Dependency status (2005) | Dependency status (2006) | ||
Aruba | part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; full autonomy in internal affairs obtained in 1986 upon separation from the Netherlands Antilles; Dutch Government responsible for defense and foreign affairs | member country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; full autonomy in internal affairs obtained in 1986 upon separation from the Netherlands Antilles; Dutch Government responsible for defense and foreign affairs | |
Christmas Island | territory of Australia; administered by the Australian Department of Transport and Regional Services | non-self governing territory of Australia; administered by the Australian Department of Transport and Regional Services | |
Cocos (Keeling) Islands | territory of Australia; administered from Canberra by the Australian Department of Transport and Regional Services | non-self governing territory of Australia; administered from Canberra by the Australian Department of Transport and Regional Services | |
Iles Eparses | - | possessions of France; administered by the Senior Administrator of the Territory of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF), resident in Reunion | |
Mayotte | territorial collectivity of France | departmental collectivity of France | |
New Caledonia | overseas territory of France since 1956 | territorial collectivity of France since 1998 | |
Puerto Rico | commonwealth associated with the US | unincorporated, organized territory of the US with commonwealth status; policy relations between Puerto Rico and the US conducted under the jurisdiction of the Office of the President | |
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands | overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina; administered from the Falkland Islands by a commissioner, who is concurrently governor of the Falkland Islands, representing Queen ELIZABETH II; Grytviken, formerly a whaling station on South Georgia, is a scientific base | overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina; administered from the Falkland Islands by a commissioner, who is concurrently governor of the Falkland Islands, representing Queen ELIZABETH II; Grytviken - formerly a whaling station on South Georgia - is a scientific base | |
Tokelau | self-administering territory of New Zealand; note - Tokelauans are drafting a constitution and developing institutions and patterns of self-government as Tokelau moves toward free association with New Zealand | self-administering territory of New Zealand; note - Tokelau and New Zealand have agreed to a draft constitution as Tokelau moves toward free association with New Zealand; a UN sponsored referendum on self-governance, in February 2006, did not produce the two thirds majority vote necessary for changing the current political status | |
United States Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges | - | unincorporated territories of the US; administered from Washington, DC, by the Fish and Wildlife Service of the US Department of the Interior as part of the National Wildlife Refuge system
note on Palmyra Atoll: incorporated Territory of the US; partly privately owned and partly federally owned; administered from Washington, DC, by the Fish and Wildlife Service of the US Department of the Interior; the Office of Insular Affairs of the US Department of the Interior continues to administer nine excluded areas comprising certain tidal and submerged lands within the 12 nm territorial sea or within the lagoon |