# Self-determination

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Right to participate in one's own governance

This article is about self-determination in international law. For other uses, see [Self-determination (disambiguation)](/source/Self-determination_(disambiguation)).

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This article's lead section may need to be rewritten. The reason given is: this article presents, though to a lesser degree, the concept of self-determination beyond the sense of political participation; the lead's scope might be too narrow. Please review the lead guide and help improve the lead of this article if you can. (May 2026) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

**Self-determination**[1] refers to a [people](/source/People)'s right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with [full suffrage](/source/Full_suffrage).[2][3]

Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern [international law](/source/International_law), binding, as such, on the [United Nations](/source/United_Nations) as an authoritative interpretation of the [Charter](/source/Charter_of_the_United_Nations)'s norms.[4][5] The principle does not state how the decision is to be made, nor what the outcome should be (whether [independence](/source/Independence), [federation](/source/Federation), [protection](/source/Protectorate), some form of [autonomy](/source/Autonomy) or full [assimilation](/source/Cultural_assimilation))[6] Further, no [right to secession](/source/Right_to_secession) is recognized under international law.[7][8]

[Moluccans](/source/Moluccan_diaspora) in [The Hague](/source/The_Hague) protesting [Indonesia under Suharto](/source/New_Order_(Indonesia))'s [treatment of East Timor](/source/East_Timor_genocide), calling for freedom for [East Timor](/source/Timor-Leste_independence), [Papua](/source/Free_Papua_Movement), [Aceh](/source/Free_Aceh_Movement) and [Maluku](/source/Republic_of_South_Maluku), 1986

The concept emerged with the rise of [nationalism](/source/Nationalism) in the 19th century and came into prominent use in the 1860s, spreading rapidly thereafter.[9] During and after [World War I](/source/World_War_I), a general principle of self-determination was proclaimed by [United States President](/source/President_of_the_United_States) [Woodrow Wilson](/source/Woodrow_Wilson) and others.[9][10] Having announced his [Fourteen Points](/source/Fourteen_Points) on 8 January 1918, Wilson stated on 11 February 1918: "National aspirations must be respected; people may now be dominated and governed only by their own consent. 'Self determination' is not a mere phrase; it is an imperative principle of action."[11] However, neither Wilson and Lloyd George nor Lenin and Trotsky considered the peoples of the [Global South](/source/Global_North_and_Global_South) as the main target for their statements supporting self-determination. Nevertheless, their rhetoric resonated far beyond the European audiences they aimed to reach.[12] During [World War II](/source/World_War_II), the principle was included in the [Atlantic Charter](/source/Atlantic_Charter), jointly declared on 14 August 1941 by [Franklin D. Roosevelt](/source/Franklin_D._Roosevelt), President of the United States, and [Winston Churchill](/source/Winston_Churchill), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, who pledged The Eight Principal points of the Charter.[13] It was recognized as an international legal right after it was explicitly listed as a right in the [UN Charter](/source/UN_Charter).[14]

Implementing the right to self-determination can be politically difficult, in part because there are multiple interpretations of what [constitutes a people](/source/Nation-building) and which groups may legitimately claim the right to self-determination.[15] As World Court judge [Ivor Jennings](/source/Ivor_Jennings) put it: "the people cannot decide until somebody decides who are the people".[16]

## History

### Pre-20th century

The norm of self-determination can be traced to the [American](/source/American_Revolution) and [French](/source/French_Revolution) revolutions, and the emergence of [nationalism](/source/Nationalism).[17][18] The European [revolutions of 1848](/source/Revolutions_of_1848), the post–World War I [settlement at Versailles](/source/Paris_Peace_Conference_(1919%E2%80%931920)), and the decolonization movement after World War II shaped and established the norm in international law.[19] The American example has been seen as the earliest assertion of the right of national self-determination, although this was argued primarily in terms of resistance to a despotic ruler rather than appeals to a "natural right" of peoples to determine their political fate, the latter emerging with the [independence of Spanish colonies in Latin America](/source/Spanish_American_wars_of_independence).[20]

These concepts were inspired particularly by earlier ideas from [Hugo Grotius](/source/Hugo_Grotius) and [Immanuel Kant](/source/Immanuel_Kant), and by the mid-nineteenth century, "self-determination" had evolved into a weapon for revolutionary nationalism.[20] [Thomas Jefferson](/source/Thomas_Jefferson) further promoted the notion that the will of the people was supreme, especially through authorship of the [United States Declaration of Independence](/source/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence), which became an inspiration for European nationalist movements during the 19th century.[15] The French Revolution legitimized the ideas of self-determination on that [Old World](/source/Old_World) continent.[21][22][*[how?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_clarify)*]

Nationalist sentiments emerged inside traditional empires: [Pan-Slavism](/source/Pan-Slavism) in Russia; [Ottomanism](/source/Ottomanism), [Kemalist ideology](/source/Kemalist_ideology) and [Arab nationalism](/source/Arab_nationalism) in the Ottoman Empire; [State Shintoism](/source/State_Shintoism) and [Japanese identity](/source/Japanese_nationalism) in Japan; and [Han identity](/source/Chinese_nationalism) in juxtaposition to the [Manchurian ruling class](/source/Manchu_people) in China. Meanwhile, in Europe itself, the [rise of nationalism](/source/Rise_of_nationalism_in_Europe) led to [Italy](/source/Italian_Wars_of_Independence), [Greece](/source/Greek_War_of_Independence), [Hungary](/source/Hungarian_Revolution_of_1848), [Poland](/source/Greater_Poland_Uprising_(1848)) and [Bulgaria](/source/Bulgarian_unification) all seeking or winning independence.

[Karl Marx](/source/Karl_Marx) and [Friedrich Engels](/source/Friedrich_Engels) supported some of these nationalist movements, believing nationalism might be a "prior condition" to social reform and international alliances.[23] In 1914, [Vladimir Lenin](/source/Vladimir_Lenin) wrote: "[It] would be wrong to interpret the right to self-determination as meaning anything but the right to existence as a separate state."[24]

In contrast, [Rosa Luxemburg](/source/Rosa_Luxemburg) called a "right of nations to self-determination", valid for all countries and all times, "nothing more than a metaphysical cliché" that offers no "practical solution of nationality problems" and argued that the very concept of the nation as an "homogenous social and political entity" was derived from [bourgeois](/source/Bourgeoisie) ideology.[25][26]

### World Wars I and II

#### Europe, Asia and Africa

Map of [territorial changes](/source/Aftermath_of_World_War_I) in Europe after World War I (as of 1923)

Map of the world in 1945, showing [United Nations Trusteeship Council](/source/United_Nations_Trusteeship_Council) territories in green[27]

[Woodrow Wilson](/source/Woodrow_Wilson) revived America's commitment to self-determination, at least for European states, during World War I. When the [Bolsheviks](/source/Bolsheviks) came to power in Russia in the [October Revolution](/source/October_Revolution), they called for Russia's immediate withdrawal as a member of the [Allies of World War I](/source/Allies_of_World_War_I). Lenin had used "national self-determination" as a weapon against the [Russian Empire](/source/Russian_Empire), and after the Revolution the party supported the right of all nations, including colonies, to self-determination.[24] The 1918 [Constitution of the Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Russia_Constitution_of_1918) acknowledged the right of [secession](/source/Secession) for its constituent republics.[15]

In January 1918, Wilson issued his [Fourteen Points](/source/Fourteen_Points) of January 1918 which, among other things, called for adjustment of colonial claims, insofar as the interests of colonial powers had equal weight with the claims of subject peoples.[15] The [Treaty of Brest-Litovsk](/source/Treaty_of_Brest-Litovsk_(Russia%E2%80%93Central_Powers)) in March 1918 led to [Soviet Russia](/source/Russian_Soviet_Federative_Socialist_Republic)'s exit from the war and the nominal independence of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine, though in fact those territories were under German control.[28] The end of the war led to the dissolution of the defeated [Austro-Hungarian Empire](/source/Austro-Hungarian_Empire) and [Czechoslovakia](/source/Czechoslovakia) and the [union](/source/Yugoslavia) of the [State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs](/source/State_of_Slovenes%2C_Croats_and_Serbs) with the [Kingdom of Serbia](/source/Kingdom_of_Serbia) emerging as new states out of the wreckage of the [Habsburg empire](/source/Habsburg_monarchy), along with the [unification](/source/Great_Union) of all [Romanian-speaking lands](/source/Greater_Romania). However, this imposition of states where some nationalities (especially [Poles](/source/Polish_people), [Czechs](/source/Czechs), [Serbs](/source/Serbs) and [Romanians](/source/Romanians)) were given power over other nationalities who disliked and distrusted them was eventually used as a pretext for German aggression in [World War II](/source/World_War_II).

The [League of Nations](/source/League_of_Nations) was established as the symbol of the emerging postwar order. One of its earliest tasks was to legitimize the territorial boundaries of the new [nation-states](/source/Nation_state) created in the territories of the former [Ottoman Empire](/source/Ottoman_Empire), Asia, and Africa. The League was not consistent in how it applied the principle in the postwar peace treaties and, in many places, had to compensate with highly complex arrangements to ensure protection of minorities.[29] Nor did the principle of self-determination extend so far as to end colonialism, under the reasoning that the local populations were not civilized enough; the League of Nations was to assign each of the post-Ottoman, Asian and African states and colonies to a European power by the grant of a [League of Nations mandate](/source/League_of_Nations_mandate).[30]

One of the German objections to the [Treaty of Versailles](/source/Treaty_of_Versailles) was a somewhat selective application of the principle of self-determination, as the [Republic of German-Austria](/source/Republic_of_German-Austria), which included the [Sudetenland](/source/Sudetenland), was seen as representing the will to join Germany in those regions, while the majority of people in [Danzig](/source/Free_City_of_Danzig) wanted to remain within the [Reich](/source/Reich). However, the Allies ignored the German objections. Wilson's 14 Points had called for [Polish independence](/source/History_of_Poland_(1918%E2%80%931939)) to be restored and Poland to have "secure access to the sea", which would imply that the German city of Danzig (modern [Gdańsk](/source/Gda%C5%84sk), [Poland](/source/Poland)) be ceded to Poland.[31] At the [Paris Peace Conference](/source/Paris_Peace_Conference_(1919%E2%80%931920)) in 1919, the Polish delegation asked Wilson to honor point 14 of the 14 points by transferring Danzig to Poland, arguing that the city was Polish until 1793, and that Poland would not be economically viable without it.[31] During the [First Partition](/source/Partitions_of_Poland) of Poland in 1772, the inhabitants of Danzig fought fiercely for it to remain a part of Poland,[32] but as a result of the [Germanisation](/source/Germanisation) process in the 19th century,[33] 90% of its inhabitants were [German](/source/Germans) by 1919, which led to the creation of the [Free City of Danzig](/source/Free_City_of_Danzig), a city-state in which Poland had certain special rights.[34] Though the city of Danzig was 90% German and 10% Polish, the surrounding countryside around Danzig was overwhelmingly Polish, and the ethnically Polish rural areas included in the Free City of Danzig objected, arguing that they wanted to be part of Poland.[31] Neither the Poles nor the Germans were happy with this compromise, and the Danzig issue became a flash point of German-Polish tension throughout the interwar period.[35]

