View source for Federal territory

{{Short description|Area under the direct control of the national government}}
{{Original research|date=November 2017}}

A '''federal territory''' is an [[administrative division]] under the direct and usually exclusive [[jurisdiction (area)|jurisdiction]] of a [[federation]]'s [[Federation#Federal governments|national government]]. A federal territory is a part of a federation, but not a part of any [[federated state]]. The states constitute the federation itself and share [[sovereignty]] with the federal government, while a territory does not have sovereign status and is constitutionally dependent on the federal government.

==Federal territories in various federations ==
* {{flagicon|Australia}} [[States and territories of Australia#Internal territories|Australia]]{{efn|All internal and external territories where federal laws are implemented.<ref>{{cite web |title=Territories of Australia |url=https://www.regional.gov.au/territories/ |website=australia.gov.au |publisher=The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications}}</ref>}}
** {{flag|Ashmore and Cartier Islands}} (external)
** ''{{flag|Australian Antarctic Territory}}'' (claimed)
** {{flag|Australian Capital Territory}} (internal)
** {{flag|Christmas Island}} (external)
** {{flag|Cocos (Keeling) Islands}} (external)
** {{flag|Coral Sea Islands}} (external)
** {{flag|Heard Island and McDonald Islands}} (external)
** {{flag|Jervis Bay Territory}} (internal)
** {{flag|Norfolk Island}} (external)
** {{flag|Northern Territory}} (internal)
* {{flagicon|Canada}} [[Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories|Canada]]
** {{flag|Northwest Territories}}
** {{flag|Nunavut}}
** {{flag|Yukon}}
* {{flagicon|India}} [[Union territory|India]]{{efn|Formally known as the union territories.<ref>{{cite web |title=States and Union Territories |url=https://knowindia.gov.in/states-uts/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818054533/http://knowindia.gov.in/states-uts/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 18, 2017 |website=India.gov.in |publisher=Technical Team National Informatics Centre}}</ref>}}
** [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]]
** [[Chandigarh]]
** [[Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu]]
** [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]]
** [[Ladakh]]
** [[Lakshadweep]]
** [[Delhi|National Capital Territory of Delhi]]
** [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]]
* {{flagicon|Malaysia}} [[Federal Territories of Malaysia|Malaysia]]
** {{flag|Kuala Lumpur}}
** {{flag|Labuan}}
** {{flag|Putrajaya}}
* {{flagicon|Nigeria}} [[States of Nigeria|Nigeria]]
** {{flagicon image|Flag of Abuja.svg}} [[Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria)|Federal Capital Territory]] ([[Abuja]])
* {{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Administrative units of Pakistan|Pakistan]]
** {{flagdeco|Islamabad}} [[Islamabad Capital Territory]] ([[Islamabad]])
* {{flagicon|Russia}} [[Federal subjects of Russia|Russia]]
** [[File:Coat of Arms of Sirius.png|20px]] [[Sirius (urban-type settlement)|Sirius]]
* {{flagicon|United States}} [[Territories of the United States|United States]]
** {{flag|American Samoa}} (unincorporated unorganized)
** ''{{flagdeco|United States}} [[Bajo Nuevo Bank]]'' (claimed)
** {{flag|Baker Island}} (unincorporated unorganized)
** {{flag|Guam}} (unincorporated organized)
** {{flag|Howland Island}} (unincorporated unorganized)
** {{flag|Jarvis Island}} (unincorporated unorganized)
** {{flag|Johnston Atoll}} (unincorporated unorganized)
** {{flag|Kingman Reef}} (unincorporated unorganized)
** {{flag|Midway Atoll|local}} (unincorporated unorganized)
** {{flag|Navassa Island}} (unincorporated unorganized)
** {{flag|Northern Mariana Islands}} (unincorporated organized)
** {{flag|Palmyra Atoll}} (incorporated unorganized)
** {{flag|Puerto Rico}} (unincorporated organized)
** ''{{flagdeco|United States}} [[Serranilla Bank]]'' (claimed)
** {{flag|U.S. Virgin Islands}} (unincorporated organized)
** {{flag|Wake Island|local}} (unincorporated unorganized)

