Non-Self-Governing Territories
Under Chapter XI of the Charter of the United Nations, the Non-Self-Governing Territories are defined as "territories whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government”. The General Assembly, by its resolution 66 (I) of 14 December 1946, noted a list of 72 Territories to which Chapter XI of the Charter applied. In 1963, the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (also known as the "Special Committee on Decolonization" or the "C-24") approved a preliminary list of Territories to which the Declaration applied (A/5446/Rev.1, annex I). Today, 17 Non-Self-Governing Territories, as listed below, remain on the agenda of the C-24. Member States which have or assume responsibilities for the administration of such Territories are called administering Powers.
Year: Since 1946
Population: 49,710 (2020 census)
Land area: 200 km²
Year: Since 1946
Population: 15,900 (2022 estimate)
Land area: 96 km²
Year: Since 1946
Population: 64,031 (August 2022)
Land area: 53.35 km²
Year: Since 1946
Population: 33,595 (2021)
Land area: 153 km²
Year: Since 1946
Population: 71,105 (2021 estimate)
Land area: 264 km²
Year: Since 1946
Population: 3,662
Land area: 12,173 km²
Year: 1946-1947 and since 2013
Population: 279,550 (2021 estimate, Statistical Bureau of French Polynesia)
Land area: 3,600 km²
Year: Since 1946
Population: 34,003 (2016 data)
Land area: 5.8 km²
Year: Since 1946
Population: 153,836 (2020 estimate)
Land area: 540 km²
Year: Since 1946
Population: 4,275 (2022 estimate)
Land area: 103 km²
Year: 1946-1947 and since 1986
Population: 271,407 (2019 census)
Land area: 18,575 km²
Year: Since 1946
Population: 42 (2022); this figure includes individuals temporarily abroad
Land area: 35.5 km² (Pitcairn Island: 4.35 km²)
Year: Since 1946
Population: 4,220 on Saint Helena (October 2022 estimate); 983 on Ascension (September 2022); and 238 on Tristan da Cunha (November 2022)
Land area: 310 km²
Year: Since 1946
Population: 47,720 (2022 estimate)
Land area: 948.2 km²
Year: Since 1946
Population: 1,647 (2019)
Land area: 12.2 km²
Year: Since 1946
Population: 87,146 (2020 census)
Land area: 352 km²
Year: Since 1963
Population: 612,000
Land area: 266,000 km²
LIST OF NON-SELF-GOVERNING TERRITORIES BY REGION
|
TERRITORY |
LISTING AS NSGT |
ADMINISTERING POWER |
LAND AREA (sq.km.) |
POPULATION [i] |
|
AFRICA |
||||
|
Since 1963 |
266,000 |
612,000 |
||
|
ATLANTIC AND CARIBBEAN |
||||
|
Since 1946 |
United Kingdom |
96 |
15,900 |
|
|
Since 1946 |
United Kingdom |
53.35 |
64,031 |
|
|
Since 1946 |
United Kingdom |
153 |
33,595 |
|
|
Since 1946 |
United Kingdom |
264 |
71,105 |
|
|
Since 1946 |
United Kingdom |
12,173 |
3,662 |
|
|
Since 1946 |
United Kingdom |
103 |
4,275 |
|
|
Since 1946 |
United Kingdom |
310 |
5,441 |
|
|
Since 1946 |
United Kingdom |
948.2 |
47,720 |
|
|
Since 1946 |
United States |
352 |
87,146 |
|
|
EUROPE |
||||
|
Since 1946 |
United Kingdom |
5.8 |
34,003 |
|
|
PACIFIC |
||||
|
Since 1946 |
United States |
200 |
49,710 |
|
|
1946-1947 and since 2013 |
France |
3,600 |
279,550 |
|
|
Since 1946 |
United States |
540 |
153,836 |
|
|
1946-1947 and since 1986 |
France |
18,575 |
271,407 |
|
|
Since 1946 |
United Kingdom |
35.5 |
42 |
|
|
Since 1946 |
New Zealand |
12.2 |
1,647 |
|
(Last updated: 4 August 2023)
[i] All data is from United Nations Secretariat 2020 Working Papers on Non-Self-Governing Territories, and for Western Sahara, from UNdata, a database by the United Nations Statistics Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations.
[ii] On 26 February 1976, Spain informed the Secretary-General that as of that date it had terminated its presence in the Territory of the Sahara and deemed it necessary to place on record that Spain considered itself thenceforth exempt from any responsibility of any international nature in connection with the administration of the Territory, in view of the cessation of its participation in the temporary administration established for the Territory. In 1990, the General Assembly reaffirmed that the question of Western Sahara was a question of decolonization which remained to be completed by the people of Western Sahara.
[iii] A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas).