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 King Charles III 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.

Region, territory or Crown dependency	Title	Name	Since
Akrotiri and Dhekelia	Administrator	Peter J. M. Squires	1 September 2022
American Samoa	Governor	Pulaalii Nikolao Pula	3 January 2025
Anguilla	Governor	Julia Crouch	11 September 2023
	Premier	Cora Richardson-Hodge	27 February 2025
Aruba	Governor	Alfonso Boekhoudt	1 January 2017
	Prime Minister	Mike Eman	28 March 2025
Ashmore and Cartier Islands	Administrator [3]	Anthony Chisholm	1 June 2022
Australian Antarctic Territory	Administrator [4]	Kim Ellis	6 April 2019
Baker Island	Administrator [5]	Brian R Nesvik	18 August 2025
Bermuda	Governor [6] [7]	Andrew Murdoch	23 January 2025
	Premier	Edward David Burt	17 July 2017
Bonaire	Lieutenant governor	John Soliano	1 August 2024
Bouvet Island	Administrator [8]	Øystein Mortensen	2 October 2015
British Antarctic Territory	Commissioner	Jane Rumble	August 2024
	Administrator	Natalie Allen	2024
British Indian Ocean Territory	Commissioner	Nishi Dholakia	August 2024
	Administrator	Michael Vidler	1 April 2025
British Virgin Islands	Governor [9]	Daniel Pruce	29 January 2024
	Premier	Natalio Wheatley [10]	5 May 2022
Cayman Islands	Governor	Jane Owen	21 April 2023
	Premier	André Ebanks	6 May 2025
Christmas Island	Administrator	Farzian Zainal	26 May 2023
	President of Shire	Gordon Thomson [11]	21 October 2013
Clipperton Island	Administrator [12]	Manuel Valls Galfetti	23 December 2024
	Commissioner [13]	Éric Spitz	26 September 2022
Cocos (Keeling) Islands	Administrator	Farzian Zainal	26 May 2023
	President of the Shire Council	Aindil Minkom	23 October 2019
Cook Islands	King's Representative	Sir Tom Marsters	27 July 2013
	High commissioner (New Zealand's Representative)	Catherine Graham	22 April 2024
	Prime Minister	Mark Brown	30 November 2020
Coral Sea Islands	Administrator [3]	Anthony Chisholm	1 June 2022
Curaçao	Governor	Lucille George-Wout	4 November 2013
	Prime Minister	Gilmar Pisas	14 June 2021
Falkland Islands	Governor	Colin Martin-Reynolds	29 July 2025
French Polynesia	High Commissioner	Éric Spitz	26 September 2022
	President	Moetai Brotherson	12 May 2023
French Southern and Antarctic Lands	Prefect [14]	Florence Jeanblanc-Risler	5 October 2022
Gibraltar	Governor of Gibraltar	Sir Ben Bathurst	4 June 2024
	Chief Minister	Fabian Picardo	9 December 2011
Guam	Governor [15]	Lou Leon Guerrero	7 January 2019
Guernsey	Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey	Richard Cripwell	15 February 2022
	Bailiff	Sir Richard McMahon	9 May 2020
	President of the Policy and Resources Committee	Lyndon Trott	13 December 2023
Heard Island and McDonald Islands	Administrator [4]	Kim Ellis	6 April 2019
Howland Island	Administrator [5]	Brian R. Nesvik	18 August 2025
Isle of Man	Lieutenant Governor	Sir John Lorimer	29 September 2021
	Chief Minister	Alfred Cannan	12 October 2021
Jarvis Island	Administrator [5]	Brian R. Nesvik	18 August 2025
Jersey	Lieutenant Governor	Jerry Kyd	8 October 2022
	Bailiff	Tim Le Cocq	12 October 2019
	Chief Minister	Lyndon Farnham	30 January 2024
Johnston Atoll	Administrator [5]	Brian R. Nesvik	18 August 2025
Kingman Reef	Administrator [5]	Brian R. Nesvik	18 August 2025
Midway Atoll	Administrator [5]	Brian R. Nesvik	18 August 2025
Montserrat	Governor	Harriet Cross	23 April 2025
	Premier	Reuben Meade	25 October 2024
Navassa Island	Administrator [5]	Brian R. Nesvik	18 August 2025
New Caledonia	High Commissioner	Jacques Billant	2 May 2025
	President of the Government	Alcide Ponga	16 January 2025
Niue	High Commissioner	Mark Gibb	5 March 2024
	Premier	Dalton Tagelagi	11 June 2020
Norfolk Island	Administrator	George Plant	1 June 2023
	General Manager	Phil Reid	August 2024
	Administrator of the Regional Council	Scott Mason [16]	6 December 2024
Northern Mariana Islands	Governor	David M. Apatang	23 July 2025
Palmyra Atoll	Administrator [5]	Brian R. Nesvik	18 August 2025
	Manager [17]	vacant	March 2009
Peter I Island	Administrator [8]	Øystein Mortensen	2 October 2015
Pitcairn Islands	Governor of the Pitcairn Islands [18]	Iona Thomas	3 August 2022
	Mayor	Simon Young	1 January 2020
Puerto Rico	Governor	Jenniffer González-Colón	2 January 2025
Queen Maud Land	Administrator [8]	Øystein Mortensen	2 October 2015
Ross Dependency	Governor-General	Cindy Kiro	21 October 2021
	Administrator [19]	Sarah Williamson	June 2019
Saba	Island Governor	Jonathan G. A. Johnson	2 July 2008
Saint Barthélemy	Prefect [20]	Cyrille Le Vély [21]	12 February 2025
	Prefect delegated [22]	Aliénor Barbe-Guillaume [21]	12 December 2024
	President of the Territorial Council	Xavier Lédée	3 April 2022
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha	Governor of Saint Helena Governor of Ascension Governor of Tristan da Cunha	Nigel Phillips	13 August 2022
	Chief Minister of Saint Helena	Julie Thomas	25 October 2021
	Administrator of Ascension	Simon Minshull	2 November 2022
	Administrator of Tristan da Cunha	Philip Kendall	26 September 2023 [23]
Saint-Martin	Prefect [24]	Cyrille Le Vély [21]	12 February 2025
	Prefect delegated [22]	Aliénor Barbe-Guillaume [21]	12 December 2024
	President of the Territorial Council	Louis Mussington	3 April 2022
Saint Pierre and Miquelon	Prefect	Bruno André	21 August 2023
	President of the Territorial Council	Bernard Briand	13 October 2020
Sint Eustatius	Government commissioner	Alida Francis [25]	18 April 2021
Sint Maarten	Governor	Ajamu Baly	10 October 2022
	Prime Minister	Luc Mercelina	3 May 2024
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	Commissioner [26]	Colin Martin-Reynolds	29 July 2025
Tokelau	Administrator	Don Higgins	1 June 2022
	Head of Government	Fofo Tuisano	17 March 2025
Turks and Caicos Islands	Governor	Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam	29 June 2023
	Premier	Washington Misick	21 February 2021
U.S. Virgin Islands	Governor	Albert Bryan Jr.	7 January 2019
Wake Island	Administrator [27]	Keone Nakoa (acting)	14 September 2021
	Governor [28]	Peter Beshar	18 March 2022
Wallis and Futuna	Administrator Superior of Wallis and Futuna	Blaise Gourtay	21 August 2023
	President of the Territorial Assembly	Munipoese Muliʻakaʻaka	25 March 2022