== Historical federal territories ==
=== Brazil ===
{{Main|Federal territories of Brazil}}
In [[Brazil]], although mentioned in the Federal Constitution, currently there are no federal territories. Brazil had three territories until the adoption of the [[Constitution of Brazil|1988 Constitution]]: [[Fernando de Noronha]] (today a state district of [[Pernambuco]]), [[Amapá]], and [[Roraima]], now fully recognised states. From 1943 to 1982, [[Rondônia]] was also a federal territory (until 1956 under the name of ''Território do Guaporé'').<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Porto |first=Jadson Luís Rebelo |date=March 1999 |title=Os territórios federais e a sua evolução no Brasil |trans-title=The federal territories and their evolution in Brazil |url=http://www.revistapresenca.unir.br/artigos_presenca/15jadsonluisrebeloporto_osterritoriosfederaiseasuaevolucao.pdf |journal=Revista de Educação, Cultura e meio ambiente |language=pt-br |volume=III |issue=15}}</ref>

=== Canada ===
The [[Northwest Territories]] used to include a majority of what is now Canada, and was divided into [[Districts of the Northwest Territories|districts]] for ease of administration from 1882 until 1999. One such district, [[District of Keewatin|Keewatin]], was its own federal territory from 1876 until 1905.{{cn|date=April 2023}}

=== Germany ===

[[File:Reichstag links.jpg|thumb|Alsace-Lorraine's coat of arms can still be seen on the [[Reichstag building]] in Berlin (at the very top), together with the coat of arms of the other states.]]
The [[German Empire]] was a federation of monarchies and a few [[city-states]]. However, after the [[Franco-Prussian War]], the newly created country annexed large parts of [[Alsace]] and [[Lorraine]], two mostly German-speaking French territories which used to belong to the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. A large part of the local population was opposed to the transfer, meaning that granting statehood to the recently acquired territory would establish a state with a possible desire for secession which also was not used to German politics and German law. Incorporating the territory into [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]], as happened to [[Province of Schleswig-Holstein|Schleswig-Holstein]] and other states during the German Unification Wars, was opposed by the South German states which already felt diminished by Prussia. Hence, an annexation to [[Bavaria]] and [[Baden]] was also discussed, yet met with opposition by the military which opined that the crucial border territory had to be governed from [[Berlin]]. As a compromise, [[Otto von Bismarck]] successfully proposed to incorporate Alsace-Lorraine as a territory directly governed by the Imperial (federal) government, leading to the creation of the [[Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine]] (''Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen''). The territorial status, common in the US, was unique within mainland Germany, as all [[States of the German Empire|constituent states]] were self-governing. In 1911 the Constitution of the German Empire was amended to treat Alsace-Lorraine as a state for certain matters, including its own government and votes in the Bundestag.{{cn|date=April 2023}}

[[France]] annexed the complete area after [[World War I]]. Since then, the German national government never had direct control over a German territory, with the exception of the Nazi government; however, [[Nazi Germany]] was - like East Germany - a centralized state where state governments were de facto abolished. The [[Germany|Federal Republic of Germany]]'s [[Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany|Basic Law]] does not currently provide a legal way to create a federal territory, including a capital district, and describes the German national territory as being composed solely of [[States of Germany|states]].

===Mexico===
{{further|Territories of Mexico}}

=== United States ===
In the [[United States]], many of the states were territories or parts of territories before reaching statehood, e.g. [[Louisiana Territory]], [[Mississippi Territory]], [[Oregon Territory]], [[Alaska Territory]] and [[Hawaii Territory]]. Before reaching statehood, these [[territories of the United States]] were formally usually of a kind which can be described as "[[Organized incorporated territories of the United States|organized incorporated territories]]", meaning that the government of the jurisdiction was formally organized in such a way as to comply with recognized federal standards for self-government, and that the jurisdiction was "organic" to the United States, that is, an irrevocably inseverable part of it rather than a [[protectorate]], an area [[lease]]d from and still pertaining formally to another nation, or a concession granted by another nation or group which conceivably could retain certain rights to it.  "Incorporated" territories are a part of the United States, though not of any particular constituent state, and as such are not readily saleable or cessionable to other powers in the way that "unincorporated" territories are.{{cn|date=April 2023}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Terms for types of country subdivisions|state=expand}}

[[Category:Territories]]
[[Category:Types of administrative division]]