During the 1920s and 1930s, there were some successful movements for self-determination in the beginnings of the process of [decolonization](/source/Decolonization). The [Statute of Westminster](/source/Statute_of_Westminster_1931) granted independence to [Canada](/source/Canada), [New Zealand](/source/Dominion_of_New_Zealand), [Newfoundland](/source/Newfoundland_and_Labrador), [Australia](/source/Commonwealth_of_Australia), and the [Union of South Africa](/source/Union_of_South_Africa) after the [British parliament](/source/British_parliament) declared itself incapable of passing laws over them without their consent.[36] This statute built on the [Balfour Declaration of 1926](/source/Balfour_Declaration_of_1926) which recognized the autonomy of these British dominions, representing the first phase of the creation of the [British Commonwealth of Nations](/source/Commonwealth_of_Nations). [Egypt](/source/Kingdom_of_Egypt), [Afghanistan](/source/Kingdom_of_Afghanistan), and [Iraq](/source/Kingdom_of_Iraq) also achieved independence from Britain.[*[dubious](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Accuracy_dispute#Disputed_statement) – [discuss](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Self-determination#Dubious)*] Other efforts were unsuccessful, like the [Indian independence movement](/source/Indian_independence_movement). Meanwhile, Italy, Japan and Germany all initiated new efforts to bring certain territories under their control. In particular, the [National Socialist Program](/source/National_Socialist_Program) invoked this right of nations, as it was publicly proclaimed on 24 February 1920 by [Adolf Hitler](/source/Adolf_Hitler).[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

In Asia, Japan became a rising power and gained more respect from Western powers after its victory in the [Russo-Japanese War](/source/Russo-Japanese_War). Japan joined the Allied Powers in World War I and [attacked German colonial possessions](/source/Japan_during_World_War_I) in the [Far East](/source/Far_East), adding former German possessions to its own empire. In the 1930s, Japan gained significant influence in [Inner Mongolia](/source/Inner_Mongolia) and [Manchuria](/source/Manchuria) after it [invaded Manchuria](/source/Mukden_Incident). It established [Manchukuo](/source/Manchukuo), a [puppet state](/source/Puppet_state) in [Manchuria](/source/Manchuria) and eastern [Inner Mongolia](/source/Inner_Mongolia). This was essentially the model that Japan followed as it invaded other areas in Asia and established the [Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere](/source/Greater_East_Asia_Co-Prosperity_Sphere). Japan went to considerable trouble to argue that Manchukuo was justified by the principle of self-determination, claiming that people of Manchuria wanted to break away from China and asked the [Kwantung Army](/source/Kwantung_Army) to intervene on their behalf. However, the [Lytton commission](/source/Lytton_Report), which had been appointed by the League of Nations to decide if Japan had committed aggression or not, stated that the majority of people in Manchuria who were [Han Chinese](/source/Han_Chinese) who did not wish to leave China.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

In 1912, the [Republic of China](/source/Republic_of_China_(1912%E2%80%931949)) officially [succeeded](/source/Successor_state) the Qing Dynasty, while [Outer Mongolia](/source/Outer_Mongolia), [Tibet](/source/Tibet_(1912%E2%80%931951)) and [Tuva](/source/Tannu_Uriankhai) proclaimed their independence. Independence was not accepted by the [government of China](/source/Beiyang_government). By the [Treaty of Kyakhta (1915)](/source/Treaty_of_Kyakhta_(1915)), [Outer Mongolia](/source/Outer_Mongolia%2C_1911-1919) recognized China's sovereignty. However, the [Soviet](/source/Soviet_Union) threat of seizing parts of Inner Mongolia induced China to recognize [Outer Mongolia's independence](/source/Mongolian_People's_Republic), provided that a referendum was held. The referendum took place on October 20, 1945, with—according to official numbers—100% of the electorate voting for independence.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

Many of [East Asia](/source/East_Asia)'s current disputes to sovereignty and self-determination stem from unresolved disputes from World War II. After its fall, the [Empire of Japan](/source/Empire_of_Japan) renounced control over many of its former possessions including [Korea](/source/Korea), [Sakhalin Island](/source/Sakhalin_Island), and [Taiwan](/source/Taiwan). In none of these areas were the opinions of affected people consulted, or given significant priority. Korea was specifically granted independence, but the receiver of various other areas was not stated in the [Treaty of San Francisco](/source/Treaty_of_San_Francisco), giving Taiwan *de facto* independence, although its [political status](/source/Political_status_of_Taiwan) continues to be ambiguous.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

### The Cold War world

#### The UN Charter and resolutions

In 1941, [Allies of World War II](/source/Allies_of_World_War_II) declared the [Atlantic Charter](/source/Atlantic_Charter) and accepted the principle of self-determination. In January 1942, twenty-six states signed the [Declaration by United Nations](/source/Declaration_by_United_Nations), which accepted those principles. The ratification of the [United Nations Charter](/source/Charter_of_the_United_Nations) in 1945 at the end of World War II placed the right of self-determination into the framework of international law and diplomacy.

- Chapter 1, Article 1, part 2 states that purpose of the UN Charter is "To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace."[37]

- Article 1 in both the [International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights](/source/International_Covenant_on_Civil_and_Political_Rights) (ICCPR)[38] and the [International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights](/source/International_Covenant_on_Economic%2C_Social_and_Cultural_Rights) (ICESCR)[39] reads: "All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development."

- The United Nations [Universal Declaration of Human Rights](/source/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights) Article 15 states that everyone has the right to a nationality and that no one should be arbitrarily deprived of a nationality or denied the right to change nationality.

Western European [colonial empires](/source/Colonial_empire) in [Asia](/source/Asia) and [Africa](/source/Africa) disintegrated after World War II

On 14 December 1960, the [United Nations General Assembly](/source/United_Nations_General_Assembly) adopted [United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV)](/source/United_Nations_General_Assembly_Resolution_1514_(XV)) subtitled "[Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples](/source/Declaration_on_the_Granting_of_Independence_to_Colonial_Countries_and_Peoples)", which supported the granting of [independence](/source/Independence) to [colonial](/source/Colonialism) countries and people by providing an inevitable legal linkage between self-determination and its goal of decolonisation. It postulated a new international law-based right of [freedom](/source/Liberty) to exercise economic self-determination. Article 5 states: Immediate steps shall be taken in [Trust and Non-Self-Governing Territories](/source/United_Nations_list_of_non-self-governing_territories),[40] or all other territories which have not yet attained independence, to transfer all powers to the people of those territories, without any conditions or reservations, in accordance with their freely expressed will and desire, without any distinction as to race, creed or colour, in order to enable them to enjoy complete independence and freedom.

On 15 December 1960, the United Nations General Assembly adopted [United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1541 (XV)](/source/United_Nations_General_Assembly_Resolution_1541_(XV)), subtitled "Principles which should guide members in determining whether or nor an obligation exists to transmit the information called for under [Article 73e](/source/Chapter_XI_of_the_United_Nations_Charter) of the [United Nations Charter](/source/United_Nations_Charter) in Article 3", which provided that "[t]he inadequacy of political, economic, social and educational preparedness should never serve as a pretext for delaying the right to self-determination and independence." To monitor the implementation of Resolution 1514, the General Assembly created the Special Committee in 1961, referred to popularly as the [Special Committee on Decolonization](/source/Special_Committee_on_Decolonization) to ensure [decolonization](/source/Decolonization) complete compliance with the principles of self-determination in General Assembly Resolution 1541 (XV).[41][42]

However, the charter and other resolutions did not insist on full independence as the best way of obtaining [self-government](/source/Self-government), nor did they include an enforcement mechanism. Moreover, new states were recognized by the legal doctrine of [*uti possidetis juris*](/source/Uti_possidetis_juris), meaning that old administrative boundaries would become international boundaries upon independence even if they had little relevance to linguistic, ethnic, and cultural boundaries.[43][44] Nevertheless, justified by the language of self-determination, between 1946 and 1960, thirty-seven new nations in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East gained independence from colonial powers.[15][45][46] The territoriality issue inevitably would lead to more conflicts and independence movements within many states and challenges to the assumption that [territorial integrity](/source/Territorial_integrity) is as important as self-determination.[43]

#### The communist versus capitalist worlds

See also: [Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War](/source/Allied_intervention_in_the_Russian_Civil_War)

Decolonization in the world was contrasted by the [Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Union)'s successful postwar expansionism. [Tuva](/source/People's_Republic_of_Tuva) and several regional states in [Eastern Europe](/source/Eastern_Europe), the [Baltic](/source/Baltic_states), and [Central Asia](/source/Soviet_Central_Asia) had been fully annexed by the Soviet Union during World War II. Now it extended its influence by establishing the [satellite states](/source/Satellite_states) of [Eastern Germany](/source/East_Germany) and the countries of [Eastern Europe](/source/Eastern_Bloc), along with support for revolutionary movements in [China](/source/China) and [North Korea](/source/North_Korea). Although satellite states were independent and possessed sovereignty, the Soviet Union violated principles of self-determination by suppressing the [Hungarian revolution of 1956](/source/Hungarian_revolution_of_1956) and the [Prague Spring](/source/Prague_Spring) Czechoslovak reforms of 1968. It [invaded Afghanistan](/source/Soviet%E2%80%93Afghan_War) to support a communist government assailed by local tribal groups.[15] However, [Marxism–Leninism](/source/Marxism%E2%80%93Leninism) and its theory of imperialism were also strong influences in the national emancipation movements of [Third World](/source/Third_World) nations rebelling against colonial or puppet regimes. In many [Third World](/source/Third_World) countries, communism became an ideology that united groups to oppose imperialism or colonization.

Soviet actions were [contained](/source/Containment) by the United States, which saw communism as a menace to its interests. Throughout the cold war, the United States created, supported, and sponsored regimes with various success that served their economic and political interests, among them [anti-communist](/source/Anti-communist) regimes such as that of [Augusto Pinochet](/source/Augusto_Pinochet) in [Chile](/source/Chile) and [Suharto](/source/Suharto) in [Indonesia](/source/Indonesia). To achieve this, a variety of means was implemented, including the orchestration of coups, sponsoring of anti-communist countries and military interventions. Consequently, many self-determination movements, which spurned some type of anti-communist government, were accused of being Soviet-inspired or -controlled.[15]

#### Asia

In Asia, the Soviet Union had already converted Mongolia into a satellite state but abandoned propping up the [Second East Turkestan Republic](/source/Second_East_Turkestan_Republic) and gave up its [Manchurian claims](/source/Soviet_invasion_of_Manchuria) to China. The new [People's Republic of China](/source/People's_Republic_of_China) had gained control of mainland China in the [Chinese Civil War](/source/Chinese_Civil_War), later taking over independent [Tibet](/source/Tibet_(1912-1951)). The [Korean War](/source/Korean_War) shifted the focus of the Cold War from Europe to Asia, where competing superpowers took advantage of [decolonization](/source/Decolonization) to spread their influence.

In 1947, India gained independence from the [British Empire](/source/British_Empire). The empire was in decline but adapted to these circumstances by creating the [British Commonwealth](/source/Commonwealth_of_Nations)—since 1949, the [Commonwealth of Nations](/source/Commonwealth_of_Nations)—which is a free association of equal states. As India obtained its independence, multiple ethnic conflicts emerged in relation to the formation of a statehood during the [Partition of India](/source/Partition_of_India), which resulted in Islamic Pakistan and Secular India. Before the [advent of the British](/source/British_Raj), no empire based in mainland India had controlled any part of what now makes up the country's Northeast, part of the reason for the ongoing [insurgency in Northeast India](/source/Insurgency_in_Northeast_India).[47] In 1971, [Bangladesh obtained independence](/source/Bangladesh_Liberation_War) from Pakistan.

[Burma](/source/Myanmar) (later Myanmar) also gained independence from the British Empire, but declined membership in the Commonwealth.[48] In contrast, [Ceylon](/source/Sri_Lanka) (later Sri Lanka) and [Malaya](/source/Federation_of_Malaya) both joined the Commonwealth upon gaining independence from Britain, as well as the latter's successor states ([Malaysia](/source/Malaysia), [Singapore](/source/Singapore), and [Brunei](/source/Brunei)).

