List of leaders of dependent territories
This is a list of leaders of dependent territories. A dependent territory is a territory that does not possess full political independence or sovereignty as a sovereign state yet remains politically outside of the controlling state's integral area.[1] This latter condition distinguishes a dependent territory from an autonomous region or administrative division, which forms an integral part of the 'parent' state.
The majority of the world's dependent territories are legacies of nineteenth and twentieth century colonial empires.[2] This list divides the world's inhabited dependent territories roughly into half: those which are dependencies of Commonwealth nations, formerly members of the British Empire and all of which have Queen Elizabeth II as head of state; and the remainder. Governors, managers or wardens of uninhabited dependent territories are excluded.
Current dependent territory leaders
Seven sovereign states possess one or more dependent territories: the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Norway.
Current leaders of autonomous or insular regions etc.
Region, territory | Title | Name | Since |
---|---|---|---|
Aceh | Governor | Zaini Abdullah | 25 June 2012 |
Adjara | Chairman of the Supreme Council | Davit Gabaidze | 28 November 2016 |
Prime Minister | Tornike Rizhvadze | 21 July 2018 | |
Åland Islands | Governor | Peter Lindbäck | 1 April 1999 |
Chief Minister | Veronica Thörnroos | 10 December 2019 | |
Alderney | Lieutenant-Governor (of Guernsey) | Sir Ian Corder | 14 March 2016 |
President | William Tate | 28 June 2019 | |
Andalusia | President | Juan Manuel Moreno | 18 January 2019 |
Aragon | President | Javier Lambán | 3 July 2015 |
Asturias | President | Adrián Barbón | 16 July 2019 |
Azad Kashmir | President | Muhammad Masood Khan | 25 August 2016 |
Prime Minister | Raja Farooq Haider Khan | 31 July 2016 | |
Azores | Representative of the (Portuguese) Republic | Pedro Catarino | 11 April 2011 |
President of the Government | José Manuel Bolieiro | 24 November 2020 | |
Balearic Islands | President | Francina Armengol | 30 June 2015 |
Bangsamoro | Wali | Khalipa Usman Nando | 29 March 2019 |
Chief Minister (acting) | Murad Ebrahim | 22 February 2019 | |
Basque Country | President (Lehendakari) | Iñigo Urkullu | 2012 |
Bougainville | President | Ishmael Toroama | 25 September 2020 |
Catalonia | President | Pere Aragonès i Garcia (acting) | 14 May 2018 |
Canary Islands | President | Ángel Víctor Torres | 29 September 2020 |
Cantabria | President | Miguel Ángel Revilla | 3 July 2015 |
Carriacou and Petite Martinique | Grenadian Ministry of Carriacou and Petite Martinique Affairs | Kindra Maturin-Stewart | 25 March 2018 |
Castile–La Mancha | President | Emiliano García-Page | 1 July 2015 |
Castile and León | President | Alfonso Fernández Mañueco | 11 July 2019 |
Ceuta | Mayor-President | Juan Jesús Vivas Lara | 2001 |
Corsica | Prefect | Pascal Lelarge | 19 August 2020 |
President of the Corsican Assembly | Jean-Guy Talamoni | 17 December 2015 | |
President of the Executive Council | Gilles Simeoni | 17 December 2015 | |
Crimea | Chairmen of Parliament | vacant | 15 March 2014 |
Prime minister | vacant | 15 March 2014 | |
Easter Island | Governor | Laura Alarcón Rapu | 11 March 2018 |
Mayor | Pedro Edmunds Paoa | 6 December 2012 | |
Extremadura | President | Guillermo Fernández Vara | 5 July 2015 |
Faroe Islands | High Commissioner | Lene Moyell Johansen | 9 May 2017 |
Prime Minister | Bárður á Steig Nielsen | 16 September 2019 | |
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina | President | Marinko Čavara | 9 February 2015 |
Prime Minister | Fadil Novalić | 16 January 2017 | |
French Guiana | Prefect | Thierry Queffelec | 28 ecember 2020 |
President of the Territorial Authority | Rodolphe Alexandre | 17 December 2015 | |
Gagauzia | Governor | Irina Vlakh | 23 March 2015 |
Galápagos Islands | Governor and Chairman of the Governing Council with Special Regime | Norman Wray | 14 January 2019 |
Galicia | President | Alberto Núñez Feijóo | 18 April 2009 |
Gilgit Baltistan | Governor | Raja Jalal Hussain Maqpoon | 30 September 2018 |
Chief Minister | Khalid Khurshid Khan | 1 December 2020 | |
Gorno-Badakhshan | Chairmen of the Executive Committee | Yodgor Fayzov [21] | 1 October 2018 |
