A dependent territory, dependent area or dependency is a territory that does not possess full political independence or sovereignty as a sovereign state, and remains politically outside of the controlling state's integral area.

A dependency is commonly distinguished from other subnational entities in that they are not considered to be part of the integral territory of the governing State. A subnational entity typically represents a division of the Stateproper, while a dependent territory often maintains a great degree of autonomy from the controlling State. Historically, most colonies were considered to be dependencies of their controlling State. Most of these have either become independent, by joining neighbouring independent countries, or assimilated into the conquering state. The dependencies that remain generally maintain a very high degree of political autonomy. Although dependencies retain a degree of autonomy, not all autonomous entities are considered to be dependencies.

File:Trust and Non-Self-Governing Territories.djvu