[Indonesia](/source/Indonesia) gained independence from the [Dutch Empire](/source/Dutch_Empire) in 1949 after the latter failed to restore colonial control. Indonesia also wanted a powerful position in the region that could be lessened by the creation of united [Malaysia](/source/Malaysia). The Netherlands retained [its New Guinea part](/source/Dutch_New_Guinea) from the previous [Dutch East Indies](/source/Dutch_East_Indies), but Indonesia threatened to [invade and annex it](/source/Operation_Trikora). A vote was supposedly taken under the UN sponsored [Act of Free Choice](/source/Act_of_Free_Choice) to allow West New Guineans to decide their fate, although many dispute its veracity. Later, [Portugal](/source/Portuguese_Empire) relinquished control over [East Timor](/source/East_Timor) in the aftermath of [Carnation Revolution](/source/Carnation_Revolution) in 1975, at which time [Indonesia promptly invaded and annexed it](/source/Indonesian_invasion_of_East_Timor). In 1999, Indonesian president [B. J. Habibie](/source/B._J._Habibie) was pressured by [Australia](/source/Australia) and the [United Nations](/source/United_Nations) to give East Timor independence. The people of former Indonesian East Timor were given a choice of either greater autonomy within [Indonesia](/source/Indonesia) or [independence](/source/East_Timor_independence). 78.5% of East Timorese voted for independence, rejecting Indonesia's special autonomy proposal.[49]

[Laos](/source/Laos) and [Cambodia](/source/Cambodia) both gained independence from the [French Empire](/source/French_colonial_empire) in 1953, although [Vietnam](/source/Vietnam)'s case was more complex than those of the other two former colonies of French Indochina. Despite Vietnam under the communist [Viet Minh](/source/Viet_Minh) [declaring independence](/source/August_Revolution) from France in 1945, it had to fight the [Southern Resistance War](/source/War_in_Vietnam_(1945%E2%80%931946)) and later the [First Indochina War](/source/First_Indochina_War) against not just the French but also the anti-communist Western-backed [State of Vietnam](/source/State_of_Vietnam) after 1949. This would last until the decisive [Battle of Dien Bien Phu](/source/Battle_of_Dien_Bien_Phu) guaranteed the international recognition of Vietnam in 1954 at the [Geneva Conference](/source/1954_Geneva_Conference), albeit partitioned between the South Vietnam (State of Vietnam, later the Republic of Vietnam) as well as the communist North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam). It wouldn't be until 1975 that Vietnam would be reunified under the north's rule following the [Vietnam War](/source/Vietnam_War).[50]

### After the Cold War

[Changes in national boundaries](/source/List_of_national_border_changes_since_World_War_I) after the end of the Cold War

The Cold War began to wind down after [Mikhail Gorbachev](/source/Mikhail_Gorbachev) assumed power as [Soviet General Secretary](/source/General_Secretary_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union) in March 1985. With the cooperation of the U.S. President [Ronald Reagan](/source/Ronald_Reagan), Gorbachev wound down the size of the [Soviet Armed Forces](/source/Soviet_Armed_Forces) and reduced nuclear arms in Europe, while liberalizing the [Soviet economy](/source/Economy_of_the_Soviet_Union).[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

In the [revolutions of 1989–90](/source/Revolutions_of_1989), the communist regimes of Soviet satellite states collapsed in rapid succession in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Bulgaria, Romania, and Mongolia. East and West Germany united, Czechoslovakia peacefully split into [Czech Republic](/source/Czech_Republic) and [Slovakia](/source/Slovakia), while in the 1990s, Yugoslavia began a [violent breakup](/source/Breakup_of_Yugoslavia) into six states. North Macedonia and Montenegro became independent nations and broke off from Yugoslavia peacefully. [Kosovo](/source/Kosovo), which was previously an autonomous unit of Serbia, declared independence in 2008, but has received less international recognition.[15]

In December 1991, Gorbachev resigned as president and the [Soviet Union dissolved](/source/Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union) relatively peacefully into [fifteen sovereign republics](/source/Post-Soviet_states), all of which rejected [Communism](/source/Communism) and most of which adopted democratic reforms and free-market economies. Inside those new republics, [four major areas](/source/Commonwealth_of_Unrecognized_States) have claimed their own independence, but not received widespread international recognition.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

After decades of civil war, Indonesia finally recognized the independence of [East Timor](/source/East_Timor) in 2002.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] Likewise, decades of civil war in Sudan finally led to [South Sudan](/source/South_Sudan) becoming independent in 2011.

In 1949, the [Communist Party](/source/Chinese_Communist_Party) won the [Chinese Civil War](/source/Chinese_Civil_War) and established the [People's Republic of China](/source/People's_Republic_of_China) in [Mainland China](/source/Mainland_China). The [Kuomintang](/source/Kuomintang)-led [Republic of China](/source/Republic_of_China) government retreated to [Taipei](/source/Taipei), its jurisdiction now limited to [Taiwan](/source/Taiwan) and several outlying islands. Since then, the People's Republic of China has been involved in disputes with the ROC over issues of sovereignty and the [political status of Taiwan](/source/Political_status_of_Taiwan).[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

As noted, self-determination movements remain [strong in some areas of the world](/source/List_of_active_autonomist_and_secessionist_movements). Some areas possess *de facto* independence, such as Taiwan, [North Cyprus](/source/North_Cyprus), [Kosovo](/source/Kosovo), [Abkhazia](/source/Abkhazia), and [South Ossetia](/source/South_Ossetia), but their independence is disputed by one or more major states. Significant movements for self-determination also persist for locations that lack *de facto* independence, such as [East Turkistan](/source/East_Turkistan) ("Xinjiang"), [Kurdistan](/source/Kurdistan), [Balochistan](/source/Balochistan), [Chechnya](/source/Chechnya), and [Palestine](/source/Palestine).[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

## Current issues

[Southern Sudanese](/source/South_Sudan) expressed joy and jubilation on their day of independence, July 9, 2011, from Sudan.

Since the early 1990s, the legitimatization of the principle of national self-determination has led to an increase in the number of conflicts within states, as subgroups seek greater self-determination and full secession, and as their conflicts for leadership within groups and with other groups and with the dominant state become violent.[51] The international reaction to these new movements has been uneven and often dictated more by politics than principle. The 2000 [United Nations Millennium Declaration](/source/United_Nations_Millennium_Declaration) failed to deal with these new demands, mentioning only "the right to self-determination of peoples which remain under colonial domination and foreign occupation."[44][52]

In an issue of *[Macquarie University](/source/Macquarie_University) Law Journal*, Associate Professor Aleksandar Pavkovic and Senior Lecturer Peter Radan outlined current legal and political issues in self-determination.[53]

### Defining "peoples"

There is not a recognized legal definition of "peoples" in international law.[54] Indeed, [Ivor Jennings](/source/Ivor_Jennings) called Wilson's doctrine "ridiculous" because, though on the surface it seems reasonable to "let the people decide", in practice "the people cannot decide until someone decides who are the people".[16]

Reviewing various international judgements and UN resolutions, Vita Gudeleviciute of [Vytautas Magnus University](/source/Vytautas_Magnus_University) Law School finds that, in cases of non-self-governing peoples (colonized and/or indigenous) and foreign military occupation, "a people" is defined as the entire population of the occupied territorial unit, no matter their other differences. Meanwhile, in cases where people lack representation by a state's government, the unrepresented become a defined as a separate people. Present international law does not recognize ethnic and other minorities as separate peoples, with the notable exception of cases in which such groups are systematically disenfranchised by the government of the state in which they live.[44]

Other definitions offered are "peoples" as self-evident (from ethnicity, language, history, etc.),[*[further explanation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_clarify)*] or defined by "ties of mutual affection or sentiment" ("loyalty", or by mutual obligations among peoples).[55]

Professor Uriel Abulof suggests that self-determination entails the "moral [double helix](/source/Nucleic_acid_double_helix)" of duality: 1. personal right to align with a people, and the people's right to determine their politics; and 2. and mutuality (the right is as much the other's as the self's). Thus, self-determination grants individuals the right to form "a people," which then has the right to establish an independent state, as long as they grant the same to all other individuals and peoples.[56]

Self-determination has been argued to require the ability to legally treat "peoples" different from others, such as through [discrimination based on citizenship](/source/Discrimination_based_on_nationality).[57]

### Self-determination versus territorial integrity

Celebration of the [Declaration of Independence](/source/2008_Kosovo_declaration_of_independence) of [Kosovo](/source/Kosovo) in 2008

National self-determination appears to challenge the principle of [territorial integrity](/source/Territorial_integrity) (or [sovereignty](/source/Sovereignty)) of states as it is the will of the people that makes a state legitimate. This implies that people should be free to choose their own state and its territorial boundaries. However, there are far more self-identified nations than there are existing states and there is no legal process to redraw state boundaries according to the will of these peoples.[53] According to the Helsinki Final Act of 1975, the UN, ICJ and international law experts, there is no contradiction between the principles of self-determination and territorial integrity, with the latter taking precedence.[58][59][60][61]

[Donetsk status referendum](/source/2014_Donetsk_and_Luhansk_status_referendums) organized by separatists in [Ukraine](/source/Ukraine). A line to enter a polling place, 11 May 2014

[Allen Buchanan](/source/Allen_Buchanan), author of seven books on self-determination and secession, supports territorial integrity as a moral and legal aspect of constitutional democracy. However, he also advances a "Remedial Rights Only Theory" where a group has "a general right to secede if and only if it has suffered certain injustices, for which secession is the appropriate remedy of last resort." He also would recognize secession if the state grants, or the constitution includes, a right to secede.[44]

Vita Gudeleviciute holds that in cases of non-self-governing peoples and foreign military occupation the principle of self-determination trumps that of territorial integrity. In cases where people lack representation by a state's government, they also may be considered a separate people, but under current law cannot claim the right to self-determination. On the other hand, she finds that secession within a single state is a domestic matter not covered by international law. Thus, there is no consensus on what groups may constitute a seceding people.[44]

A number of states have laid claim to territories, which they allege were removed from them as a result of colonialism. This is justified by reference to Paragraph 6 of UN Resolution 1514(XV), which states that any attempt "aimed at partial or total disruption of the national unity and the territorial integrity of a country is incompatible with the purposes and principles of the Charter". This, it is claimed, applies to situations where the territorial integrity of a state had been disrupted by colonisation, so that the people of a territory subject to a historic territorial claim are prevented from exercising a right to self-determination. This interpretation is rejected by many states, who argue that Paragraph 2 of UN Resolution 1514(XV) states that "all peoples have the right to self-determination" and Paragraph 6 cannot be used to justify territorial claims. The original purpose of Paragraph 6 was "to ensure that acts of self-determination occur within the established boundaries of colonies, rather than within sub-regions". Further, the use of the word *attempt* in Paragraph 6 denotes future action and cannot be construed to justify territorial redress for past action.[62] An attempt sponsored by Spain and Argentina to qualify the right to self-determination in cases where there was a territorial dispute was rejected by the UN General Assembly, which reiterated that the right to self-determination was a universal right.[63][64]

### Methods of increasing minority rights

In order to accommodate demands for minority rights and avoid secession and the creation of a separate new state, many states [decentralize](/source/Decentralization) or [devolve](/source/Devolution) greater decision-making power to new or existing subunits or [autonomous areas](/source/Autonomous_area).

### Self-determination versus majority rule/equal rights

Self-determination can be at odds with the principle of [majority rule](/source/Majority_rule) and equal rights, especially when there is a sizable minority group. In democratic societies, majority rule is often used to determine the outcome in electoral and voting processes. However, a major critique of majority rule is that it may result in the [tyranny of the majority](/source/Tyranny_of_the_majority), especially in cases in which a simple majority is used in order to determine outcome. This flaw is particularly poignant when there is a large minority group whose interests are not being represented, and who may then seek to secede.