Greenland | High Commissioner | Mikaela Engell | 1 February 2011 |
Prime Minister | Kim Kielsen [22] | 30 September 2014 | |
Guadeloupe | Prefect | Alexandre Rochatte | 10 August 2020 |
President of the Departmental Council | Josette Borel-Lincertin [23] | 2 April 2015 | |
President of the Regional Council | Ary Chalus | 17 December 2015 | |
Hong Kong | Chief Executive | Carrie Lam | 1 July 2017 |
Chief Secretary | Matthew Cheung | 16 January 2017 | |
Jan Mayen | Administrator [24] | Tom Cato Karlsen | 2 January 2019 |
Karakalpakstan | Chairmen of Parliament | Murad Kamalov | 2 October 2020 |
Prime ministers | Kakhraman Sariyev | 14 October 2016 | |
Kurdistan Region | President of autonomous government | Nechervan Barzani | 10 June 2019 |
Prime minister | Masrour Barzani | 10 July 2019 | |
La Rioja | President | Concha Andreu | 29 August 2019 |
Lord Howe Island | Chairman of the Lord Howe Island Board | Anissa Levy | 15 July 2019 |
Macau | Chief Executive | Ho Iat Seng | 20 December 2019 |
Administration and Justice Secretary | Sonia Chan | 20 December 2019 | |
Madeira | Representative of the (Portuguese) Republic | Ireneu Barreto | 11 April 2011 |
President of the Government | Miguel Albuquerque | 20 April 2015 | |
Madrid | President | Isabel Díaz Ayuso | 19 August 2019 |
Macquarie Island | Administrator [25] | Matthew Groom | 31 March 2014 |
Martinique | Prefect | Stanislas Cazelles | 27 February 2020 |
President of the Executive Council | Alfred Marie-Jeanne | 18 December 2015 | |
Mayotte | Prefect | Jean-François Colombet | 29 July 2019 |
President of the Departmental Council | Soibahadine Ibrahim Ramadani | 2 April 2015 | |
Melilla | Mayor-President | Eduardo de Castro González | 15 June 2019 |
Mount Athos | Head of State [26] | Nikos Dendias | 9 July 2019 |
Civil Governor[27] | Athanásios Martínos | 9 October 2019 | |
Spiritual Leader [28] | Bartholomew I | 22 October 1991 | |
Protos[29] | géron Pávlos (Great Lavra) | 14 June 2020 | |
Murcia | President | Fernando López Miras | 3 May 2017 |
Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic | Chairmen of the Supreme Council | Vasif Talıbov | 16 December 1995 |
Prime minister | Alovsat Bakhshiyev | 2000 | |
Navarre | President | María Chivite | 6 August 2019 |
Nevis | Deputy Governor-General (of Nevis) | Hyleta Liburd | 31 August 2018 |
Premier | Mark Brantley | 19 December 2017 | |
Northern Ireland | Secretary of State for Northern Ireland | Julian Richard Smith | 25 July 2019 |
First Minister[30] | Arlene Foster | 11 January 2020 | |
Deputy First Minister[31] | Michelle O'Neill | 11 January 2020 | |
Papua | Governor | Lukas Enembe | 9 April 2013 |
Principe | President of the Regional Government | Filipe Nascimento | 18 August 2020 |
Republika Srpska | President | Željka Cvijanović | 19 November 2018 |
Prime Minister | Radovan Višković | 19 December 2018 | |
Réunion | Prefect | Jacques Billant | 17 June 2019 |
President of the Departmental Council | Cyrille Melchior | 18 December 2017 | |
President of the Regional Council | Didier Robert | 26 March 2010 | |
Rodrigues | Chief Commissioner | Louis Serge Clair [32] | 11 February 2012 |
Chief Executives | Jacques Davis Hee Hong Wye | 13 February 2012 | |
Scotland | Secretary of State for Scotland | Alister William Jack | 25 July 2019 |
First Minister | Nicola Sturgeon | 19 November 2014 | |
Svalbard | Governor | Kjerstin Askholt | 10 October 2015 |
Tobago | Chief Secretary of the House of Assembly | Ancil Dennis | 6 May 2020 |
Torres Strait Islands | Chairperson of the Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA) | Pedro Stephen Napau | October 2016 |
Valencian Community | President | Ximo Puig | 25 June 2015 |
Wales | Secretary of State for Wales | Simon Hart | 16 December 2019 |
First Minister | Mark Drakeford | 12 December 2018 | |
West Papua | Governor | Abraham Octavianus Atururi | 27 January 2012 |
Yogyakarta | Governor | Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X | 3 October 1998 |
Zanzibar | President | Hussein Mwinyi | 3 November 2020 |
Leaders of dependent Commonwealth territories
State | Government | Head of state | Represented by | Head of government |
---|---|---|---|---|
Anguilla | Parliamentary democracy | Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom | Governor Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam | Chief Minister Ellis Webster |
