As a subdivision, a territory in mostcountries is an organized division of an area that is controlled by a country but is not formally developed into,[1] or incorporated into, apolitical unit of that country, which political units are of equal status to one another and are often referred to by words such as "provinces", "regions", or "states". In its narrower sense, it is "a geographic region, such as a colonial possession, that is dependent on an external government."[2]
The origins of the word "territory" begin with theProto-Indo-European rootters ('to dry').[3] From this emerged the Latin wordterra ('earth, land') and later the Latin wordterritorium ('land around a town').[4][5] Territory made its debut as a word in Middle English during the 14th century. At this point the suffix -orium, which denotes place, was replaced with -ory which also expresses place.[6]
Examples for different types of territory include the following:
Capital territory or federal capital territory, usually a specially designated territory where acountry's seat ofgovernment is located. As such, in thefederal model of government, no onestate or territory takes pre-eminence because thecapital lies within itsborders. A capital territory can be one specific form offederal district.
Disputed territory, a geographic area claimed by two or more rival governments. For example, the territory ofKashmir is claimed by the governments of bothIndia andPakistan; for each country involved in the dispute, the whole territory is claimed as a part of the existing state. Another example is theRepublic of China (commonly labeled "Taiwan"), whosesovereignty status is disputed by and territory claimed by thePeople's Republic of China.
Federal territory, an area within the direct and usually exclusive jurisdiction of the central or national government within a federation.
Unorganized territory, a region of land without a "normally" constituted system of government. This does not mean that the territory has no government at all or that it is anunclaimed territory. In practice, such territories are always sparsely populated.
Overseas territory is a broad designation for a territorial entity that is separated from the country that governs it by anocean. An overseas territory may be either a constituent part of the governing state or a dependent territory.
^"The Overseas Territories"(PDF). Foreign and Commonwealth Office. June 2012.Archived(PDF) from the original on 30 May 2019. Retrieved29 November 2020.