The right to self-determination by a minority has long been contested in democracies with majority rule. For instance, in his first inaugural speech, [Abraham Lincoln](/source/Abraham_Lincoln) argued the following:

Plainly the central idea of secession is the essence of anarchy. A majority held in restraint by constitutional checks and limitations, and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of a free people. Whoever rejects it does of necessity fly to anarchy or to despotism. Unanimity is impossible. The rule of a minority, as a permanent arrangement, is wholly inadmissible; so that, rejecting the majority principle, anarchy or despotism in some form is all that is left.[65]

However, liberal proponents for the right to self-determination by minority groups contradict this notion by arguing that, in cases where the minority is not able to become the majority, and that minority is territorially concentrated and does not want to be governed by the majority, it may serve the best interest of the state to allow the secession of this group.[66]

### Constitutional law

Most [sovereign states](/source/Sovereign_state) do not recognize the right to self-determination through secession in their constitutions. Many expressly forbid it. However, there are several existing models of self-determination through greater autonomy and through secession.[67]

In liberal constitutional democracies, the principle of [majority rule](/source/Majority_rule) has dictated whether a minority can secede. In the United States, [Abraham Lincoln](/source/Abraham_Lincoln) acknowledged that secession might be possible through [amending](/source/List_of_amendments_to_the_United_States_Constitution) the [United States Constitution](/source/United_States_Constitution). The [Supreme Court](/source/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States) in *[Texas v. White](/source/Texas_v._White)* held secession could occur "through revolution, or through consent of the States."[68][69] The [British Parliament](/source/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom) in 1933 held that [Western Australia](/source/Western_Australia) only could secede from Australia upon vote of a majority of the country as a whole; the previous two-thirds majority vote for secession via referendum in Western Australia was insufficient.[53]

The [Chinese Communist Party](/source/Communist_Party_of_China) followed the Soviet Union in including the right of secession in its 1931 constitution in order to entice ethnic nationalities and Tibet into joining. However, the Party eliminated the right to secession in later years and had anti-secession clause written into the Constitution before and after the founding the People's Republic of China. The 1947 Constitution of the [Union of Burma](/source/Burma) contained an express state right to secede from the union under a number of procedural conditions. It was eliminated in the 1974 constitution of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma (officially the "Union of Myanmar"). Burma still allows "local autonomy under central leadership".[67]

As of 1996, the [constitutions of Austria](/source/Constitution_of_Austria), [Ethiopia](/source/Constitutions_of_Ethiopia), [France](/source/Constitution_of_France), and [Saint Kitts and Nevis](/source/Constitution_of_Saint_Kitts_and_Nevis) have express or implied rights to secession. Switzerland allows for the secession from current and the creation of new [cantons](/source/Cantons_of_Switzerland). In the case of proposed [Quebec](/source/Quebec) separation from Canada, the [Supreme Court of Canada](/source/Supreme_Court_of_Canada) in 1998 ruled that only both a clear majority of the province and a [constitutional amendment](/source/Constitutional_amendment) confirmed by all participants in the Canadian federation could allow secession.[67]

The 2003 draft of the [European Union Constitution](/source/Treaty_establishing_a_Constitution_for_Europe) allowed for the voluntary withdrawal of member states from the union, although the state which wanted to leave could not be involved in the vote deciding whether or not they can leave the Union.[67] There was much discussion about such self-determination by minorities[70] before the final document underwent the unsuccessful ratification process in 2005.

As a result of the successful [constitutional referendum](/source/2003_Liechtenstein_constitutional_referendum) held in 2003, every municipality in the [Principality of Liechtenstein](/source/Liechtenstein) has the right to secede from the Principality by a vote of a majority of the citizens residing in this municipality.[71]

### Drawing new borders

See also: [Partition (politics)](/source/Partition_(politics))

In determining international borders between sovereign states, self-determination has yielded to a number of other principles.[72] Once groups exercise self-determination through secession, the issue of the proposed borders may prove more controversial than the fact of secession. The bloody [Yugoslav Wars](/source/Yugoslav_Wars) in the 1990s were related mostly to border issues because the international community applied a version of [*uti possidetis juris*](/source/Uti_possidetis_juris) in transforming the existing internal borders of the various Yugoslav republics into international borders, despite the conflicts of ethnic groups within those boundaries. In the 1990s, indigenous populations of the northern two-thirds of Quebec province opposed being incorporated into a Quebec nation and stated a determination to [resist it by force](/source/Resistance_movement).[53]

The border between [Northern Ireland](/source/Northern_Ireland) and the [Irish Free State](/source/Irish_Free_State) was based on the borders of existing counties and did not include all of historic [Ulster](/source/Ulster) (see [Partition of Ireland](/source/Partition_of_Ireland)). An [Irish Boundary Commission](/source/Irish_Boundary_Commission) was established to consider redrawing it. Its proposals, which amounted to a small net transfer to the Free State, were leaked to the press and then not acted upon. The Commission Report was suppressed and not published in full until 1969. In December 1925, the governments of the Irish Free State, Northern Ireland, and the United Kingdom agreed to accept the existing border.

## Notable cases

See also: [List of historical separatist movements](/source/List_of_historical_separatist_movements), [Lists of decolonized nations](/source/Decolonization#Independence_movements), and [Lists of active separatist movements](/source/Lists_of_active_separatist_movements)

### Artsakh

Main articles: [Karabakh movement](/source/Karabakh_movement) and [Republic of Artsakh](/source/Republic_of_Artsakh)

The first major demonstration in [Stepanakert](/source/Stepanakert) on February 13, 1988. Traditionally considered the start of the [Artsakh movement](/source/Artsakh_movement).

Motivated by fears of cultural and physical erasure under [government policies from Azerbaijan](/source/Anti-Armenian_sentiment_in_Azerbaijan#Suppression_of_Armenian_culture_in_Nagorno-Karabakh),[73][74][75] Armenians launched a national liberation movement which came to be known as the [Karabakh Movement](/source/Karabakh_movement) between 1988 to 1991.[76][77][78][79] The movement advocated for the reunification of the [Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast](/source/Nagorno-Karabakh_Autonomous_Oblast) (NKAO) – an autonomous enclave within [Azerbaijan](/source/Azerbaijan_Soviet_Socialist_Republic) – with [Armenia](/source/Armenian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic).

The [Republic of Artsakh](/source/Republic_of_Artsakh) (also known as the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic), in the [Caucasus](/source/Caucasus) region, declared its independence in a [1991 referendum](/source/1991_Nagorno-Karabakh_independence_referendum), which had an approval of 99% of voters; however, the breakaway state remained unrecognized by UN states and was disbanded on January 1, 2024, after Azerbaijan's [military offensive](/source/2023_Azerbaijani_offensive_in_Nagorno-Karabakh) and [the expulsion of 99% of its population.](/source/Expulsion_of_Nagorno-Karabakh_Armenians) The Armenian refugees from [Nagorno-Karabakh](/source/Republic_of_Artsakh) have petitioned for the [right of return](/source/Right_of_return).[80][81][82] The [government of Artsakh](/source/Government_of_Artsakh) remains a [government-in-exile](/source/Government-in-exile).[83][84][85] [Samvel Shahramanyan](/source/Samvel_Shahramanyan), former and final president of Nagorno-Karabakh stated "our right to return to our birthplace, our homeland, is not up for denial."[86] However, the state-sponsored [anti-Armenian sentiment](/source/Anti-Armenian_sentiment_in_Azerbaijan) within Azerbaijan complicates the possible return of Azerbaijan's ethnic Armenian population.[87][88]

### Assyria

Main articles: [Assyrian independence movement](/source/Assyrian_independence_movement), [Assyrians](/source/Assyrians), and [Assyria](/source/Assyria)

The [Assyrian independence movement](/source/Assyrian_independence_movement) is a political movement and nationalist desire of the [Assyrian people](/source/Assyrian_people) to live in their traditional Assyrian homeland under the self-governance of an Assyrian state. The Assyrian territory is currently in parts of [Syria](/source/Syria), [Iraq](/source/Iraq), [Iran](/source/Iran), and [Turkey](/source/Turkey).

### Australia

Main article: [Indigenous Australian self-determination](/source/Indigenous_Australian_self-determination)

Self-determination has become the topic of some debate in Australia in relation to [Aboriginal Australians](/source/Aboriginal_Australians) and [Torres Strait Islanders](/source/Torres_Strait_Islanders). In the 1970s, Aboriginal Australians requested the right to administer their own remote communities as part of the [homelands movement](/source/Homelands_movement), also known as the outstation movement. These grew in number through the 1980s, but funding dried up in the 2000s.

### Azawad

Main article: [Mali War](/source/Mali_War)

Tuareg rebels in the short-lived [proto-state](/source/Proto-state) of Azawad in 2012

The traditional homeland of the [Tuareg](/source/Tuareg_people) peoples was divided up by the modern borders of [Mali](/source/Mali), [Algeria](/source/Algeria) and [Niger](/source/Niger). Numerous rebellions occurred over the decades, but in 2012, the Tuaregs succeeded in occupying their land and declaring the independence of [Azawad](/source/Azawad). However, their movement was hijacked by the Islamist terrorist group [Ansar Dine](/source/Ansar_Dine).

### Balochistan

Main article: [Insurgency in Balochistan](/source/Insurgency_in_Balochistan)

The self-determination movement advanced by Baloch separatists is based on the argument that their incorporation into Pakistan in 1948 occurred without a genuine and inclusive popular mandate. At the time of [partition of India](/source/Partition_of_India), Balochistan consisted of British-administered territories and several princely states, the most prominent of which was the [Khanate of Kalat](/source/Khanate_of_Kalat). Following the withdrawal of British rule, Kalat declared independence in August 1947, asserting its historical sovereignty and treaty-based relationship with the British Crown. In March 1948, Kalat acceded to [Pakistan](/source/Pakistan), a decision that was contested by segments of the Baloch leadership, who argued that the accession was carried out under political and military pressure.[89]

The insurgents have engaged in intermittent armed resistance against Pakistani rule from 1948 to the present. The conflict began shortly after the accession of the princely state of Kalat to Pakistan in March 1948, which was followed by the first Baloch rebellion led by [Prince Abdul Karim](/source/Prince_Karim_Khan).[90] Since then, the region has witnessed several phases of insurgency—most notably in 1948, 1958–59, 1962–63, 1973–77, and from the early 2000s onwards, each driven by a combination of political-, economic-, and security-related grievances. Baloch separatists argue that they have been politically marginalized and subjected to systematic abuse by the Pakistani state.[91]

Currently, the [Balochistan Liberation Front](/source/Balochistan_Liberation_Front) and the [Balochistan Liberation Army](/source/Balochistan_Liberation_Army) are among the leading groups associated with the movement, and are involved in both political activities and armed resistance against the Pakistani state for .[92]

Balochistani nationalists also considers parts of Iran and Afghanistan as part of their independent state.[93]

### Basque Country

Main article: [Basque nationalism](/source/Basque_nationalism)

[2014 human chain for Basque Country's right to decide](/source/2014_human_chain_for_Basque_Country's_right_to_decide)

The Basque Country ([Basque](/source/Basque_language): *Euskal Herria*, [Spanish](/source/Spanish_language): *País Vasco*, [French](/source/French_language): *Pays Basque*) as a [cultural region](/source/Cultural_region) (not to be confused with the homonym [Autonomous Community](/source/Autonomous_Community) of the [Basque country](/source/Basque_Country_(autonomous_community))) is a European region in the western [Pyrenees](/source/Pyrenees) that spans the border between France and Spain, on the Atlantic coast. It comprises the autonomous communities of the Basque Country and [Navarre](/source/Navarre) in Spain and the [Northern Basque Country](/source/Northern_Basque_Country) in France. Since the 19th century, [Basque nationalism](/source/Basque_nationalism) has demanded the right of some kind of self-determination.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] This desire for independence is particularly stressed among [leftist](/source/Left-wing_politics) Basque nationalists. The right of self-determination was asserted by the [Basque Parliament](/source/Basque_Parliament) in 1990, 2002 and 2006.[94] Since[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] self-determination is not recognized in the [Spanish Constitution of 1978](/source/Spanish_Constitution_of_1978), some Basques abstained and some voted against it in the referendum of December 6 of that year. It was approved by a clear majority at the Spanish level, and with 74.6% of the votes in the Basque Country.[95] However, the overall turnout in the Basque Country was 45% when the Spanish overall turnover was 67.9%. The derived autonomous regime for the BAC was approved by Spanish Parliament and also by the Basque citizens in referendum. The autonomous statute of Navarre (*Amejoramiento del Fuero*: "improvement of the charter") was approved by the Spanish Parliament and, like the statutes of 13 out of 17 Spanish autonomous communities, it did not need a referendum to enter into force.

