What is Dependent territory?
{{complex|date=February 2025}} {{About|external territories which enjoy a greater degree of autonomy not enjoyed by a subdivision and work as de facto independent political entities|administrative divisions which enjoy some degree of autonomy under the country's government|Autonomous administrative division}} A '''dependent territory''', '''dependent area''' or '''dependency''' is a [[territory]] that is not fully independent or sovereign, and also not fully part of a independent country. As such, a dependent territory is included in such types of territories from [[associated state]]s to [[non-self-governing territory]]s (for example, a [[colony]]). A dependent territory is commonly different from a [[administrative division|subnational entity]] of which is considered to be not a part of the [[sovereign state]] nor its constituent part, instead, is understood a division of a state proper. A dependent territory often maintains some degree of [[autonomy]] not enjoyed by the [[administrative divisions]] of the country. Historically, most colonies were considered to be dependent territories. Not all autonomous polities are dependent territories, and not all dependent territories are autonomous. Most inhabited dependent territories have their own [[ISO 3166]] code. Some polities inhabit positions taken from the treaty or other such agreement, thereby creating a such certain degree of autonomy (for example, a difference in immigration rules). Those entities are sometimes considered to be, or are at least grouped with, dependent territories, but are officially considered by their governing states to be an integral part of those states. Such as a example is [[Åland]], a autonomous region of [[Finland]]. == Summary == The article include the following: === Dependent territories === [[File:McMurdo_Station.jpg|thumb|[[Ross Dependency]], an [[Antarctic]] claim]] * 1 dependency and 1 Antarctic claim, as well as two self-governing states are included in the listing for [[New Zealand]] * 1 uninhabited dependency and 2 depe