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Overseas Territories around the World

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Maps of UK, US, France and Australia Exclusive Economic Zones [EEZ]This is a handy list featuring all overseas territories and dependencies around the World. This extensive list includes an incredible 78 territories, but many of these territories also contain multiple territories within themselves – such as multiple island groups administered together for handiness.

Many of these territories are the residue of the past global colonisation by European powers, but there are some listed which represent the new imperialistic intentions of the West, most notably the United States.

This list includes inhabited and uninhabited territories, comprising of reefs, islands and areas of continental landmass. Some of these dependencies operate almost independently, others have some autonomy, whilst the remainder are administered by the governing nation.

All of these foreign dependencies represent strategic and/or economic importance to their governing nation, and they can also potentially hold the same importance to other nearby nations in some cases too, which can lead to disputes over these territories.

According to the United Nations’ Law of the Sea, those who govern a territory have control over underwater/underground exploration – and the control of marine resources – up to 200 nautical miles from its coast. This area is called the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Full List of Overseas Territories

Overseas Dependency Continent(s) Governing Nation(s)
Akrotiri and Dhekelia Europe / Asia United Kingdom
Aland Islands Europe Finland
American Samoa Oceania United States
Anguilla North America United Kingdom
Argentine Antarctica [3] Antarctica Argentina
Aruba North America Netherlands
Ashmore & Cartier Islands [3] Oceania Australia
Australian Antarctic Territory [3] Antarctica Australia
Bajo Nuevo Bank (Petrel Islands) [3] North America United States / Colombia [1]
Bonaire North America Netherlands
Bouvet Island [3] Antarctica Norway
Bermuda North America United Kingdom
British Antarctic Territory [3] Antarctica United Kingdom
British Indian Ocean Territory Asia United Kingdom
British Virgin Islands North America United Kingdom
Cayman Islands North America United Kingdom
Ceuta Africa Spain
Chilean Antarctic Territory [3] Antarctica Chile
Christmas Island Asia Australia
Clipperton Island [3] North America France
Cocos (Keeling) Islands Asia Australia
Cook Islands [2] Oceania New Zealand
Coral Sea Islands [3] Oceania Australia
Curacao North America Netherlands
Easter Island Oceania Chile
Falkland Islands South America United Kingdom
Faroe Islands Europe Denmark
Federated States of Micronesia [5] Oceania United States
French Guiana (Guyane) South America France
French Polynesia Oceania France
French Southern & Antarctic Lands [3] Africa / Antarctica / Asia / Oceania France
Guernsey Europe United Kingdom
Gibraltar Europe United Kingdom
Greenland North America Denmark
Guadeloupe North America France
Guam Oceania United States
Heard Island & McDonald Islands [3] Antarctica Australia
Isle of Man Europe United Kingdom
Hawaii [6] Oceania United States
Hong Kong [4] Asia China
Jan Mayen [3] Europe Norway
Jersey Europe United Kingdom
Macau [4] Asia China
Madeira Africa Portugal
Marshall Islands [5] Oceania United States
Martinique North America France
Mayotte Africa France
Melilla Africa Spain
Montserrat North America United Kingdom
Navassa Island [3] North America United States
New Caledonia Oceania France
Niue [2] Oceania New Zealand
Norfolk Island Oceania Australia
Northern Mariana Islands Oceania United States
Palau [5] Oceania United States
Peter I Island [3] Antarctica Norway
Puerto Rico North America United States
Pitcairn Islands Oceania United Kingdom
Queen Maud Land [3] Antarctica Norway
Réunion Africa France
Ross Dependency [3] Antarctica New Zealand
Saba North America Netherlands
Saint Barthélemy North America France
Saint Helena, Ascension & Tristan da Cunha Africa United Kingdom
Saint Martin North America France
Saint Pierre & Miquelon North America France
San Andrés y Providencia North America Colombia
Serranilla Bank [3] North America United States / Colombia [1]
Sint Eustatius North America Netherlands
Sint Maarten North America Netherlands
South Georgia & The South Sandwich Islands [3] South America United Kingdom
Svalbard Europe Norway
Tokelau Oceania New Zealand
Turks & Caicos Islands North America United Kingdom
US Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges (Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands, Palmyra Atoll) [3] Oceania United States
US Virgin Islands North America United States
Wake Island [3] Oceania United States
Wallis and Futuna Oceania France

[1] Both the United States and Colombia claim ownership, and both administer them seperately.