*[Euskadi Ta Askatasuna](/source/Euskadi_Ta_Askatasuna)* or ETA (English: Basque Homeland and Freedom; pronounced [\[ˈeta\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Basque)), was an armed Basque nationalist, [separatist](/source/Separatist) and [terrorist](/source/Terrorist) organization that killed more than 800 people. Founded in 1959, it evolved from a group advocating traditional cultural ways to a [paramilitary](/source/Paramilitary) group with the goal of [Basque independence](/source/Basque_independence). Its ideology was [Marxist–Leninist](/source/Marxist%E2%80%93Leninist).[96][97]

### Biafra

Main article: [Biafra](/source/Biafra)

A girl during the [Nigerian Civil War](/source/Nigerian_Civil_War) of the late 1960s. Pictures of the famine caused by Nigerian blockade garnered sympathy for the Biafrans worldwide.

The [Nigerian Civil War](/source/Nigerian_Civil_War) was fought between Biafran secessionists of the [Republic of Biafra](/source/Biafra) and the [Nigerian central government](/source/Federal_government_of_Nigeria). From 1999 to the present day, the indigenous people of Biafra have been agitating for independence to revive their country. They have registered a human rights organization known as Bilie Human Rights Initiative both in Nigeria and in the United Nations to advocate for their right to self-determination and achieve independence by the rule of law.[98]

### Catalonia

Main articles: [Catalonia](/source/Catalonia), [Catalan Countries](/source/Catalan_Countries), [Catalan independence movement](/source/Catalan_independence_movement), and [Catalan declaration of independence](/source/Catalan_declaration_of_independence)

After the [2012 Catalan march for independence](/source/2012_Catalan_march_for_independence), in which between 600,000 and 1.5 million citizens marched,[99] the [President of Catalonia](/source/President_of_the_Generalitat_of_Catalonia), [Artur Mas](/source/Artur_Mas), called for new [parliamentary elections on 25 November 2012](/source/2012_Catalonian_parliamentary_election) to elect a new [parliament](/source/Parliament_of_Catalonia) that would exercise the right of self-determination for Catalonia, a right not recognised under the [Spanish Cortes Generales](/source/Cortes_Generales). The [Parliament of Catalonia](/source/Parliament_of_Catalonia) voted to hold a vote in the next four-year legislature on the question of self-determination. The parliamentary decision was approved by a large majority of MPs: 84 voted for, 21 voted against, and 25 abstained.[100] The Catalan Parliament applied to the Spanish Parliament for the power to call a referendum to be devolved, but this was turned down. In December 2013, the President of the Generalitat Artur Mas and the governing coalition agreed to set the referendum for self-determination on 9 November 2014, and legislation specifically saying that the consultation would not be a "referendum" was enacted, only to be blocked by the [Spanish Constitutional Court](/source/Constitutional_Court_of_Spain), at the request of the Spanish government. Given the block, the government turned it into a simple "consultation to the people" instead.

The question in the consultation was "Do you want Catalonia to be a state? If so, do you want Catalonia to become an independent state?".[101][102] However, as the consultation was not a formal referendum, these (printed) answers were just suggestions and other answers were also accepted and catalogued as "other answers" instead as null votes. The turnout in this consultation was about 2.23 million people out of 5.4 million potential voters.[103] Due to the lack of an official census, potential voters were assigned to electoral tables according to home address and first family name. Participants had to sign up first with their full name and national ID in a voter registry before casting their ballot, which prevented participants from potentially casting multiple ballots. The overall result was 80.76% in favor of both questions, 11% in favor of the first question but not of the second questions, 4.54% against both; and the rest were classified as "other answers".[104] The voter turnout was around 37% (most people against the consultation did not go to vote). Four top members of Catalonia's political leadership were barred from public office for having defied the Constitutional court's last-minute ban.[105]

Protest in [Barcelona](/source/Barcelona) on 1 October 2018

Almost three years later (1 October 2017), the Catalan government called a [referendum for independence](/source/2017_Catalan_independence_referendum) under legislation adopted in September 2017, despite this legislation had been suspended by the Constitutional Court for "violating fundamental rights of citizens",[106] with the question "Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a Republic?". On polling day, the Catalan regional police, which had been accused in the past of [police brutality](/source/Police_brutality) and impunity during the 15-M protests,[107][108] prevented voting in over 500 polling stations without incidents. In some voting stations, the Catalan regional police did not intervene,[109] while in other stations, they directly confronted the Spanish CNP (National Police Corps) to allow voters to participate.[110] The CNP confiscated ballot boxes and closed down 92,[111] voting centres with violent truncheon charges. The opposition parties had called for non-participation. The turnout (according to the votes that were counted) was 2.3m out of 5.3m (43.03% of the census), and 90.18% of the ballots were in favour of independence.[112] The turnout, ballot count and results were similar to those of the 2014 "consultation".

### Chechnya

Main article: [Chechen Republic of Ichkeria](/source/Chechen_Republic_of_Ichkeria)

Under [Dzhokhar Dudayev](/source/Dzhokhar_Dudayev), [Chechnya](/source/Chechnya) declared independence as the [Chechen Republic of Ichkeria](/source/Chechen_Republic_of_Ichkeria), using self-determination, Russia's history of bad treatment of [Chechens](/source/Chechens), and a history of independence before invasion by Russia as main motives. Russia has restored control over Chechnya, but the separatist government functions still in exile, though it has been split into two entities: the [Akhmed Zakayev](/source/Akhmed_Zakayev)-run secular Chechen Republic (based in Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States), and the Islamic [Caucasus Emirate](/source/Caucasus_Emirate).

### East Turkistan

Main article: [East Turkestan independence movement](/source/East_Turkestan_independence_movement)

[ETGE](/source/East_Turkistan_Government-in-Exile) members at [Capitol Hill](/source/Capitol_Hill) on 14 September 2004

On November 12, 1933, Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and Uzbeks declared independence, establishing the [First East Turkestan Republic](/source/First_East_Turkestan_Republic), and again on November 12, 1944, forming the socialist [Second East Turkestan Republic](/source/Second_East_Turkestan_Republic). Their primary motivations included self-determination against a history of colonization and oppression by the Manchu [Qing Dynasty](/source/Qing_Dynasty). The [People's Republic of China](/source/People's_Republic_of_China) assumed control over East Turkistan in late 1949. There is a robust movement advocating East Turkistani sovereignty, challenging the Chinese occupation since 2004, namely the [East Turkistan Government in Exile](/source/East_Turkistan_Government_in_Exile) is at the forefront of the [East Turkistan Independence Movement](/source/East_Turkistan_Independence_Movement).

### Eastern Ukraine

Main article: [War in Donbas (2014–2022)](/source/War_in_Donbas_(2014%E2%80%932022))

Pro-Russian separatists in [Donetsk](/source/Donetsk), April 2015

There is an active secessionist movement based on the self-determination of the residents of the eastern part of [Donetsk](/source/Donetsk_Oblast) and the southeastern part of the [Luhansk](/source/Luhansk_Oblast) regions of eastern [Ukraine](/source/Ukraine). However, many in the international community assert that [referendums held there in 2014](/source/2014_Donbass_status_referendums) regarding independence from Ukraine were [illegitimate](/source/Electoral_fraud) and undemocratic.[113][114] Similarly, there are reports that [presidential elections in May 2014](/source/2014_Ukrainian_presidential_election) were prevented from taking place in the two regions after armed gunmen took control of polling stations, kidnapped election officials, and stole lists of electors, thus denying the population the chance to express their will in a free, fair, and internationally recognised election.[115] There are also arguments that the *de facto* separation of [Eastern Ukraine](/source/Eastern_Ukraine) from the rest of the country is not an expression of self-determination, but rather motivated by revival of [pro-Soviet sentiment](/source/Neo-Sovietism) and an invasion by neighbouring [Russia](/source/Russia), with Ukrainian President [Petro Poroshenko](/source/Petro_Poroshenko) claiming in 2015 that up to 9,000 [Russian soldiers](/source/Russian_Ground_Forces) were deployed in Ukraine.[116] Similarly, Russian President [Vladimir Putin](/source/Vladimir_Putin) defended [the annexation of Crimea](/source/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation) by claiming it to be an act of self-determination of the Crimean people.

### Ethiopia

Main article: [Government of Ethiopia](/source/Government_of_Ethiopia)

The [Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia](/source/Ethiopia) is run as a federation of semi-self-governing [nation states](/source/Nation_state). The [Constitution of Ethiopia](/source/1995_Constitution_of_Ethiopia) firmly mentions the self-determining nature of its states. The actual implementation of its states self-governance is debatable.

### Falkland Islands

Main article: [Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute](/source/Falkland_Islands_sovereignty_dispute)

Self-determination is referred to in the [Falkland Islands Constitution](/source/Falkland_Islands_Constitution)[117] and is a factor in the [Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute](/source/Falkland_Islands_sovereignty_dispute). The population has existed for over nine generations, continuously for over 190 years.[118] In the [2013 referendum](/source/2013_Falkland_Islands_sovereignty_referendum), organised by the [Falkland Islands Government](/source/Falkland_Islands_Government), 99.8% voted to remain British.[119] As administering power, the [British Government](/source/Government_of_the_United_Kingdom) deemed that transfer of sovereignty to [Argentina](/source/Argentina) would be counter to the Falkland Islander right to self-determination, since the majority of Falkland Island inhabitants wished to remain British.[120]

*Malvinas and South Atlantic Islands Museum* in Buenos Aires, 2015

Argentina states that the principle of self-determination is not applicable to the islands since the current inhabitants are not aboriginal and were brought to replace the Argentine population, which was expelled by an 'act of force', compelling the Argentinian inhabitants to directly leave the islands.[121] This refers to the [re-establishment of British rule](/source/Reassertion_of_British_sovereignty_over_the_Falkland_Islands_(1833)) in the year 1833[122] during which Argentina claims the existing population living in the islands was expelled. Argentina thus argues that, in the case of the Falkland Islands, the principle of territorial integrity [should have precedence](#Self-determination_versus_territorial_integrity) over self-determination.[123] Historical records dispute Argentina's claims and whilst acknowledging the garrison was expelled note the existing civilian population remained at [Port Louis](/source/Port_Louis%2C_Falkland_Islands).[124][125][126][127] There was no attempt to settle the islands until 1841.[128]

### Gibraltar

Main article: [Status of Gibraltar](/source/Status_of_Gibraltar)

Gibraltar National Day, September 2013

The right to self-determination is referred to in the preamble of Chapter 1 of the [Gibraltar constitution](/source/Gibraltar_Constitution_Order_2006),[129] and, since the United Kingdom also gave assurance that the right to self-determination of Gibraltarians would be respected in any transfer of sovereignty over the territory, is a factor in the dispute with Spain over the territory.[130] The impact of the right to self-determination of Gibraltarians was seen in the [2002 Gibraltar sovereignty referendum](/source/2002_Gibraltar_sovereignty_referendum), where Gibraltarian voters overwhelmingly rejected a plan to share sovereignty over Gibraltar between the UK and Spain. However, the UK government differs with the Gibraltarian government in that it considers Gibraltarian self-determination to be limited by the [Treaty of Utrecht](/source/Treaty_of_Utrecht), which prevents Gibraltar achieving independence without the agreement of Spain, a position that the Gibraltarian government does not accept.[131][132]

The Spanish government denies that Gibraltarians have the right to self-determination, considering them to be "an artificial population without any genuine autonomy" and not "indigenous".[133] However, the [Partido Andalucista](/source/Partido_Andalucista) has agreed to recognise the right to self-determination of Gibraltarians.[134]

### Greenland

Main article: [Greenlandic independence](/source/Greenlandic_independence)

### Hong Kong

Main article: [Hong Kong independence](/source/Hong_Kong_independence)

Before the United Nations' adoption of resolution 2908 (XXVII) on 2 November 1972, The People's Republic of China vetoed the former British colony of Hong Kong's right to self-determination on 8 March 1972. This sparked several nations' protest along with Great Britain's declaration on 14 December that the decision is invalid. Decades later,[*[when?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Dates_and_numbers#Chronological_items)*] an independence movement, dubbed as the Hong Kong independence movement emerged in the now Communist Chinese controlled territory. It advocates the autonomous region to become a fully independent sovereign state.

