Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, United States President Donald Trump said the US needs “ownership” of Greenland to defend itself from adversaries like China and Russia, but said he “won’t use force” to acquire the self-ruling island, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
Across the world, various nations maintain overseas territories which house strategic and military installations, but also for historical, economic and environmental reasons. Many of them are remnants of colonial empires. While many former colonies around the world gained independence in the 20th century, they often chose to maintain their links for economic stability, security or because they were too small to be viable as fully independent nations.
From the British and French overseas territories to the US-owned regions in the Caribbean and the Pacific, these territories exercise varying degrees of self-government and autonomy.
Al Jazeera maps the 10 countries with the most overseas territories.
United Kingdom – 14 territories
The UK has 14 overseas territories located across the Atlantic, Caribbean, Pacific and polar regions.
The inhabited territories include Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar and Montserrat. These are self-governing, with the UK responsible for defence and foreign affairs.
The UK also administers regions which are sparsely populated – the British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, Pitcairn Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, as well as Akrotiri and Dhekelia on Cyprus. These are mainly used for military, scientific and environmental purposes.
The UK recently handed sovereignty of the Chagos Islands in the British Indian Ocean Territory back to Mauritius after a decades-long dispute. This week, Trump strongly criticised this move as “an act of great stupidity”.
In a statement on Monday, an official UK government spokesperson said the decision had been made because the UK-US military base on Diego Garcia was “under threat after court decisions undermined our position and would have prevented it operating as intended in future”. The base is leased to the US but operates as a joint UK-US base.
The UK also has three Crown Dependencies, which, unlike the British Overseas Territories, have never been colonies and are not part of the United Kingdom. They have their own tax systems and courts. The UK is only responsible for their defence and foreign affairs. Crown Dependencies are possessions of the British Crown, owing allegiance to the monarch rather than the UK government.
They include the self-governing Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey near the French Normandy coast. The Isle of Man, located in the Irish Sea between the UK and Ireland, is also a Crown Dependency.
United States – 14 territories
The US has five permanently inhabited territories and nine which are uninhabited, located mainly in the Caribbean and the Pacific.
The inhabited territories are: Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands. Puerto Rico is the most populous and is a self-governing commonwealth. These territories have local governments but limited representation at the federal level.
The US also controls a group of mostly uninhabited islands commonly referred to as the US Minor Outlying Islands, which are primarily used for military or strategic purposes. These are: Baker Island, Howard Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, Navassa Island, Palmyra Atoll and Wake Island.
France – 13 territories
France has 13 overseas territories spread across the Atlantic, Caribbean, Indian Ocean, Pacific and South America. Unlike the UK and US territories, some of these are fully integrated into France as administrative regions, while others are overseas “collectives”.
Five territories – French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte and Reunion – are fully integrated parts of France. They have representatives in the French parliament and use the euro as their currency. French Guiana is home to the Guiana Space Station, where space launches are conducted by several European private companies and government agencies.
France administers French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Wallis and Futuna, Saint Martin and Saint Barthelemy, and Clipperton Island, all of which have varying degrees of autonomy.
France also claims the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, which are uninhabited and used mainly for scientific research and environmental protection. However, some countries such as Mauritius, Madagascar and the Comoros dispute France’s sovereignty over these islands.
Australia – 7 territories
Australia has seven overseas territories, three of which are inhabited – Norfolk Island, Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Residents of these islands are Australian citizens, and the territories have various levels of governance.
The four mostly uninhabited territories that Australia controls are Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, the Coral Sea Islands Territory and the Australian Antarctic Territory. These are primarily used for scientific research, meteorological monitoring and the administration of Australia’s maritime jurisdiction.
The Netherlands – 6 territories
The Netherlands operates has six territories in the Caribbean,
Three – Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten – have their own governments, parliaments and prime ministers and are known as “constituent” countries. Aruba gained this status in 1986, with Curacao and Sint Maarten becoming constituent countries in 2010.
The other three territories are Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. These are directly administered from The Hague, but have local governments and use the US dollar.