[2] This is an independent self-governing nation, but in a free association with New Zealand. New Zealand holds some control over external and defence matters.

[3] No permanent population.

[4] Hong Kong and Macau are ‘Special Administrative Regions’ administered by China. You will find lots of datasets on this website which include them as individual stand alone countries, due to a combination of having a history of being treated as such, their population sizes and their precieved status within the international community. Hong Kong was handed over to China by the United Kingdom in 1997, and Macau was handed over by Portugal in 1999 to China.

[5] This is an independent self-governing nation, but in a free association with the United States, which controls defence, social services, and funding grants.

[6] Hawaii is considered a state within the United States, and it may be inaccurate to call it an ‘overseas dependency’, but it is an overseas territory. 

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  • The Most Re-Forested Countries in The World

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    This is a list of Global nations, listed by the amount of land (km2) that has been reforested, between 1990 and 2010, the latest data available.

    The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) state that they put together this dataset approximately every 5 to 10 years, so it is unclear as to when a new dataset will be released.

    Please note – the following table is best viewed on tablets or full-sized screens. It may not be 100% viewable on some mobile devices due to its formatting, although if you rotate your mobile screen to view it horizontally, that may do the trick!

    World Forestation Chart

    Country km2 Forested – 1990 [1] km2 Forested – 2010 [1] % Change
    1 Iceland 90 300 233.3
    2 French Polynesia 550 1,550 181.8
    3 Bahrain 0 10 100.0
    4 Kuwait 30 60 100.0
    5 Puerto Rico 2,870 5,520 92.3
    6 Uruguay 9,200 17,440 89.6
    7 Egypt 440 700 59.1
    8 Republic of Ireland 4,650 7,390 58.9
    9 Tunisia 6,430 10,060 56.5
    10 Vietnam 93,630 137,970 47.4
    11 Cape Verde 580 850 46.6
    12 Cuba 20,580 28,700 39.5
    13 Rwanda 3,180 4,350 36.8
    14 Syria 3,720 4,910 32.0
    15 China 1,571,410 2,068,610 31.6
    16 Samoa 1,300 1,710 31.5
    17 Spain 138,180 181,730 31.5
    18 United Arab Emirates 2,450 3,170 29.4
    19 Denmark 4,450 5,440 22.2
    20 Moldova 3,190 3,860 21.0
    21 Italy 75,900 91,490 20.5
    22 Swaziland 4,720 5,630 19.3
    23 Greece 32,990 39,030 18.3
    24 Bulgaria 33,270 39,270 18.0
    25 Serbia 23,130 27,130 17.3
    26 Turkey 96,800 113,340 17.1
    27 Israel 1,320 1,540 16.7
    28 Philippines 65,700 76,650 16.7
    29 Kyrgyzstan 8,360 9,540 14.1
    30 Hungary 18,010 20,290 12.7
    31 Lithuania 19,450 21,600 11.1
    32 Belarus 77,800 86,300 10.9
    33 United Kingdom 26,110 28,810 10.3
    34 Norway 91,300 100,650 10.2
    35 Lesotho 400 440 10.0
    36 France 145,370 159,540 9.7
    37 Macedonia 9,120 9,980 9.4
    38 Gambia 4,420 4,800 8.6
    39 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 250 270 8.0
    40 Switzerland 11,510 12,400 7.7
    41 Uzbekistan 30,450 32,760 7.6
    42 Republic of Cyprus 1,610 1,730 7.5
    43 New Zealand 77,200 82,690 7.1
    44 Bhutan 30,350 32,490 7.1
    45 India 639,390 684,340 7.0
    46 Saint Lucia 440 470 6.8
    47 Cook Islands 150 160 6.7
    48 Fiji 9,530 10,140 6.4
    49 Chile 152,630 162,310 6.3
    50 Estonia 20,900 22,170 6.1
    51 Netherlands 3,450 3,650 5.8
    52 Latvia 31,730 33,540 5.7
    53 Slovenia 11,880 12,530 5.5
    54 Palau 380 400 5.3
    55 Poland 88,810 93,370 5.1
    56 Ukraine 92,740 97,050 4.6
    57 Lebanon 1,310 1,370 4.6
    58 Portugal 33,270 34,560 3.9
    59 Croatia 18,500 19,200 3.8
    60 Sweden 272,810 282,030 3.4
    61 Romania 63,710 65,730 3.2
    62 Germany 107,410 110,760 3.1
    63 Austria 37,760 38,870 2.9
    64 Iraq 8,040 8,250 2.6
    65 United States 2,963,350 3,040,220 2.6
    66 Ivory Coast 102,220 104,030 1.8
    67 Morocco 50,490 51,310 1.6
    68 Costa Rica 25,640 26,050 1.6
    69 Finland 218,890 221,570 1.2
    70 Luxembourg 860 870 1.2
    71 Réunion 870 880 1.1
    72 Czech Republic 26,290 26,570 1.1
    73 Slovakia 19,220 19,330 0.6
    74 Tajikistan 4,080 4,100 0.5
    75 Belgium 6,770 6,780 0.1
    76 Japan 249,500 249,790 0.1
    77 Russia 8,089,500 8,090,900 0.0