Current leaders of autonomous or insular regions

Region, territory	Title	Name	Since
Aceh	Governor	Muzakir Manaf	12 February 2025
Adjara	Chairman of the Supreme Council	Davit Gabaidze	28 November 2016
	Chairman of the Government	Tornike Rizhvadze	21 July 2018
Åland Islands	Governor	Marie Holm-Johansson	3 April 2023
	Chief Minister	Katrin Sjögren	11 December 2023
Alderney	Lieutenant-Governor (of Guernsey)	Richard Cripwell	15 February 2022
	President	William Tate	28 June 2019
Andalusia	President	Juan Manuel Moreno	18 January 2019
Aosta Valley	President	Erik Lavévaz	21 October 2020
Aragon	President	Javier Lambán	3 July 2015
Asturias	President	Adrián Barbón	16 July 2019
Azad Kashmir	President	Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry	25 August 2021
	Prime Minister	Sardar Tanveer Ilyas	18 April 2022
Azores	Representative of the (Portuguese) Republic	Pedro Catarino	11 April 2011
	President of the Government	José Manuel Bolieiro	24 November 2020
Balearic Islands	President	Marga Prohens	7 July 2023
Bangsamoro	Wali	Muslim Guiamaden	13 May 2024
	Chief Minister (interim)	Abdulraof Macacua	12 March 2025
Barbuda	Chairperson of the Barbuda Council	Devon Warner	17 January 2024
Basque Country	President (Lehendakari)	Imanol Pradales	22 June 2024
Bougainville	President	Ishmael Toroama	25 September 2020
Catalonia	President	Salvador Illa	10 August 2024
Canary Islands	President	Ángel Víctor Torres	29 September 2020
Cantabria	President	María José Sáenz de Buruaga	5 July 2023
Carriacou and Petite Martinique	Minister for 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
Central Papua	Governor	Meki Fritz Nawipa	20 February 2025
Ceuta	Mayor-President	Juan Jesús Vivas Lara	2001
Corsica	Prefect	Pascal Lelarge	19 August 2020
	President of the Corsican Assembly	Marie-Antoinette Maupertuis	1 July 2021
	President of the Executive Council	Gilles Simeoni	17 December 2015
Crimea	Presidential Representative	Tamila Tasheva	25 April 2022
	Chairmen of Parliament	vacant	15 March 2014
	Prime minister	vacant	15 March 2014
Easter Island	Provincial Presidential Delegate	René De la Puente Hey	14 July 2021
	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	Aksel Johannesen	22 December 2022
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina	President	Lidija Bradara	28 February 2023
	Prime Minister	Nermin Nikšić	28 April 2023
French Guiana	Prefect	Antoine Poussier	21 August 2023
	President of the Territorial Authority	Gabriel Serville	2 July 2021
Friuli Venezia Giulia	President	Massimiliano Fedriga	3 May 2018
Gagauzia	Governor	Irina Vlah	23 March 2015
Galápagos Islands	Chairman of the Governing Council with Special Regime	Johan Sotomayor	3 June 2021
Galicia	President	Alfonso Rueda	13 May 2022
Gilgit Baltistan	Governor	Syed Mehdi Shah	15 August 2022
	Chief Minister	Khalid Khurshid	1 December 2020
Gorno-Badakhshan	Chairmen of the Executive Committee	Alisher Khudoyberdi	5 November 2021
Greenland	High Commissioner	Julie Wilche	1 May 2022
	Prime Minister	Múte Bourup Egede	23 April 2021
Guadeloupe	Prefect	Xavier Lefort	6 February 2023
	President of the Departmental Council	Guy Losbar	1 July 2021
	President of the Regional Council	Ary Chalus	17 December 2015
Highland Papua	Governor	John Tabo	20 March 2025
Hong Kong	Chief Executive	John Lee	1 July 2022
Jakarta	Governor	Pramono Anung	20 February 2025
Jan Mayen	Administrator [29]	Tom Cato Karlsen	2 January 2019
Karakalpakstan	Chairmen of Parliament	Murad Kamalov	2 October 2020
	Chairman of the Council of Ministers	Kakhraman Sariyev	14 October 2016
Kurdistan Region	President	Nechirvan 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	Atticus Fleming	1 January 2021
Macau	Chief Executive	Sam Hou Fai	20 December 2024
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 [30]	Matthew Groom	31 March 2014
Martinique	Prefect	Jean-Christophe Bouvier	23 August 2022
	President of the Executive Council	Serge Letchimy	2 July 2021
Mayotte	Prefect	François-Xavier Bieuville	24 February 2024
	President of the Departmental Council	Ben Issa Ousseni	1 July 2021
Melilla	Mayor-President	Eduardo de Castro González	15 June 2019
Mount Athos	Head of State [31]	Nikos Dendias	9 July 2019
	Civil Governor [32]	Athanásios Martínos	9 October 2019
	Spiritual Leader [33]	Bartholomew I	22 October 1991
	Protos [34]	Géron Georgios (Vatopedi)	14 June 2021
Murcia	President	Fernando López Miras	3 May 2017
Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic	Chairmen of the Supreme Assembly	Vasif Talıbov	16 December 1995
	Prime minister	Alovsat Bakhshiyev	2000
