Dependent territory

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 states to non-self-governing territorys (for example, a colony).

A dependent territory is commonly different from a 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.