There are about 250 countries in the world today. Most of them have state sovereignty. Others do not have full political or economic independence. These are the so-called dependent countries. A list of such territorial entities can be found in this article. In addition, we will tell about the most interesting of them in more detail.
Dependent territory - what is it?
A territory that has clear boundaries, but does not have state sovereignty, is usually called dependent in political geography. It is usually subject to the jurisdiction of some other state. Moreover, dependent countries can be located hundreds or even thousands of kilometers from their immediate metropolises.
Such territorial formations (the English term is dependent territory) may have the status of autonomies, but they do not have political independence. Territories with the status of “associated territories” enjoy the highest degree of independence.states” (examples are Niue, Cook Islands).
Most often, dependent countries are "fragments" of pre-existing empires. The population of the former colonies, as a rule, has the same civil rights as the inhabitants of the metropolitan states. Local economic and political elites in such countries, as a rule, are still guided by their former colonialists.
Dependent countries of the world and their geography
Where are the countries without state sovereignty located? And how many of them are there? Today, there are more than eight dozen dependent countries and territories in the world. They have a variety of statuses: crown lands, overseas territories, special administrative regions, autonomous regions, and others. The largest and most famous of them are listed below:
- Greenland.
- Puerto Rico.
- Gibr altar.
- Norfolk.
- Isle of Man.
- Bermuda.
- Turks and Caicos.
- Faroe Islands.
- Canary Islands.
- Macau.
- Hong Kong.
- Aruba.
- Tokelau.
- Cook Islands.
- Guam.
- Madeira.
- French Guiana.
- Azores.
On the world map, all these territories are located extremely unevenly. Most of them are in Oceania and Central America, and least of all - in Asia. The largest number of dependent territories today are owned by such states as Great Britain, France, the USA, the Netherlands and Spain.
Greenland
Greenland is a huge island belonging to the Kingdom of Denmark. HeIt is located between Europe and North America and is washed by the waters of two oceans at once - the Atlantic and the Arctic. This is the largest island in the world. It is 50 times larger than Denmark itself, but only 50,000 people live here. The reason is the extremely cold climate.
Three-quarters of the island is covered with a powerful ice shell. If it completely melted, then the level of the World Ocean would rise by seven meters! People live here only on a narrow southwestern strip of the coast, free of ice. These are predominantly Inuit (local Greenlandic Eskimos), as well as Danes and other Europeans.
Gibr altar
Gibr altar is an overseas possession of Great Britain, located on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula. This territory occupies a strategically important position, as it controls the Strait of Gibr altar - the only exit from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. Today, the NATO naval base is located here.
Gibr altar is located on a tiny patch of rocky sea coast. The area of the country is only 6.5 square kilometers. About 30 thousand people live in this territory, which makes Gibr altar one of the most densely populated countries in the world.
Azores
The Azores is an autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, consisting of nine small islands. Finding the Azores on a map is easy. They are located 1500 kilometers west of the city of Lisbon.
Today, the archipelago attracts the attention of divers, cyclists, and lovers of a relaxing beach holiday. About 245,000 people live on the islands, half of which live on the "capital" island of Sao Miguel.
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico is a US dependent territory with the status of a "free associated state". This is a fairly large island located in the Caribbean Sea. Initially, it belonged to Spain, but in 1898 it was recaptured by the American army. Today, every person born in Puerto Rico receives US citizenship. However, Puerto Ricans are not eligible to run for US President.
Today, the petrochemical industry, pharmaceuticals and agriculture are developed in Puerto Rico. An important component of the economy is tourism, which brings the "51st state" about $ 2 billion annually.
What else can you say about this island? All Puerto Ricans are obsessed with salsa and rum. In addition, it was in Puerto Rico that the legendary Pina Colada was invented.
Hong Kong
When talking about dependent countries and territories, one cannot fail to mention Hong Kong. This is a special administrative region within China, one of the main financial centers not only in Asia, but throughout the world. This country has its own currency - the Hong Kong dollar.
More than 7 million people live in modern Hong Kong. They are mostly Chinese, although many Hong Kongers do not consider themselves as such. local economybased on low tax rates and free market principles. It was in Hong Kong that the very first skyscrapers in all of China were erected.
In general, Hong Kong is more European than Chinese. This is especially evident in the mentality of its inhabitants. The explanation for this phenomenon is simple - for almost a hundred years this territory was rented by the British Kingdom. By the way, traffic in Hong Kong is on the left, just like in distant England.
