Dependent territory
A dependent territory is commonly distinguished from a country subdivision by being considered not to be a constituent part of a sovereign state.
Some political entities inhabit a special position guaranteed by an international treaty or another agreement, thereby creating a certain level of autonomy (e.g. a difference in immigration rules).
The United Kingdom has three "Crown Dependencies", thirteen "Overseas Territories" (ten autonomous, two used primarily as military bases, and one uninhabited), and one Antarctic claim.
It generally does not include entities with no unique autonomy, such as the five overseas departments and regions (French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, and Réunion) of France; the BES islands (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba) of the Netherlands; Jan Mayen of Norway; and Palmyra Atoll of the United States.
Entities with only limited unique autonomy, such as Barbuda of Antigua and Barbuda; Sabah and Sarawak of Malaysia; the two autonomous regions (the Azores and Madeira) of Portugal; Nevis of Saint Kitts and Nevis; the Canary Islands and the two autonomous cities (Ceuta and Melilla) of Spain; Northern Ireland of the United Kingdom; and entities with non-recognized unique autonomy, such as Kurdistan of Iraq; Wa of Myanmar; Gaza of Palestine; Puntland of Somalia; Rojava of Syria; and Zanzibar of Tanzania are also not included.
[citation needed] The People's Republic of China (PRC) has two special administrative regions (SARs) that are governed according to the constitution and respective basic laws.
The SARs greatly differ from Mainland China in administrative, economic, legislative, and judicial terms including by currency, left-hand versus right-hand traffic, official languages, and immigration control.
[28][29] Unlike the country's dependent territory (Bouvet Island) and Antarctic claims (see above), Svalbard is a part of the Kingdom of Norway.
[30] Norway also has one uninhabited remote archipelago located in the Arctic, Jan Mayen, but it is excluded in this list as the island is directly administered by the Nordland County Municipality and none of the considerations established for Svalbard Treaty are attributed to it.
The mutually negotiated Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) in Political Union with the United States was approved in 1976.
This is a constant source of ambiguity and confusion when trying to define, understand, and explain Puerto Rico's political relationship with the United States.
For various reasons Puerto Rico's political status differs from that of the Pacific Islands that entered into Compacts of Free Association with the United States.
As sovereign states, these islands have the full right to conduct their foreign relations, while the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has territorial status subject to U.S. congressional authority under the Constitution's Territory Clause, "to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory… belonging to the United States.
However, the status of its "constituent countries" in the Caribbean (Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten) can be considered akin to dependencies[35][36] or "associated non-independent states."