Bermuda | Parliamentary democracy | Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom | Governor Rena Lalgie | Premier Edward David Burt |
British Virgin Islands | Parliamentary democracy | Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom | Governor John Rankin | Premier Andrew Fahie |
Cayman Islands | Parliamentary democracy | Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom | Governor Martyn Roper | Premier Alden McLaughlin |
Christmas Island | Non-self-governing dependency | Queen Elizabeth II of Australia | Administrator Natasha Griggs | |
Cocos (Keeling) Islands | Non-self-governing dependency | Queen Elizabeth II of Australia | Administrator Natasha Griggs | |
Cook Islands | Parliamentary democracy in free-association with New Zealand |
Queen Elizabeth II of New Zealand | Queen's Representative (not otherwise styled) Tom Marsters | Prime Minister Henry Puna |
Falkland Islands | Parliamentary democracy | Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom | Governor Nigel Phillips | Chief Executive Barry Rowland |
Gibraltar | Parliamentary democracy | Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom | Governor Edward Davis | Chief Minister Fabian Picardo |
Guernsey | Crown dependency | Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom (as Duke of Normandy) | Lieutenant-Governor Sir Ian Corder | Bailiff Sir Richard Collas President Gavin St Pier |
Isle of Man | Crown dependency | Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom (as Lord of Mann) | Lieutenant-Governor Sir Richard Gozney | Chief Minister Howard Quayle |
Jersey | Crown dependency | Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom (as Duke of Normandy) | Lieutenant-Governor Sir Stephen Dalton | Bailiff Sir William Bailhache Chief Minister Ian Gorst |
Montserrat | Parliamentary democracy | Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom | Governor Andrew Pearce | Premier Easton Taylor-Farrell |
Niue | Parliamentary democracy in free-association with New Zealand |
Queen Elizabeth II of New Zealand | High Commissioner Kirk Yates | Premier Dalton Tagelagi |
Norfolk Island | Parliamentary democracy | Queen Elizabeth II of Australia | Administrator Eric Hutchinson | Self-government abolished in 2015 |
Pitcairn Islands | Parliamentary democracy | Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom | Governor Laura Clarke | Mayor Charlene Warren-Peu |
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha | Non-self-governing dependency | Queen Elizabeth II]of the United Kingdom | Governor Philip Rushbrook | |
Tokelau | Parliamentary democracy | Queen Elizabeth II of New Zealand | Administrator Ross Ardern | Head of Government Kerisiano Kalolo |
Turks and Caicos Islands | Parliamentary democracy | Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom | Governor Nigel Dakin | Premier Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson |
Leaders of dependent non-Commonwealth territories
State | Government | Head of state | Head of territory | Head of government |
---|---|---|---|---|
Åland Islands | Gubernatorial democracy | President Sauli Niinistö of Finland, represented by Governor Peter Lindbäck | Premier Veronica Thörnroos | |
American Samoa | Gubernatorial democracy | President Joe Biden of the United States | Governor Lemanu Peleti Mauga | |
Aruba | Parliamentary democracy | King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, represented by Governor Alfonso Boekhoudt | Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Croes | |
Curaçao | Parliamentary democracy | King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, represented by Governor Lucille George-Wout | Prime Minister Eugene Rhuggenaath | |
Faroe Islands | Parliamentary democracy | Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, represented by High Commissioner Lene Moyell Johansen | Prime Minister Bárður á Steig Nielsen | |
French Polynesia | Presidential democracy | President Emmanuel Macron of France, represented by High Commissioner Dominique Sorain | President Édouard Fritch | |
Greenland | Parliamentary democracy | Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, represented by High Commissioner Mikaela Engell | Prime Minister Kim Kielsen | |
