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A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In
international politics International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the Scientific method, scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities betwe ...
, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an administrative division is usually an area that is under the jurisdiction of a sovereign state. As a subdivision a territory is in most
countries A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state (polity), state, nation, or other polity, political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, so ...
an organized division of an area that is controlled by a country but is not formally developed into, or incorporated into, a political unit of the country that is of equal status to other political units that may often be referred to by words such as "provinces" or "regions" or "states". In its narrower sense, it is "a geographic region, such as a colonial possession, that is dependent on an external government."


Etymology

The origins of the word "territory" begin with the Proto-Indo-European root ''ters'' ('to dry'). From this emerged the Latin word ''terra'' ('earth, land') and later the Latin word ''territorium'' ('land around a town'). Territory made its debut as a word in Middle English during the 14th century. At this point the suffix -orium, which denotes place, was replaced with -ory which also expresses place.


Types

Examples for different types of territory include the following: * Capital territory *
Dependent territory 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, yet remains politically outside the controlli ...
* Disputed territory, a geographic area claimed by two or more rival governments. For example, the territory of
Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...
is claimed by the governments of both India and Pakistan; for each country involved in the dispute, the whole territory is claimed as a part of the existing state. Another example is the
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
(commonly labeled "Taiwan"), whose sovereignty status is disputed by and territory claimed by the People's Republic of China. *
Federal territory A federal territory is an administrative division under the direct and usually exclusive jurisdiction of a federation's national government. A federal territory is a part of a federation, but not a part of any federated state. The states constit ...
*
Maritime territory Maritime territory is a term used in international law to denote coastal waters which are not Territorial Waters though in immediate contact with the sea. In the case of Territorial Waters, the dominion of the adjacent state is subject to a limit ...
*
Occupied territory Military occupation, also known as belligerent occupation or simply occupation, is the effective military control by a ruling power over a territory that is outside of that power's sovereign territory.Eyāl Benveniśtî. The international law ...
, a region that is under the military control of an outside power that has not gained universal recognition from the
international community The international community is an imprecise phrase used in geopolitics and international relations to refer to a broad group of people and governments of the world. As a rhetorical term Aside from its use as a general descriptor, the term is ...
. Current examples are Crimea, occupied by the Russian Federation;
East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the sector of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to the western sector of the city, West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Jerusalem was envisaged as a separat ...
, the
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
, the Golan Heights, and the West Bank, occupied by the
State of Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
; Western Sahara, partially occupied by the
Kingdom of Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
. Other examples of occupied territory include the country of Kuwait after it was briefly invaded by Iraq in 1990, Iraq after the American invasion of 2003, Germany after World War II, and Kosovo after 1999. * Overseas territory *
Unorganized territory Unorganized territory may refer to: * An unincorporated area in any number of countries * One of the current or former territories of the United States that has not had a government "organized" with an "organic act" by the U.S. Congress * Unorganize ...
, a region of land without a "normally" constituted system of government. This does not mean that the territory has no government at all or that it is an
unclaimed territory ''Terra nullius'' (, plural ''terrae nullius'') is a Latin expression meaning " nobody's land". It was a principle sometimes used in international law to justify claims that territory may be acquired by a state's occupation of it. : : ...
. In practice, such territories are always sparsely populated.


Capital territory

A capital territory or federal capital territory is usually a specially designated territory where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in the
federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...
model of government, no one state or territory takes pre-eminence because the
capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
lies within its borders. A capital territory can be one specific form of federal district. * In
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, the capital
Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
lies within the Australian Capital Territory and was originally called the FCT. * The National Capital Territory of Delhi is where New Delhi, the capital of India, is located. * Nigeria has its capital
Abuja Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...
in the
Federal Capital Territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...
. * In Pakistan, the capital city Islamabad lies within the Islamabad Capital Territory. * In the United States, the capital city Washington lies within the District of Columbia.


