The following entities are, according to the law of their state, integral parts of the state but exhibit many characteristics of dependent territories. This list is generally limited to entities that are either subject to an international treaty on their status, uninhabited, or have a unique level of autonomy and are largely self-governing in matters other than international affairs. 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
Kurdistan of Iraq—and entities with non-recognized unique autonomy—such as
Wa of Myanmar;
Gaza of Palestine;
Puntland of Somalia;
Zapatista of Mexico; and
The autonomous administration north and east Syria of Syria—are also not included. All claims in Antarctica are listed in
italics.
Australia Australia has six external territories in its administration and one Antarctic claim. Debate remains as to whether the external territories are integral parts of Australia, due to their not being part of Australia in 1901, when its constituent states federated (with the exception of the
Coral Sea Islands, which was a part of
Queensland). Norfolk Island was self-governing from 1979 to 2016. The external territories are often grouped separately from Australia proper for statistical purposes.
China 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. Although the PRC does claim sovereignty over
Taiwan (governed by the
Republic of China), it is not listed here as the PRC government does not have
de facto control of the territory.
Denmark The
Kingdom of Denmark contains two autonomous territories with their own governments and legislatures, and input into foreign affairs.
Finland Finland has one
autonomous region that is also subject to international treaties.
France France has overseas six autonomous collectivities and two uninhabited territories (one of which includes an Antarctic claim). This does not include its "standard"
overseas regions (which are also overseas
departments) of
French Guiana,
Guadeloupe,
Martinique,
Mayotte, and
Réunion. Although also located overseas, they have the same status as the regions of
metropolitan France. Nonetheless, all of France's overseas territory is considered an integral part of the
French Republic.
Netherlands The Kingdom of the Netherlands comprises three autonomous "constituent countries" in the Caribbean (listed below) and one constituent country, the
Netherlands, with most of its area in Europe but also encompassing three
overseas Caribbean municipalities—
Bonaire,
Sint Eustatius, and
Saba (these three
Caribbean municipalities are excluded here because they are directly administered by the
Government of the Netherlands). All citizens of the Dutch Kingdom share the same nationality and are thus
citizens of the European Union, but only the European portion of the Kingdom is a part of the territory of the Union, the
Customs Union, and the
Eurozone while other areas have
overseas countries and territory status.
Norway Norway has, in the Arctic, one inhabited archipelago with restrictions placed on Norwegian sovereignty —
Svalbard. Unlike the country's dependent territory (
Bouvet Island) and Antarctic claims (
see above), Svalbard is a part of the Kingdom of Norway. 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. ==Description==