '' Collectivité Sui Generis '' since 1999, a unique one in the Republic and its Territorial Congress holds the right, since the 1998 Nouméa Accords , to call for a referendum on independence after 2014.
''19XX is the year of removal from the List of non-self-governing territories''
- Alaska , 1959, on statehood
- Cocos (Keeling) Islands , 1984, on change of status
- Cook Islands , 1965, on change of status
- French Establishments in India, 1947, on change of status
- French Establishments in Oceania , 1947, on change of status
- French Guiana , 1947, on change of status
- Goa and dependancies, 1961, on change of status
- Greenland , 1954, on change of status
- Guadeloupe , 1947, on change of status
- Hawaii , 1959, on statehood
- Hong Kong , 1972, on change of status
- Ifni , 1969, on change of status
- Macau , 1972, on change of status
- Martinique , 1947, on change of status
- Netherlands Antilles , 1951, on change of status
- Niue , 1974, on change of status
- Northern Mariana Islands , 1990, on determination of Commonwealth status
- Panama Canal Zone , 1947, on change of status
- Réunion , 1947, on change of status
- São João Baptista De Ajudá , 1961, on change of status
- Saint Pierre Et Miquelon , 1947, on change of status
- Suriname , 1951, on change of status
- Aden Colony, 1969, on independence from Great Britain as South Yemen
- Angola , 1975, on independence from Portugal
- Antigua And Barbuda , 1981, on independence from Great Britain
- Bahamas , 1973, on independence from Great Britain
- Barbados , 1966, on independence from Great Britain
- Basutoland , 1966, on independence from Great Britain as Lesotho
- Bechuanaland , 1966, on independence from Great Britain as Botswana
- Belgian Congo , 1960, on independence from Belgium
- British Guiana , 1966, on independence from Great Britain as Guyana
- British Honduras , 1981, on independence from Great Britain as Belize
- British Somaliland , 1960, on independence from Great Britain as part of Somalia
- British Togoland , 1961, on independence from Great Britain as part of Ghana
- Brunei , 1984, on independence from Great Britain
- Cambodia , 1953, on indepandence from France
- Cameroon French Trust Territory, 1960, on independence from France as Cameroon
- Cameroon British Trust Territory, 1961, on merger with Nigeria and Cameroon
- Cape Verde , 1975, on independence from Portugal
- Comores , 1975, on independence from France
- Congo , 1960, on independence from France
- Cyprus , 1960, on independence from Great Britain
- Dominica , 1978, on independence from Great Britain
- East Timor , May 20 2002 , on independence from Indonesia
- Ellice Islands , 1978, on independence from Great Britain as Tuvalu
- Fernando Póo and Río Muni , 1968, on independence from Spain as Equatorial Guinea
- Fiji Islands, 1970, on independence from Great Britain
- French Equatorial Africa , 1960, on independence from France as Chad and Gabon
- French Niger, 1960, on independence from France as Niger , Senegal and Upper Volta
- French Somaliland , 1977, on independence from France as Djibouti
- French Sudan , 1960, on independence from France as Mali , Ivory Coast and Mauritania
- French Togoland , 1960, on independence from France as Togo
- French West Africa , 1960, on independence from France as Dahomey
- Gambia , 1965, on independence from Great Britain
- Gilbert Islands , 1979, on independence from Great Britain as Kiribati
- Gold Coast , 1957, on independence from Great Britain as Ghana
- Grenada , 1974, on independence from Great Britain
- Guinea , 1958, on independence from France
- Jamaica , 1962, on independence from Great Britain
- Kenya , 1963, on independence from Great Britain
- Laos , 1949, on independence from France
- Madagascar , 1960, on independence from France
- Malaya , 1957, on independence from Great Britain
- Malta , 1964, on independence from Great Britain
- Marshall Islands 1990, on independence from the United States
- Mauritius , 1968, on independence from Great Britain
- Micronesia 1990, on independence from the United States
- Morocco , 1956, on independence from France
- Mozambique , 1975, on independence from Portugal
- Nauru , 1968, on independence from the United States
- Netherlands Indies , 1949, on independence from the Netherlands as Indonesia
- Netherlands New Guinea , 1949, on independence from the Netherlands as part of Indonesia
- New Guinea , 1975, on independence from Australia as Papua New Guinea
- New Hebrides , 1980, on independence from Anglo-French Condominium as Vanuatu
- Nigeria , 1960, on independence from Great Britain
- North Borneo , 1963, on joining the Federation of Malaysia
- Northern Rhodesia , 1964, on independence from Great Britain as Zambia
- Nyasaland , 1964, on independence from Great Britain as Malawi
- Palau (removed 1994, on independence from the United States )
- Papua , 1975, on independence from Australia as Papua New Guinea
- Portuguese Guinea , 1974, on independence from Portugal as Guinea-Bissau
- Ruanda-Urundi , 1962, on independence from Belgium as Rwanda and Burundi
- Sao Tome And Principe , 1975, on independence from Portugal
- Saint Kitts-Nevis , 1983, on independence from Great Britain
- Saint Lucia , 1979, on independence from Great Britain
- Saint Vincent , 1979, on independence from Great Britain
- Sarawak , 1963, on joining the Federation of Malaysia
- Seychelles , 1976, on independence from Great Britain
- Sierra Leone , 1961, on independence from Great Britain
- Singapore , 1963/1965, on independence from Great Britain
- Solomon Islands , 1978, on independence from Great Britain
- Somaliland , 1960, on independence from Italy as part of Somalia
- Southern Rhodesia , 1980, on independence as Zimbabwe
- South-West Africa , March 21 1990 , on independence from South Africa as Namibia
- Swaziland , 1968, on independence from Great Britain
- Tanganyika , 1963, on independence from Great Britain as part of United Republic Of Tanganyika And Zanzibar
- Trinidad And Tobago , 1962, on independence from Great Britain
- Tunisia , 1956, on independence from France
- Ubangi Shari , 1960, on independence from France as Central African Republic
- Uganda , 1962, on independence from Great Britain
- Vietnam , 1945, on independence from France
- Western Samoa , 1962, on independence from the United States
- Zanzibar , 1963, on independence from Great Britain as part of United Republic Of Tanganyika And Zanzibar
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