Norway – 5 territories
Norway has five territories in the Arctic and Antarctic.
Its two Arctic territories are Svalbard, which has a special legal status under the 1920 Svalbard Treaty, allowing international settlement and restricting military activity. The second territory is Jan Mayen, an uninhabited volcanic island used for meteorological research, monitoring and defence.
Norway also claims three uninhabited territories in Antarctica: Bouvet Island, Peter I Island and Queen Maud Land. Bouvet Island and Peter I Island are mostly covered by glaciers, while on Queen Maud Land, there is very limited ice-free land at the coast. It hosts the largest-known seabird colony in Antarctica.
New Zealand – 4 territories
New Zealand has two self-governing regions which are part of it; one dependent territory; and one Antarctic claim.
The Cook Islands in the South Pacific Ocean, located between New Zealand and Hawaii, and Niue, located in the South Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand and east of Tonga, are both self-governing in “free association” with New Zealand. This is a voluntary association in which a nation such as the Cook Islands or Niue assumes responsibility for its own domestic affairs, but defers to New Zealand for defence and foreign policy.
Tokelau came under the control of New Zealand in 1925 and is a non-self-governing territory. This means that the UN considers it a territory where the people have “not yet attained a full measure of self-government” but are being encouraged to work towards self-government.
Like several other countries, New Zealand make a claim to part of the Antarctic. The 1959 Antarctic Treaty System is an international agreement which preserves Antarctica for peaceful purposes and scientific research, while freezing all territorial claims. Since 1923, New Zealand has maintained a right of sovereignty over the Ross Dependency in Antarctica for research purposes. It was originally part of the UK’s claim.
Denmark – 2 territories
The Kingdom of Denmark has two self-ruling territories, Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
Greenland is at the centre of a transatlantic dispute as US President Donald Trump insists on buying the resource-rich island, which is located in the region of North America, despite it having its own parliament and leader. Both Denmark and Greenland have repeatedly stated that the island is not for sale.
The Faroe Islands are located in the North Atlantic Ocean between Iceland, Norway and Scotland. Since 2005, the Faroes have had a self-government arrangement.
China – 2 territories
Unlike the UK or France, China does not have overseas territories in the traditional sense. It has two Special Administrative Regions (SARs) – Hong Kong and Macau. These are generally autonomous in terms of political, economic and legal systems, operating under the principle of “One Country, Two Systems”.
Hong Kong, located on the South China Sea, is a former British colony but was returned to China in 1997. It has a population of about 7.5 million people and is one of the world’s most important financial centres. According to Hong Kong’s Department of Justice, its legal system is different from China’s and is based on common law.
Nearby Macau is a former Portuguese colony which was returned to China in 1999. It has a population of about 680,000 and is known for its financial services industry as well as casinos. The legal system is based on Portuguese civil law, rather than China’s.
China also has five autonomous regions within mainland China, which have a degree of political and cultural autonomy.
Taiwan, which China considers a province, operates as a self-governing territory with its own government, economy and legal system, but China insists it is part of its sovereign territory and has not ruled out using force to bring it under Beijing’s control.
Portugal – 2 territories
Portugal has two autonomous regions: The Azores and Madeira, both located in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Azores are an archipelago of nine volcanic islands situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, roughly 1,400 to 1,600km (870-1,000 miles) west of mainland Portugal. The islands were claimed by Portugal in 1439, but today are autonomous with their own regional government and a population of about 245,000 people.
In 2025, Portugal’s aviation regulator granted a five-year licence to the Atlantic Spaceport Consortium (ASC) to operate a spaceport in the Azores on Santa Maria Island. The facility is Portugal’s first licensed spaceport. Its location in the mid-Atlantic is seen as advantageous for the launch of satellite activities.
Madeira is roughly 1,000km (600 miles) southwest of mainland Portugal, with a population of about 260,000. Madeira was officially discovered in July 1419 by two sailors who had veered off course due to a storm. Madeira gained autonomy in 1976 following the Carnation Revolution.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/22/mapping-the-10-countries-with-the-most-overseas-territories?traffic_source=rss