Guam | Gubernatorial democracy | President Joe Biden of the United States | Governor Lou Leon Guerrero | |
New Caledonia | Parliamentary democracy | President Emmanuel Macron of France, represented by High Commissioner Laurent Prévost | President of the Government Thierry Santa | |
Northern Mariana Islands | Gubernatorial democracy | President Joe Biden of the United States | Governor Ralph Torres | |
Puerto Rico | Gubernatorial democracy | President Joe Biden of the United States | Governor Pedro Pierluisi | |
Sint Maarten | Parliamentary democracy | King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, represented by Governor Eugene Holiday | Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs | |
U.S. Virgin Islands | Gubernatorial democracy | President Joe Biden of the United States | Governor Albert Bryan | |
Wallis and Futuna | Presidential democracy | President Emmanuel Macron of France, represented by Administrator-Superior Thierry Queffelec | President of the Territorial Assembly David Vergé |
See also
- Administrative division
- Colonial governors by year
- List of leaders of dependent territories in 2021
- List of current vice-regal representatives of Elizabeth II
- List of current presidents of assembly
- List of current governors of Afghanistan
- List of Governors in Argentina
- List of Brazil states governors
- List of current Canadian lieutenant governors and commissioners
- List of Ghanaian regional ministers
- List of current Indian governors, List of current Indian lieutenant governors and administrators & List of current Indian chief ministers
- List of governors of Japan
- List of leaders of Malaysian states
- List of Mexican state governors
- List of Nigerian state governors
- List of Governors of Pakistan & List of Chief Ministers in Pakistan
- List of Palau states governors
- List of current Philippine provincial governors
- List of heads of federal subjects of Russia
- List of Spanish regional legislatures & governments
- List of state leaders by year
- List of Sudan states governors
- List of current United States governors
References
- United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1514
- Armstrong, H. W., and R. Read. 2000. "Comparing the Economic Performance of Dependent Territories and Sovereign Microstates". Economic Development and Cultural Change 48 (2). 285–306. doi:10.1086/452459.
- Minister for Regional Services, Decentralisation and Local Government
- Director of the Australian Antarctic Division.
- Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
- Acting to 22 Aug 2014.
- Director of the Polar Department of the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security.
- Previously from 2003 – 14 October 2011.
- Since 21 February 2007, directly administered by the French minister of Overseas France.
- The authority of the French minister of Overseas France on Clipperton Island is delegated to the High Commissioner of the Republic in French Polynesia
- Director of Program Palmyra of The Nature Conservancy.
- The British high commissioner to New Zealand.
- Chief Executive Officer of Antarctica New Zealand.
- The prefect of Guadeloupe is also state representative in Saint-Barthelemy from 9 July 2007.
- Delegated by the prefect of Guadeloupe
- Mayor from June 1995 to 15 July 2007.
- The prefect of Guadeloupe is also state representative in Saint-Martin from 9 July 2007.
- Since 3 October 1985, the governor of the Falkland Islands.
- Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Insular Affairs.
- Also General Counsel of the US Air Force.
- Acting to 25 February 2019.
- Acting to 12 December 2014 (for Aleqa Hammondto 15 October 2014).
- Previously president of the Regional Council from 3 August 2012 to 2 May 2014.
- Since 1 January 1995, Jan Mayen is administered by the governor of Nordland county.
- Minister for Environment, Parks and Heritage of Tasmania.
- Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Greek government.
- The Civil Governor of the Monastic Republic of Mount Athos is appointed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Greek government.
- Ecumenical Patriarchs of Constantinople.
- Dean of the Holy Epistasis of the Monastic Republic of Mount Athos.
- Jointly with the Deputy First Minister
- Jointly with the First Minister
- Previously chef commissaire from 4 February 2003 to 4 August 2006.