Navarre	President	María Chivite	6 August 2019
Nevis	Deputy Governor-General (for Nevis)	Hyleta Liburd	31 August 2018
	Premier	Mark Brantley	19 December 2017
Northern Ireland	First Minister [35]	Michelle O'Neill [36]	3 February 2024
	Deputy First Minister [37]	Emma Little-Pengelly [36]	3 February 2024
Papua	Governor	Agus Fatoni	7 July 2025
Principe	President of the Regional Government	Filipe Nascimento	18 August 2020
Republika Srpska	President	Vacant	12 June 2025
	Prime Minister	Savo Minic	2 September 2025
Réunion	Prefect	Jérôme Filippini	23 August 2022
	President of the Departmental Council	Cyrille Melchior	18 December 2017
	President of the Regional Council	Huguette Bello	2 July 2021
Rodrigues	Chief Commissioner	Johnson Roussety [38]	5 March 2022
	Chief Executive	Jean-Claude Pierre-Louis [39]	21 March 2022
Sardinia	President	Christian Solinas	20 March 2019
Sark	Seigneur of Sark	Christopher Beaumont	3 July 2016
Scotland	First Minister	John Swinney	8 May 2024
Sicily	President	Nello Musumeci	18 November 2017
South Papua	Governor	Apolo Safanpo	20 February 2025
Southwest Papua	Governor	Elisa Kambu	20 February 2025
Svalbard	Governor	Lars Fause	24 June 2021
Tobago	Chief Secretary of the House of Assembly	Farley Chavez Augustine	9 December 2021
Torres Strait Islands	Chairperson of the Torres Strait Regional Authority	Pedro Stephen Napau	October 2016
Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol	President	Maurizio Fugatti	2 November 2018
Valencian Community	President	Carlos Mazón	13 July 2023
Wales	First Minister	Eluned Morgan	24 July 2024
Vojvodina	President of the Government	Igor Mirović	20 June 2016
West Papua	Governor	Dominggus Mandacan	20 February 2025
Yogyakarta	Governor	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	King Charles III of the United Kingdom	Governor Julia Crouch	Premier Cora Richardson-Hodge
Bermuda	Parliamentary democracy	King Charles III of the United Kingdom	Governor Andrew Murdoch	Premier Edward David Burt
British Virgin Islands	Parliamentary democracy	King Charles III of the United Kingdom	Governor Daniel Pruce	Premier Natalio Wheatley
Cayman Islands	Parliamentary democracy	King Charles III of the United Kingdom	Governor Jane Owen	Premier Julianna O'Connor-Connolly
Christmas Island	Non-self-governing dependency	King Charles III of Australia	Administrator Farzian Zainal	Shire President Gordon Thomson
Cocos (Keeling) Islands	Non-self-governing dependency	King Charles III of Australia	Administrator Farzian Zainal	Shire President Aindil Minkom
Cook Islands	Parliamentary democracy in free-association with New Zealand	King Charles III of New Zealand	King's Representative (not otherwise styled) Sir Tom Marsters	Prime Minister Mark Brown
Falkland Islands	Parliamentary democracy	King Charles III of the United Kingdom	Governor Colin Martin-Reynolds	Chief Executive Andrea Patricia Clausen
Gibraltar	Parliamentary democracy	King Charles III of the United Kingdom	Governor Sir Ben Bathurst	Chief Minister Fabian Picardo
Guernsey	Crown dependency	King Charles III of the United Kingdom (as Duke of Normandy)	Lieutenant-Governor Richard Cripwell	Bailiff Sir Richard McMahon President Lyndon Trott
Isle of Man	Crown dependency	King Charles III of the United Kingdom (as Lord of Mann)	Lieutenant-Governor Sir John Lorimer	Chief Minister Alfred Cannan
Jersey	Crown dependency	King Charles III of the United Kingdom (as Duke of Normandy)	Lieutenant-Governor Jerry Kyd	Bailiff Sir Tim Le Cocq Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham
Montserrat	Parliamentary democracy	King Charles III of the United Kingdom	Governor Harriet Cross	Premier Reuben Meade
Niue	Parliamentary democracy in free-association with New Zealand	King Charles III of New Zealand	High Commissioner Fisa Igilisi Pihigia	Premier Dalton Tagelagi
Norfolk Island	Parliamentary democracy	King Charles III of Australia	Administrator George Plant	Self-government abolished in 2015
Pitcairn Islands	Parliamentary democracy	King Charles III of the United Kingdom	Governor Iona Thomas	Mayor Simon Young
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha	Non-self-governing dependency	King Charles III of the United Kingdom	Governor Nigel Phillips	Chief Minister Julie Thomas
Tokelau	Parliamentary democracy	King Charles III of New Zealand	Administrator Don Higgins	Head of Government Alapti Tavite
Turks and Caicos Islands	Parliamentary democracy	King Charles III of the United Kingdom	Governor Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam	Premier Washington Misick

