Editing Dependent territory (section)

==Description==
[[File:Bora Bora ISS006.jpg|thumb|[[Bora Bora]] Island, [[French Polynesia]]]]
[[File:DG Ariel Plantation.jpg|thumb|Diego Garcia Island, [[British Indian Ocean Territory]]]]

Three [[Crown Dependencies]] are in a form of association with the United Kingdom. They are independently administrated jurisdictions, although the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British Government]] is solely responsible for defence and international representation and has ultimate responsibility for ensuring good government. They do not have diplomatic recognition as independent states, but neither are they integrated into the UK. The [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|UK Parliament]] retains the ability to legislate for the crown dependencies even without the agreement of their legislatures. No crown dependency has representation in the UK Parliament.

Although they are [[British Overseas Territories]], [[Bermuda]] and [[Gibraltar]] have similar relationships to the UK as do the Crown Dependencies. While the United Kingdom is officially responsible for their defence and international representation, these jurisdictions maintain their own militaries and have been granted limited diplomatic powers, in addition to having internal self-government.

New Zealand and its dependencies share the same [[Governor-General of New Zealand|governor-general]] and constitute one monarchic [[Realm of New Zealand|realm]]. The [[Cook Islands]] and [[Niue]] are officially termed [[associated state]]s.

[[Puerto Rico]] (since 1952) and the [[Northern Mariana Islands]] (since 1986) are non-independent states freely associated with the United States. 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. The covenant was fully implemented on November 3, 1986, under Presidential Proclamation no. 5564, which conferred [[Citizenship of the United States|U.S. citizenship]] on legally qualified CNMI residents.<ref>{{cite web|title=Northern Mariana Islands at the CIA's page|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/northern-mariana-islands/|publisher=CIA|access-date=2010-07-15|author=CIA|date=2010-07-15}}</ref> Under the [[Constitution of Puerto Rico]], Puerto Rico is described as a Commonwealth and Puerto Ricans have a degree of [[autonomous administrative division|administrative autonomy]] similar to that of a citizen of a [[U.S. state]]. Puerto Ricans "were collectively made [[Citizenship of the United States#Birthright citizenship|U.S. citizens]]" in 1917, as a result of the [[Jones–Shafroth Act]].<ref>The Louisiana Purchase and American Expansion: 1803–1898. By Sanford Levinson and Bartholomew H. Sparrow. New York: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers. 2005. Page 166, 178. "U.S. citizenship was extended to residents of Puerto Rico under the Jones Act, chap. 190, 39 Stat. 951 (1971) (codified at 48 U.S.C. § 731 (1987)")</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Puerto Rico at the CIA's page|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/puerto-rico/|publisher=CIA|access-date=2010-07-15|author=CIA|date=2010-07-15}}</ref> The commonly used name in Spanish of the [[Commonwealth (U.S. insular area)|Commonwealth]] of Puerto Rico, ''Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico'', literally "Associated Free State of Puerto Rico", which sounds similar to "free association" particularly when loosely used in Spanish, is sometimes erroneously interpreted to mean that Puerto Rico's relationship with the United States is based on a [[Compact of Free Association]] and at other times is erroneously held to mean that Puerto Rico's relationship with the U.S. is based on an [[Interstate compact]]. 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 [[Politics of Puerto Rico|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."<ref name="FinalReport">{{Cite web|url=http://www.prfaa.com/eng/PuertoRicoBookletFinal.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326093201/http://www.prfaa.com/eng/PuertoRicoBookletFinal.pdf|url-status=dead|title=December 2005 report of the President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status|archive-date=March 26, 2009}}</ref> Puerto Rico does not have the right to unilaterally declare independence, and at the last referendum (1998), the narrow majority voted for "none of the above", which was a formally undefined alternative used by commonwealth supporters to express their desire for an "enhanced commonwealth" option.<ref name="FinalReport"/>

This kind of relationship can also be found in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which is termed a [[federacy]]. The European [[Netherlands|continental part]] is organised like a unitary state. However, the status of its "constituent countries" in the Caribbean ([[Aruba]], [[Curaçao]], and [[Sint Maarten]]) can be considered akin to dependencies<ref name="FactbookNL">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/netherlands/|title=Europe :: Netherlands|website=[[The World Factbook|CIA.gov/Library/Publications/The-World-Factbook]]|publisher=[[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]|date=10 June 2020|access-date=13 July 2020|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="StaveGov">{{cite web|url=https://www.state.gov/dependencies-and-areas-of-special-sovereignty/|title=Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty|website=[[State.gov]]|publisher=[[United States Department of State]]|date=7 March 2017|access-date=13 July 2020|df=dmy-all}}</ref> or "associated non-independent states."

The Kingdom of Denmark also operates similarly, akin to another federacy. The [[Faroe Islands]] and [[Greenland]] are two self-governing territories or regions within the Kingdom. The relationship between Denmark proper and these two territories is semi-officially termed the ''[[Danish Realm|Rigsfællesskabet]]'' ("Unity of the Realm").