Dependent territory

A dependent territory is a territory that is not an independent sovereign state, yet remains politically outside the governing state's integral area. Presently, all dependent territories are either overseas territories or non-sovereign associated states. Only four countries currently possess dependent territories: New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Examples include: * Tokelau is a non-self-governing territory of New Zealand. * Bouvet Island is an uninhabited dependent territory of Norway. * The three Crown Dependencies are self-governing possessions of the
British Crown The Crown is the state (polity), state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, British Overseas Territories, overseas territories, Provinces and territorie ...
similar to freely associated states, not parts of the United Kingdom itself nor of any of its four constituent countries. * American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the
U.S. Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...
are
unincorporated territories Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions overseen by the federal government of the United States. The various American territories differ from the U.S. states and tribal reservations as they are not sover ...
of the United States with varying degrees of local autonomy.


Federal territory

A federal territory is an area within the direct and usually exclusive jurisdiction of the central or national government within a federation.


Australia

Australia has ten
federal territories A federal territory is an administrative division under the direct and usually exclusive jurisdiction of a federation's national government. A federal territory is a part of a federation, but not a part of any federated state. The states constit ...
, out of which three are "internal territories" (the Australian Capital Territory, the Jervis Bay Territory, and the Northern Territory) on
mainland Australia Mainland Australia is the main landmass of the Australian continent, excluding the Aru Islands, New Guinea, Tasmania, and other Australian offshore islands. The landmass also constitutes the mainland of the territory governed by the Commonwealt ...
; and the other seven are "external territories" ( Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, the
Coral Sea Islands The Coral Sea Islands Territory is an external territory of Australia which comprises a group of small and mostly uninhabited tropical islands and reefs in the Coral Sea, northeast of Queensland, Australia. The only inhabited island is W ...
, Heard Island and McDonald Islands,
Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...
, and the '' Australian Antarctic Territory''), which are offshore
dependent territories 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, yet remains politically outside the controlli ...
.


Canada

Canada has three federal territories in addition to its 10 provinces. The territories are officially under the direct control of the federal government and are created by statute (while provinces had constitutional jurisdiction), but in practice they operate similar to provinces. Each territory has a premier, legislative assembly, and Commissioner (who performs a similar role to a lieutenant governor). The territories are, from west to east, the Yukon, the
Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...
, and
Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...
.


Others

* Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria) * Federal Territories of Malaysia * Islamabad Capital Territory (Pakistan) * Territories of the United States * Union Territories of India


Overseas territory

Overseas territory is a broad designation for a territorial entity that is separated from the country that governs it by an ocean. An overseas territory may be either a constituent part of the governing state or a dependent territory. Examples include: * The Faroe Islands and Greenland are overseas autonomous territories of the
Kingdom of Denmark The Danish Realm ( da, Danmarks Rige; fo, Danmarkar Ríki; kl, Danmarkip Naalagaaffik), officially the Kingdom of Denmark (; ; ), is a sovereign state located in Northern Europe and Northern North America. It consists of Denmark, metropolitan ...
that are internally self-governing. * Overseas France includes the five
overseas collectivities The French overseas collectivities (''collectivité d'outre-mer'' or ''COM'') are first-order administrative divisions of France, like the French regions, but have a semi-autonomous status. The COMs include some former French overseas colonie ...
of France, which are broadly autonomous territories, as well as overseas regions and overseas departments, which are essentially the same as the regions and
departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
in Metropolitan France. Nonetheless, all are integral parts of the French Fifth Republic. * The Azores and
Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...
are the Autonomous Regions of Portugal. * The fourteen
British Overseas Territories The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...
are dependent territories of the
British Crown The Crown is the state (polity), state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, British Overseas Territories, overseas territories, Provinces and territorie ...
with varying degrees of self-governance, not parts of the United Kingdom itself nor of any of its four constituent countries. * Non-contiguous U.S. territories, territories cut off from the contiguous United States by foreign land borders and are accessible by sea.


See also

* : Territories under military occupation * List of enclaves and exclaves


References


External links


Peace Palace Library – Research Guide
{{Terms for types of country subdivisions Types of administrative division Types of geographical division