The city is considered a [special administrative region](/source/Special_administrative_regions_of_China) (SAR) which, according to the PRC, enjoys a high degree of autonomy under the People's Republic of China (PRC), guaranteed under Article 2 of [Hong Kong Basic Law](/source/Hong_Kong_Basic_Law)[\[1\]](/source/Hong_Kong_independence#cite_note-1) (which is ratified under the [Sino-British Joint Declaration](/source/Sino-British_Joint_Declaration)), since the [handover of Hong Kong](/source/Handover_of_Hong_Kong) from the United Kingdom to the PRC in 1997. Since the handover, many Hongkongers are increasingly concerned about Beijing's growing encroachment on the territory's freedoms and the failure of the Hong Kong government to deliver 'true' democracy.[\[2\]](/source/Hong_Kong_independence#cite_note-rally-2)

Pro-independence [Hong Kong flag](/source/Flag_of_Hong_Kong) put up before a football match between the [Hong Kong Football Team](/source/Hong_Kong_national_football_team) and the [China national football team](/source/China_national_football_team)

The [2014–15 Hong Kong electoral reform](/source/2014%E2%80%9315_Hong_Kong_electoral_reform) package deeply divided the city, as it allowed Hongkongers to have universal suffrage, but Beijing would have authority to screen the candidates to restrict the electoral method for the [Chief Executive of Hong Kong](/source/Chief_Executive_of_Hong_Kong) (CE), the highest-ranking official of the territory. This sparked the 79-day massive peaceful protests which was dubbed as the "[Umbrella Revolution](/source/Umbrella_Revolution)" and the pro-independence movement emerged on the Hong Kong political scene.[\[2\]](/source/Hong_Kong_independence#cite_note-rally-2)

Since then, [localism](/source/Localism_in_Hong_Kong) has gained momentum, particularly after the failure of the peaceful [Umbrella Movement](/source/Umbrella_Movement). Young localist leaders have led numerous protest actions against pro-Chinese policies to raise awareness of social problems of Hong Kong under Chinese rule. These include the sit-in protest against the [Bill to Strengthen Internet Censorship](/source/Copyright_(Amendment)_Bill_2014), demonstrations against [Chinese political interference in the University of Hong Kong](/source/University_of_Hong_Kong_pro-vice-chancellor_selection_controversy), the [Recover Yuen Long](/source/2015_Yuen_Long_protest) protests and the [2016 Mong Kok civil unrest](/source/2016_Mong_Kok_civil_unrest). According to a survey conducted by the [Chinese University of Hong Kong](/source/Chinese_University_of_Hong_Kong) (CUHK) in July 2016, 17.4% of respondents supported the city becoming an independent entity after 2047, while 3.6% stated that it is "possible".[\[3\]](/source/Hong_Kong_independence#cite_note-3)

### Indigenous peoples

[Lumads](/source/Lumad) in [Davao City](/source/Davao_City) marching for the right to self-determination as part of the [human rights in Philippines](/source/Human_rights_in_Philippines) in 2008

[Indigenous peoples](/source/Indigenous_peoples) have claimed through the 2007 [Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples](/source/Declaration_on_the_Rights_of_Indigenous_Peoples) the term peoples, and gaining with it the right to self-determination. Though it was also established that it is merely a right within existing [sovereign states](/source/Sovereign_state), peoples also need territory and a central government to reach [sovereignty](/source/Sovereignty) in international politics.[135]

### Israel

Main articles: [Zionism](/source/Zionism), [Israel](/source/Israel), and [Jewish history](/source/Jewish_history)

[David Ben-Gurion](/source/David_Ben-Gurion) [proclaiming Israel's independence](/source/Israeli_Declaration_of_Independence) beneath a large portrait of Theodor Herzl

[Zionism](/source/Zionism) is a nationalist ideology founded by [Theodor Herzl](/source/Theodor_Herzl) which claims a right of historic entitlement by descent as a nation, to exercise self-determination for [all Jewish people](/source/Jewish_diaspora) in the region of [Palestine](/source/Palestine_(region))/[ancient Israel](/source/Ancient_Israel)/[land of Israel](/source/Land_of_Israel).[136] The successful implementation of this vision led to the establishment of the [State of Israel](/source/Israel) in 1948.[137]

### Kashmir

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Main article: [Kashmir conflict](/source/Kashmir_conflict)

The [insurgency in Kashmir](/source/Insurgency_in_Jammu_and_Kashmir) against Indian rule has existed in various forms. A widespread armed insurgency started in Kashmir against India rule in 1989 after allegations of rigging by the Indian government in the [1987 Jammu and Kashmir state election](/source/1987_Jammu_and_Kashmir_Legislative_Assembly_election). This led to some parties in the state assembly forming militant wings, which acted as a catalyst for the emergence of armed insurgency in the region. The conflict over Kashmir has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths.

Indian soldiers on the streets of Kashmir during the [2016 unrests](/source/Kashmir_conflict)

The [Inter-Services Intelligence](/source/Inter-Services_Intelligence) of [Pakistan](/source/Pakistan) has been accused by India of supporting and training both pro-Pakistan and pro-independence militants to fight Indian security forces in Jammu and Kashmir, a charge that Pakistan denies. According to official figures released in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly, there were 3,400 disappearance cases and the conflict has left more than 47,000 to 100,000 people dead as of July 2009. However, violence in the state had fallen sharply after the start of a slow-moving peace process between India and Pakistan. After the peace process failed in 2008, mass demonstrations against Indian rule, and low-scale militancy emerged again.

However, despite boycott calls by separatist leaders in 2014, the [Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections](/source/2014_Jammu_and_Kashmir_Legislative_Assembly_election) saw highest voters turnout in last 25 years since insurgency erupted.

### Kurdistan

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Kurdish [YPG](/source/People's_Defense_Units)'s female fighters during the [Syrian War](/source/Syrian_Civil_War)

Main articles: [Kurdish–Turkish conflict (1978–present)](/source/Kurdish%E2%80%93Turkish_conflict_(1978%E2%80%93present)), [Iraqi–Kurdish conflict](/source/Iraqi%E2%80%93Kurdish_conflict), [Kurdish separatism in Iran](/source/Kurdish_separatism_in_Iran), and [Rojava conflict](/source/Rojava_conflict)

Pro-independence rally in [Erbil](/source/Erbil), [Kurdistan Region](/source/Kurdistan_Region), September 2017

[Kurdistan](/source/Kurdistan) is a historical region primarily inhabited by the [Kurdish people](/source/Kurdish_people) of the Middle East. The territory is currently part of Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran. There are Kurdish self-determination movements in each of the four states. [Iraqi Kurdistan](/source/Iraqi_Kurdistan) has to date achieved the largest degree of self-determination through the formation of the [Kurdistan Regional Government](/source/Kurdistan_Regional_Government), an entity recognised by the [Iraqi Federal Constitution](/source/Constitution_of_Iraq).

Although the right of the creation of a Kurdish state was recognized following World War I in the [Treaty of Sèvres](/source/Treaty_of_S%C3%A8vres), the treaty was then annulled by the [Treaty of Lausanne (1923)](/source/Treaty_of_Lausanne_(1923)). To date, two separate Kurdish republics and one Kurdish Kingdom have declared sovereignty: The [Republic of Ararat](/source/Republic_of_Ararat) ([Ağrı Province](/source/A%C4%9Fr%C4%B1_Province), Turkey), the [Republic of Mehabad](/source/Republic_of_Mehabad) ([West Azerbaijan Province](/source/West_Azerbaijan_Province), Iran) and the [Kingdom of Kurdistan](/source/Kingdom_of_Kurdistan) ([Sulaymaniyah Governorate](/source/Sulaymaniyah_Governorate), [Iraqi Kurdistan](/source/Iraqi_Kurdistan), Iraq); each of these fledgling states was crushed by military intervention. The [Patriotic Union of Kurdistan](/source/Patriotic_Union_of_Kurdistan), which currently holds the [Iraqi presidency](/source/President_of_Iraq) and the [Kurdistan Democratic Party](/source/Kurdistan_Democratic_Party) which governs the [Kurdistan Regional Government](/source/Kurdistan_Regional_Government), both explicitly commit themselves to the development of Kurdish self-determination, but opinions vary as to the question of self-determination sought within the current borders and countries.

Efforts towards Kurdish self-determination are considered illegal separatism by the governments of Turkey and Iran, and the movement is politically repressed in both states. This is intertwined with Kurdish nationalist insurgencies [in Iran](/source/Kurdish_separatism_in_Iran) and [in Turkey](/source/Kurdish%E2%80%93Turkish_conflict_(1978%E2%80%93present)), which in turn justify and are justified by the repression of peaceful advocacy. In Syria, a self-governing [local Kurdish-dominated polity](/source/Autonomous_Administration_of_North_and_East_Syria) was established in 2012, amongst the upheaval of the [Syrian Civil War](/source/Syrian_Civil_War), but has not been recognized by any foreign state.

### Nagalim

Main article: [Naga nationalism](/source/Naga_nationalism)

[Naga](/source/Naga_people) refers to a vaguely defined conglomeration of distinct tribes living on the border of India and Burma. Each of these tribes lived in a sovereign village before the arrival of the [British](/source/British_India) but developed a common identity as the area was Christianized. After the British left India, a section of Nagas under the leadership of [Angami Zapu Phizo](/source/Angami_Zapu_Phizo) sought to establish a separate country for the Nagas. Phizo's group, the [Naga National Council](/source/Naga_National_Council) (NNC), claimed that 99. 9% of the Nagas wanted an independent Naga country according to a referendum conducted by it. It waged a secessionist insurgency against the Government of India. The NNC collapsed after Phizo got his dissenters killed or forced them to seek refuge with the Government.[138][139] Phizo escaped to London, while NNC's successor secessionist groups continued to stage violent attacks against the Indian Government. The Naga People's Convention (NPC), another major Naga organization, was opposed to the secessionists. Its efforts led to the creation of a separate Nagaland state within India in 1963.[140] The secessionist violence declined considerably after the [Shillong Accord of 1975](/source/Shillong_Accord_of_1975). However, three factions of the [National Socialist Council of Nagaland](/source/National_Socialist_Council_of_Nagaland) (NSCN) continue to seek an independent country which would include parts of India and Burma. They envisage a sovereign, predominantly Christian nation called "Nagalim".[141]

