Editing Dependent territory (section)

{{Short description|Territory that does not possess full political independence as a sovereign state}}
{{About|external territories which have a greater degree of autonomy from their parent state and function as ''de facto'' independent political entities|subnational administrative divisions which have some degree of autonomy under the national government|Autonomous administrative division}}

{{Forms of government|expanded=Client state}}

A '''dependent territory''', '''dependent area''', or '''dependency''' (sometimes referred as an '''external territory''') is a [[territory]] that does not possess full political [[independence]] or [[sovereignty]] as a [[sovereign state]] and remains politically outside the controlling state's integral area. As such, a dependent territory includes a range of non-integrated not fully to non-independent territory types, from [[associated state]]s to [[United Nations list of non-self-governing territories|non-self-governing territories]] (e.g. a [[colony]]).

A dependent territory is commonly distinguished from a [[administrative division|country subdivision]] by being considered not to be a constituent part of a sovereign state. An administrative subdivision, instead, is understood to be a division of a state proper. A dependent territory, conversely, often maintains a great degree of autonomy from its controlling state. Historically, most colonies were considered to be dependent territories. Not all autonomous entities are considered to be dependent territories.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.un.org/dppa/decolonization/en/history/international-trusteeship-system-and-trust-territories|title=International Trusteeship System and Trust Territories &#124; The United Nations and Decolonization|website=United Nations }}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=October 2020}} Most inhabited, dependent territories have their own [[ISO 3166]] country codes.

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). Those entities are sometimes considered to be, or are at least grouped with, dependent territories,<ref name="The Trusteeship System and Non-Self-Governing Territories">{{Cite web|url=http://unyearbook.un.org/1960YUN/1960_P1_SEC3_CH4.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320074502/http://unyearbook.un.org/1960YUN/1960_P1_SEC3_CH4.pdf|url-status=dead|title=United Nations General Assembly 15th Session – The Trusteeship System and Non-Self-Governing Territories (pages:509–510)|archive-date=March 20, 2012}}</ref> but are officially considered by their governing states to be an integral part of those states.<ref name="The Trusteeship System and Non-Self-Governing Territories"/> Such an example is [[Åland]], an [[Regions of Finland#Åland|autonomous region of Finland]].