    Global Countries With No Change In Overall Forested Area Between 1990 and 2010

    Country km2 Forested in both 1990 and 2010 [1]
    Afghanistan 13,500
    American Samoa 180
    Andorra 160
    Anguilla 60
    Antigua and Barbuda 100
    Aruba 0
    Azerbaijan 9,360
    Bahamas 5,150
    Barbados 80
    Bermuda 10
    British Virgin Islands 40
    Canada 3,101,340
    Cayman Islands 130
    Djibouti 60
    Dominican Republic 19,720
    Falkland Islands 0
    Faeroe Islands 0
    Gabon 220,000
    Gibraltar 0
    Greenland 0
    Grenada 170
    Guam 260
    Guernsey 0
    Guyana 152,050
    Iran 110,750
    Isle of Man 30
    Jersey 10
    Jordan 980
    Kiribati 120
    Libya 2,170
    Liechtenstein 70
    Maldives 10
    Malta 0
    Marshall Islands 130
    Martinique 490
    Micronesia 640
    Monaco 0
    Montenegro 5,430
    Nauru 0
    Netherlands Antilles 10
    New Caledonia 8,390
    Norfolk Island 0
    Occupied Palestinian Territory 90
    Oman 20
    Pitcairn 40
    Qatar 0
    Saint Helena 20
    Saint Kitts and Nevis 110
    Saint Pierre and Miquelon 30
    San Marino 0
    Sao Tome and Principe 270
    Saudi Arabia 9,770
    Seychelles 410
    Singapore 20
    South Africa 92,410
    Tokelau 0
    Tonga 90
    Turkmenistan 41,270
    Turks and Caicos Islands 340
    Tuvalu 10
    Vanuatu 4,400
    Vatican City 0
    Wallis and Futuna Islands 60
    Western Sahara 7,070
    Yemen 5,490

    [1] “ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATORS: Forests” United Nations Statistics Division – Statistics compiled by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Last updated by the United Nations in December 2010, last retrieved by BlatantWorld.com on 21 January 2015.

    Forest includes natural forests and forest plantations. It is used to refer to land with a tree canopy cover of more than 10 per cent and area of more than 0.5 ha. Forests are determined both by the presence of trees and the absence of other predominant land uses. The trees should be able to reach a minimum height of 5 m. Young stands that have not yet but are expected to reach a crown density of 10 percent and tree height of 5 m are included under forest, as are temporarily unstocked areas. The term includes forests used for purposes of production, protection, multiple-use or conservation (i.e. forest in national parks, nature reserves and other protected areas), as well as forests stands on agricultral lands (e.g. windbreaks and shelterbelts of trees with a width of more than 20 m), and rubberwood plantations and cork oak stands. The term specifically excludes stands of trees established primarily for agricultural production, for example fruit tree plantations. It also excludes trees planted in agroforestry systems.

    Data Quality: Although there is an agreed and clear definition of forest, not all countries apply this definition. In many northern countries, areas with a crown cover of less than 20% are not considered as real forest land. ‘Temporarily unstocked areas’ refer to areas that have been designated as forest area, but not yet planted, or more often, areas where storm or fire has removed a large part of the forest cover. Unless aggressively restocked with trees, such areas can take a long time to re-establish forests naturally. 

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