Leaders of dependent non-Commonwealth territories

State	Government	Head of state	Head of government
Åland	Gubernatorial democracy	President Alexander Stubb of Finland, represented by Governor Marine Holm-Johansson	Premier Katrin Sjögren
American Samoa	Gubernatorial democracy	President Donald Trump of the United States	Governor Pula Nikolao Pula
Aruba	Parliamentary democracy	King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, represented by Governor Alfonso Boekhoudt	Prime Minister Mike Eman
Curaçao	Parliamentary democracy	King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, represented by Governor Lucille George-Wout	Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas
Faroe Islands	Parliamentary democracy	King Frederik X of Denmark, represented by High Commissioner Lene Moyell Johansen	Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen
French Polynesia	Presidential democracy	President Emmanuel Macron of France, represented by High Commissioner Éric Spitz	President Moeai Brotherson
Greenland	Parliamentary democracy	King Frederik X of Denmark, represented by High Commissioner Julie Præst Wilche	Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen
Guam	Gubernatorial democracy	President Donald Trump of the United States	Governor Lou Leon Guerrero
New Caledonia	Parliamentary democracy	President Emmanuel Macron of France, represented by High Commissioner Louis Le Franc	President of the Government Louis Mapou
Northern Mariana Islands	Gubernatorial democracy	President Donald Trump of the United States	Governor Arnold Palacios
Puerto Rico	Gubernatorial democracy	President Donald Trump of the United States	Governor Jenniffer González-Colón
Sint Maarten	Parliamentary democracy	King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, represented by Governor Ajamu Baly	Prime Minister Luc Mecelina
U.S. Virgin Islands	Gubernatorial democracy	President Donald Trump of the United States	Governor Albert Bryan Jr.
Wallis and Futuna	Presidential democracy	President Emmanuel Macron of France, represented by Administrator-Superior Blaise Gourtay	President of the Territorial Assembly Munipoese Muliʻakaʻaka

See also

• Dependent Territory
• Realm of New Zealand
• Dependencies of Norway
• British Overseas Territories
• Crown Dependencies
• Territories of the United States
• Danish Realm
• Overseas France
• Dutch Caribbean
• List of possessions of Norway

References

1. United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1514
2. 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.
3. Assistant Minister for Regional Development and Territories
4. Director of the Australian Antarctic Division.
5. Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
6. "Governor Andrew Murdoch arrives in Bermuda". Bernews. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
7. McWhirter, Fiona; Johnston-Barnes, Owain (15 December 2020). "History made as new Governor is sworn in at closed event". The Royal Gazette (Bermuda) . Retrieved 8 February 2021.
8. Director of the Polar Department of the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security.
9. Virgin Islands Constitution Order 2007, article 42.
10. "Acting BVI Premier Against Any Suspension of the Constitution". Loop Caribbean News. 29 April 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
11. Previously from 2003 – 14 October 2011.
12. Since 21 February 2007, directly administered by the French minister of Overseas France.
13. The authority of the French minister of Overseas France on Clipperton Island is delegated to the High Commissioner of the Republic in French Polynesia
14. "Florence Jeanblanc-Risler nouvelle préfète des Taaf". Le Marin (in French). 6 October 2022.
15. "48 U.S. Code § 1422 - Governor and Lieutenant Governor; term of office; qualifications; powers and duties; annual report to Congress".
16. Interim to 6 December 2024.
17. Director of Program Palmyra of The Nature Conservancy.
18. The British high commissioner to New Zealand.
19. Chief Executive Officer of Antarctica New Zealand.
20. The prefect of Guadeloupe is also state representative in Saint-Barthelemy from 9 July 2007.
21. "Equipe préfectorale". Les services de l'État à Saint-Barthélemy et Saint-Martin (in French). Retrieved 26 May 2025.
22. Delegated by the prefect of Guadeloupe
23. "Philip Kendall sworn-in as Tristan Administrator".
24. The prefect of Guadeloupe is also state representative in Saint-Martin from 9 July 2007.
25. Acting to 22 June 2021.
26. Since 3 October 1985, the governor of the Falkland Islands.
27. Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Insular Affairs.
28. Also General Counsel of the US Air Force.
29. Since 1 January 1995, Jan Mayen is administered by the governor of Nordland county.
30. Minister for Environment, Parks and Heritage of Tasmania.
31. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Greek government.
32. The Civil Governor of the Monastic Republic of Mount Athos is appointed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Greek government.
33. Ecumenical Patriarchs of Constantinople.
34. Dean of the Holy Epistasis of the Monastic Republic of Mount Athos.
35. Jointly with the Deputy First Minister
36. "Time to build a better future for everyone – O'Neill and Little-Pengelly". The Executive Office. 14 March 2024. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
37. Jointly with the First Minister
38. Previously chef commissaire from 4 August 2006 to 12 January 2011.
39. Previously Chief Executive from 24 October 2004 to 5 March 2010.

External links

• Rulers.org
• Worldstatesmen.org/