### North Borneo and Sarawak

Another controversial episode with perhaps more relevance was the British beginning their exit from [British Malaya](/source/British_Malaya). An experience concerned the findings of a United Nations Assessment Team that led the British territories of [North Borneo](/source/Crown_Colony_of_North_Borneo) and [Sarawak](/source/Crown_Colony_of_Sarawak) in 1963 to determine whether or not the populations wished to become a part of the new [Malaysia Federation](/source/Federation_of_Malaya).[142] The United Nation Team's mission followed on from an earlier assessment by the British-appointed [Cobbold Commission](/source/Cobbold_Commission) which had arrived in the territories in 1962 and held hearings to determine public opinion. It also sifted through 1600 letters and memoranda submitted by individuals, organisations and political parties. Cobbold concluded that around two-thirds of the population favoured to the formation of Malaysia, while the remaining third wanted either independence or continuing control by the United Kingdom. The United Nations team largely confirmed these findings, which were later accepted by the General Assembly, and both territories subsequently wish to form the new Federation of [Malaysia](/source/Malaysia). The conclusions of both the Cobbold Commission and the United Nations team were arrived at without any [referendums](/source/Referendums) of self-determination being held.[41][143][144] [Unlike in Singapore](/source/1962_Singaporean_national_referendum), however, no referendum was ever conducted in [Sarawak](/source/Crown_Colony_of_Sarawak) and [North Borneo](/source/Crown_Colony_of_North_Borneo).[145] They sought to consolidate several of the previous ruling entities; the [Manila Accord](/source/Manila_Accord), an agreement between the Philippines, [Federation of Malaya](/source/Federation_of_Malaya) and Indonesia, followed on 31 July 1963[146][147] to abide by the wishes of the people of [North Borneo](/source/Crown_Colony_of_North_Borneo) and [Sarawak](/source/Crown_Colony_of_Sarawak) within the context of [United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1541 (XV)](/source/United_Nations_General_Assembly_Resolution_1541_(XV)), Principle 9 of the Annex[148][149], taking into account [referendums](/source/Referendum) in North Borneo and Sarawak that would be free and without coercion.[146] This also triggered the [Indonesian confrontation](/source/Indonesia%E2%80%93Malaysia_confrontation) because Indonesia opposed the violation of the agreements.[40][150]

### Northern Cyprus

Main article: [Northern Cyprus](/source/Northern_Cyprus)

[Atatürk Square](/source/Saray%C3%B6n%C3%BC_Square), North Nicosia in 2006, with the [Northern Cyprus](/source/Northern_Cyprus) and [Turkish](/source/Turkey) flags

Cyprus was settled by [Mycenaean Greeks](/source/Mycenaean_Greece) in two waves in the [2nd millennium BC](/source/2nd_millennium_BC). As a strategic location in the [Middle East](/source/Middle_East), it was subsequently occupied by several major powers, including the empires of the [Assyrians](/source/Assyria), [Egyptians](/source/Ancient_Egypt) and [Persians](/source/Achaemenid_Empire), from whom the island was seized in 333 BC by [Alexander the Great](/source/Alexander_the_Great). Subsequent rule by [Ptolemaic Egypt](/source/Ptolemaic_Kingdom), the [Classical](/source/Roman_Empire) and [Eastern Roman Empire](/source/Byzantine_Empire), [Arab caliphates](/source/Caliphate) for a short period and the [French Lusignan dynasty](/source/House_of_Lusignan). Following the death in 1473 of [James II](/source/James_II_of_Cyprus), the last Lusignan king, the [Republic of Venice](/source/Republic_of_Venice) assumed control of the island, while the late king's Venetian widow, Queen [Catherine Cornaro](/source/Catherine_Cornaro), reigned as figurehead. Venice formally annexed the [Kingdom of Cyprus](/source/Kingdom_of_Cyprus) in 1489, following the abdication of Catherine. The Venetians fortified [Nicosia](/source/Nicosia) by building the [Walls of Nicosia](/source/Walls_of_Nicosia), and used it as an important commercial hub.

Although the Lusignan French aristocracy remained the dominant social class in Cyprus throughout the medieval period, the former assumption that Greeks were treated only as [serfs](/source/Serfdom) on the island is no longer considered by academics to be accurate. It is now accepted that the medieval period saw increasing numbers of [Greek Cypriots](/source/Greek_Cypriots) elevated to the upper classes, a growing Greek middle ranks, and the Lusignan royal household even marrying Greeks. This included King [John II of Cyprus](/source/John_II_of_Cyprus) who married [Helena Palaiologina](/source/Helena_Palaiologina).

Throughout Venetian rule, the [Ottoman Empire](/source/Ottoman_Empire) frequently raided Cyprus. In 1539, the Ottomans destroyed [Limassol](/source/Limassol) and so fearing the worst, the Venetians also fortified [Famagusta](/source/Famagusta) and [Kyrenia](/source/Kyrenia).

Having invaded in 1570, [Turks](/source/Turkish_Cypriots) controlled and solely governed all of the Cyprus island from 1571 until its leasing to the [British Empire](/source/British_Empire) in 1878. Cyprus was placed under [British administration](/source/British_Cyprus) based on [Cyprus Convention](/source/Cyprus_Convention) in 1878 and formally annexed by Britain at the beginning of [World War I](/source/World_War_I) in 1914. While Turkish Cypriots made up 18% of the population, the partition of Cyprus and creation of a Turkish state in the north became a policy of Turkish Cypriot leaders and the [Republic of Turkey](/source/Turkey) in the 1950s. Politically, there was no majority/minority relation between [Greek Cypriots](/source/Greek_Cypriots) and [Turkish Cypriots](/source/Turkish_Cypriots);[151][152] and hence, in 1960, [Republic of Cyprus](/source/Cyprus) was founded by the constituent communities in Cyprus (Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots)[153] as a non-unitary state; the 1960 Constitution set both [Turkish](/source/Turkish_language) and [Greek](/source/Greek_language) as the official languages.[154][155] During 1963–74, the island experienced ethnic clashes and turmoil, following the [Greek nationalists](/source/Greek_nationalism)' coup to unify the island to Greece, which led to the eventual [Turkish invasion](/source/Turkish_invasion_of_Cyprus) in 1974.[156] [Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus](/source/Turkish_Republic_of_Northern_Cyprus) was declared in 1983 and recognized only by Turkey.[157] Monroe Leigh, 1990, The Legal Status in International Law of the Turkish Cypriot and the Greek Cypriot Communities in Cyprus. The Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot regimes participating in these negotiations, and the respective communities which they represent, are presently entitled to exercise equal rights under international law, including rights of self-determination.[158] Before the [Turkey](/source/Turkey)'s invasion in 1974, Turkish Cypriots were concentrated in [Turkish Cypriot enclaves](/source/Turkish_Cypriot_enclaves) in the island.

Northern Cyprus fulfills all the classical criteria of statehood.[159] United Nations Peace Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) operates based on the laws of Northern Cyprus in north of Cyprus island.[160] According to [European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)](/source/European_Court_of_Human_Rights), the laws of Northern Cyprus is valid in the north of Cyprus.[161] ECtHR did *not* accept the claim that the Courts of Northern Cyprus lacked "independence and/or impartiality".[162] ECtHR directed all Cypriots to exhaust "domestic remedies" applied by Northern Cyprus before taking their cases to ECtHR.[163] In 2014, the [United States Federal Court](/source/Federal_judiciary_of_the_United_States) qualified [Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus](/source/Northern_Cyprus) as a "democratic country".[164][165][166] In 2017, the United Kingdom's High Court decided that "There was no duty in UK law upon the UK's Government to refrain from recognising Northern Cyprus. The United Nations itself works with Northern Cyprus law enforcement agencies and facilitates cooperation between the two parts of the island."[167] UK's [High Court](/source/High_Court_of_Justice) also dismissed the claim that "cooperation between UK police and law agencies in northern Cyprus was illegal".[168]

### Palestine

"[Stop genocide](/source/Palestinian_genocide_accusation), free Palestine" rally in [Helsinki](/source/Helsinki), 21 October 2023

Main articles: [Palestinian self-determination](/source/Palestinian_self-determination), [State of Palestine](/source/State_of_Palestine), and [Palestinian nationalism](/source/Palestinian_nationalism)

Palestinian self-determination is the aspiration of some Palestinians and [Palestinian nationalists](/source/Palestinian_nationalists) for increased [autonomy](/source/Autonomy) and [sovereign independence](/source/Sovereign_state),[169] as well as to the international right of self-determination applied to [Palestine](/source/Palestine). Such sentiments are features of both the [one state solution](/source/One_state_solution) and the [two state solution](/source/Two_state_solution). In the two state solution this usually denotes territorial integrity initiatives, such as resisting [occupation in the West Bank](/source/Israeli-occupied_territories#West_Bank), annexation efforts in East Jerusalem or [freedom of movement](/source/Palestinian_freedom_of_movement) along borders, as well the preservation of important sites such as [al-Aqsa mosque](/source/Qibli_Mosque).[170]

### Quebec

Main article: [Quebec sovereignty movement](/source/Quebec_sovereignty_movement)

A poster for Quebec sovereignty during the [1995 referendum](/source/1995_Quebec_referendum): *Oui, et ça devient possible* (French for 'Yes, and it becomes possible')

In Canada, many [Francophone](/source/French_Canadians) citizens in the [Province of Quebec](/source/Quebec) have wanted the province to separate from [Confederation](/source/Confederation). The [Parti Québécois](/source/Parti_Qu%C3%A9b%C3%A9cois) has asserted Quebec's "right to self-determination." There is debate on under which conditions would this right be realized.[171] [French-speaking](/source/French-speaking) [Quebec nationalism](/source/Quebec_nationalism) and support for maintaining [Québécois culture](/source/Culture_of_Quebec) would inspire [Quebec nationalists](/source/Quebec_nationalism), many of whom were supporters of the [Quebec sovereignty movement](/source/Quebec_sovereignty_movement) during the late 20th century.[172]

### Sardinia

Main article: [Sardinian nationalism](/source/Sardinian_nationalism)

Sardinian nationalism or Sardism (*Sardismu* in [Sardinian](/source/Sardinian_language); *Sardismo* in Italian[173]) is a social, cultural and political movement in [Sardinia](/source/Sardinia) calling for the self-determination of the [Sardinian people](/source/Sardinian_people) in a context of national [devolution](/source/Devolution), further [autonomy](/source/Autonomism_(political_doctrine)) in Italy, or even outright independence from the latter. It also promotes the [protection](/source/Environmental_protection) [of the island's environment](/source/Environmentalism) and the preservation of its [cultural heritage](/source/Sardinia#Culture).

Even though the island has been characterized by periodical waves of ethnonationalist protests against [Rome](/source/Rome),[174] the Sardinian movement has its origins on the [left](/source/Left-wing_politics) of the political spectrum;[175][176] [regionalism](/source/Regionalism_(politics)) and attempts for Sardinian self-determination historically countered in fact the Rome-centric [Italian nationalism](/source/Italian_nationalism) and [fascism](/source/Fascism) (which eventually managed to contain the autonomist and separatist tendencies[177]).

