# Territory

A **territory** (plural: **territories**, from the word *terra*, which means 'land') is an area which belongs to a person, organization, institution, animal, nation or state.

In international law, a "territory" is an area of land which is outside the borders of a nation, but owned by that nation. Examples are: Puerto Rico as a U.S. territory, or Bermuda as a territory of the UK.

General examples of territories are states controlled by a federated government (such as Germany or the counties of a state within the States of the United States), a unitary state such as France, an occupied territory (land which has been invaded by the military of another country) or a disputed territory (such as Kashmir, which both India and Pakistan believe is theirs).

## Etymology

The word **"territory"** comes from the Proto-Indo-European root *ters*, meaning **"to dry."** From this came the Latin word *terra*, meaning **"earth" or "land,"** and then *territorium*, meaning **"land around a town."** The word *territory* first appeared in **Middle English in the 14th century.** Over time, the ending **-orium** (which means "place") changed to **-ory**, which also means "place."

## Types

Examples for different types of territory include the following:

* A capital territory or federal capital territory is a special area where a country’s main government is located. In a federal system, this territory doesn’t belong to any one state, so no state has more power just because the capital is there. A capital territory is one type of federal district.
* A dependent territory is an area that is not an independent country but is still controlled by another country. However, it is not considered a full part of that country.
* A disputed territory is a piece of land that two or more governments claim as their own. For example, Kashmir is claimed by both India and Pakistan, and each country sees it as part of their own land. Another example is Taiwan, which is claimed by China, even though Taiwan has its own government.
* A federal territory is an area directly controlled by a country's national government, not by any state or province within that country.
* Maritime territory
* Occupied territory, a region that is under the military control of an outside power that has not gained universal recognition from the international community. Current examples are Crimea, occupied by the Russian Federation; East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, and the West Bank, occupied by the State of Israel; Western Sahara, partially occupied by the Kingdom of Morocco. Other examples of occupied territory include the country of Kuwait after it was briefly invaded by Iraq in 1990, Iraq after the American invasion of 2003, Germany after World War II, and Kosovo after 1999.
* Overseas territory
* An unorganized territory is a region that doesn't have a regular local government. However, this doesn't mean it has no government or that it's unclaimed. These areas are usually sparsely populated.

### Overseas territory

An **overseas territory** is a land area that is separated from its main country by an ocean. It can be either a part of the country or a dependent area controlled by it.

Examples include:

* The Faroe Islands and Greenland are overseas territories of Denmark that govern themselves.
* Overseas France includes five overseas territories that have a lot of independence, plus overseas regions and departments that work like areas in mainland France. All are part of France.
* The Netherlands has three special municipalities in the Caribbean called Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba. Besides these, the Kingdom of the Netherlands also includes three other countries in the Caribbean: Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten. All these countries are equal partners in the Kingdom.
* The Azores and Madeira are self-governing regions of Portugal.
* The 14 British Overseas Territories are lands controlled by the British Crown with different levels of self-government. They are not part of the United Kingdom or its four main countries.
* The U.S. has territories that are separated from the main country by foreign land and can only be reached by sea.

## Other websites

* Peace Palace Library – Research Guide Archived 2016-11-10 at the Wayback Machine