### Scotland

Main article: [Scottish independence](/source/Scottish_independence)

Scotland independence march in [Edinburgh](/source/Edinburgh), 2026

[Scotland](/source/Kingdom_of_Scotland) ceased to exist as a sovereign state in 1707, as did [England](/source/Kingdom_of_England), when the [Acts of Union](/source/Acts_of_Union_1707) (1707) created the unified [Kingdom of Great Britain](/source/Kingdom_of_Great_Britain), but has a long-standing [Scottish independence movement](/source/Scottish_independence_movement),[178] with polls suggesting in January 2020 that 52% of eligible voters would vote for an independent Scotland.[179] The country's largest political party, the [Scottish National Party](/source/Scottish_National_Party),[180] campaigns for Scottish independence. A [referendum on independence was held in 2014](/source/2014_Scottish_independence_referendum), where it was rejected by 55% of voters.[181] The Independence debate continued throughout the [UK referendum on EU membership](/source/2016_United_Kingdom_European_Union_membership_referendum) where the electorate in Scotland voted by 62% to remain a member of the EU, as did Northern Ireland.[182] Results in England and Wales, however, led to the whole of the United Kingdom leaving the EU.[183] In late 2019, the [Scottish Government](/source/Scottish_Government) announced plans to demand a second referendum on Scottish Independence. This was given assent by the [Scottish Parliament](/source/Scottish_Parliament) but, as of July 2022, British Prime Minister [Boris Johnson](/source/Boris_Johnson) has refused to grant the Section 30 powers required to hold another referendum on the argument that both sides accepted beforehand that the 2014 vote would settle the matter for a generation.[184]

### South Africa

Main article: [Volkstaat](/source/Volkstaat)

Section 235 of the [South African Constitution](/source/Constitution_of_South_Africa) allows for the right to self-determination of a community, within the framework of "the right of the [South African people](/source/South_Africans) as a whole to self-determination", and pursuant to national legislation.[185] This section of the constitution was one of the negotiated settlements during the handing over of political power in 1994. Supporters of an independent [Afrikaner](/source/Afrikaner) homeland have argued that their goals are reasonable under this new legislation.[185]

### South Tyrol

In [Italy](/source/Italy), [South Tyrol/Alto Adige](/source/South_Tyrol) was [annexed](/source/Italianization_of_South_Tyrol) after the [First World War](/source/World_War_I). The German-speaking inhabitants of South Tyrol are protected by the [Gruber-De Gasperi Agreement](/source/Gruber%E2%80%93De_Gasperi_Agreement), but there are still supporters of the self determination of South Tyrol, e.g. the party *[Die Freiheitlichen](/source/Die_Freiheitlichen)* and the [South Tyrolean independence movement](/source/South_Tyrolean_independence_movement). At the end of World War II, Italian resistance troops entered South Tyrol and took over the administration against the wishes of the South Tyrolean resistance movement.[186] The Allies subsequently granted South Tyrol to Italy, with the British foreign minister remarking that "in theory the Austrians have the better argument, however handing over the power stations of South Tyrol to them could openly give the Russians a helping hand with which they could pressurise Italy".[186] The Allies pushed Italy to grant the region a high degree of autonomy, culminating in the [Gruber–De Gasperi Agreement](/source/Gruber%E2%80%93De_Gasperi_Agreement) of 1946.

### Székely Land

Main article: [Székely autonomy movement](/source/Sz%C3%A9kely_autonomy_movement)

Following the [First World War](/source/World_War_I), large areas of the [Kingdom of Hungary](/source/Kingdom_of_Hungary) were [annexed](/source/Treaty_of_Trianon) by Romania. Some of these areas were inhabited by an ethnic [Hungarian](/source/Hungarians) population called [Székelys](/source/Sz%C3%A9kelys). Ever since their homes were integrated into Romania, these people were trying to achieve some form of autonomy or self-governance.

### Taiwan

Main article: [Taiwan independence movement](/source/Taiwan_independence_movement)

### Tibet

Main article: [Tibetan independence movement](/source/Tibetan_independence_movement)

There are several movements in advocacy of the [Tibetan sovereignty](/source/Tibetan_sovereignty_debate) from the [Chinese occupation since 1950](/source/History_of_Tibet_(1950-present)). The [Tibetan Government in-Exile](/source/Central_Tibetan_Administration) is a notable example.

### United States

A Native American woman in traditional dress

The colonization of the [North American](/source/North_America) continent and its [Native American](/source/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States) population has been the source of legal battles since the early 19th century. Many Native American tribes were resettled onto separate tracts of land ([reservations](/source/Indian_reservation)), which have retained a certain degree of [autonomy](/source/Autonomy) within the [United States](/source/United_States). The [federal government](/source/Federal_government_of_the_United_States) recognizes [Tribal Sovereignty](/source/Tribal_sovereignty_in_the_United_States) and has established a number of laws attempting to clarify the relationship among the federal, [state](/source/State_governments_of_the_United_States), and tribal governments. The [Constitution](/source/Constitution_of_the_United_States) and later federal laws recognize the local sovereignty of tribal nations, but do not recognize full sovereignty equivalent to that of foreign nations, hence the term "domestic dependent nations" to qualify the federally recognized tribes.

Certain [Chicano nationalist](/source/Chicano_nationalism) groups seek to "recreate" an ethnic-based state to be called [Aztlán](/source/Aztl%C3%A1n), after the legendary homeland of the [Aztecs](/source/Aztecs). It would comprise the [Southwestern United States](/source/Southwestern_United_States), historic territory of [indigenous peoples](/source/Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Americas) and their descendants, as well as colonists and later settlers under the [Spanish colonial](/source/Spanish_Empire) and [Mexican](/source/Mexico) governments.[187] Supporters of the proposed state of [New Afrika](/source/Republic_of_New_Afrika) argue that the history of African-Americans productively living in several U.S. states in the [Black Belt](/source/Black_Belt_in_the_American_South) entitles them to establish an African-American republic in the area, alongside $400 billion as [reparations for slavery](/source/Reparations_for_slavery).[188]

There are several active [Hawaiian](/source/Native_Hawaiians) autonomy or independence movements, each with the goal of realizing some level of political control over single or several islands. The groups range from those seeking territorial units similar to [Indian reservations](/source/Indian_reservation) under the United States, with the least amount of independent control, to the [Hawaiian sovereignty movement](/source/Hawaiian_sovereignty_movement), which is projected to have the most independence. The Hawaiian Sovereignty movement seeks to revive the Hawaiian nation under the [Hawaiian constitution](/source/1840_Constitution_of_the_Hawaiian_Kingdom).

Native Americans and their supporters protest during the [Washington Redskins name controversy](/source/Washington_Redskins_name_controversy).

Since 1972, the [U.N. Decolonization Committee](/source/Special_Committee_on_Decolonization) has called for [Puerto Rico](/source/Puerto_Rico)'s "decolonization" and for the U.S. to recognize the island's right to self-determination and independence. In 2007, the Decolonization Subcommittee called for the United Nations General Assembly to review the [political status of Puerto Rico](/source/Political_status_of_Puerto_Rico), a power reserved by the 1953 Resolution.[189] This followed the 1967 passage of a [plebiscite](/source/Plebiscite) act that provided for a vote on the status of Puerto Rico with three status options: continued [commonwealth](/source/Commonwealth_(U.S._insular_area)), [statehood](/source/Statehood_movement_in_Puerto_Rico), and [independence](/source/Independence_movement_in_Puerto_Rico). In the first plebiscite, the commonwealth option won with 60.4% of the votes, but U.S. congressional committees failed to enact legislation to address the status issue. In subsequent plebiscites in 1993 and 1998, the status quo was favored.[190]

In a [referendum](/source/2012_Puerto_Rican_status_referendum) that took place in November 2012, a majority of Puerto Rican residents voted to change the territory's relationship with the United States, with the statehood option being the preferred option. But a large number of ballots—one-third of all votes cast—were left blank on the question of preferred alternative status. Supporters of the commonwealth status had urged voters to blank their ballots. When the blank votes are counted as anti-statehood votes, the statehood option would have received less than 50% of all ballots received.[191] As of January 2014, Washington has not taken action to address the results of this plebiscite.

Many current U.S. [state, regional and city secession groups](/source/Secession_in_the_United_States) use the language of self-determination. A 2008 [Zogby International](/source/Zogby_International) poll revealed that 22% of Americans believe that "any state or region has the right to peaceably secede and become an independent republic."[192][193] For instance, the [League of the South](/source/League_of_the_South) is a group that seeks "a free and independent Southern republic"[194] made up of the former [Confederate States of America](/source/Confederate_States_of_America).[195] It operated a short-lived [Southern Party](/source/Southern_Party) supporting the right of states to secede from the Union or to legally nullify federal laws.[196]

On December 15, 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of the [Puerto Rico Status Act](/source/Puerto_Rico_Status_Act). The act sought to resolve Puerto Rico's status and its relationship to the United States through a binding plebiscite.[197]

Since the late 20th century, some states periodically discuss desires to [secede from the United States](/source/Secession_in_the_United_States). Unilateral secession was ruled [unconstitutional](/source/Constitutionality) by the U.S. Supreme Court in *[Texas v. White](/source/Texas_v._White)* (1869).

### Western Sahara

Main article: [Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic](/source/Sahrawi_Arab_Democratic_Republic)

A demonstration in [Madrid](/source/Madrid) for the independence of Western Sahara, 2007

There is an active movement based on the self-determination of the [Sahrawi people](/source/Sahrawi_people) in the [Western Saharan](/source/Western_Sahara) region. [Morocco](/source/Morocco) also claims the entire territory, and maintains control of about two-thirds of the region.

### West Papua

Main articles: [Papua conflict](/source/Papua_conflict) and [Free Papua Movement](/source/Free_Papua_Movement)

A Free West Papua protest in [Melbourne](/source/Melbourne) in August 2012

The self-determination of the [West Papuan](/source/Western_New_Guinea) people has been violently suppressed by the [Indonesian Government](/source/Government_of_Indonesia) since the withdrawal of [Dutch colonial rule](/source/Dutch_colonial_empire) under the [Dutch New Guinea](/source/Dutch_New_Guinea) in 1962.

### Western Cape

Main article: [Cape Independence](/source/Cape_Independence)

A march for Cape Independence, January 2023

Since the late 2000s, there has been growing calls for the people of the [Western Cape](/source/Western_Cape) province of [South Africa](/source/South_Africa) to become an independent state. South Africa in its current form was created in 1910 after the [South Africa Act 1909](/source/South_Africa_Act_1909) was passed in the British parliament. The Cape Colony ceased to exist; however, many of its unique political and cultural quirks such as the [Cape Liberal Tradition](/source/Cape_Qualified_Franchise#The_Cape_Liberal_Tradition) nevertheless continued to exist. Recent polling has shown that over 46% of Western Cape voters back independence outright.

## See also

Part of a series on Anti-imperialism Themes Anti-war movement Decentralization Decolonization Localism National liberation Marxist Resistance movement Self-determination Separatism Sovereignty Stateless nation "Third World" Ideologies Anarchism Anti-capitalism Democratic confederalism Jineology Georgism Indigenism Indigenismo Islamism Pan- Left-wing nationalism Libertarianism Pan-Africanism Postcolonialism Feminism Progressivism Prometheism Socialism Ba'athism Neo- Communism Marxism Third World Third-worldism Leninist ideologies Marxism–Leninism Fidelismo Guevarism Ho Chi Minh Thought Hoxhaism Intercommunalism Juche Machelism Maoism Marxism–Leninism–Maoism Gonzalo Thought Prachanda Path MTW Trotskyism Nationalisms Ainu Armenian Assyrian Basque Catalan Estonian Irish Republicanism Korean Reunification Kurdish Okinawan Palestinian Palestinianism Pakistani Polish Sahrawi Taiwanese Independence Left Ukrainian Natsdems Uyghur Personal ideologies Assadism Bolivarianism Chavismo Camilism Chiangism Gaddafism Gandhism Kemalism Katarism Khomeinism Lulism Magonism Mosaddeghism Nasserism Nkrumaism Peronism Kirchnerism Sandinismo Sankarism Zapatismo Neozapatismo History Pre-modern era Bellum Batonianum Trưng sisters' rebellion Bar Kokhba Revolt Reconquista Zanj Rebellion War of Scottish Independence First Second Lam Sơn uprising Pueblo Revolt Modern era Indian Rebellion of 1857 Tecumseh's War Boxer Rebellion Mexican Revolution Separatism in the Russian Civil War Irish War of Independence March First Movement May Fourth Movement Indonesian National Revolution Cuban Revolution Vietnam War Hungarian Revolution of 1956 Nicaraguan Revolution Prague Spring Afghan mujahideen Iranian Revolution Palestinian Intifada First Second Zapatista uprising Euromaidan Independence movements Assyrian Basque Catalan East Turkestan Faroese Indian Inner Mongolian Korean Latvian Pakistan Puerto Rico Ryukyu Sri Lankan Taiwan Tibetan Zanzibar Prominent figures Activists Baader Cheng Hampton King Magón Marcos Meinhof Mises Su Torres Restrepo X Intellectuals Gandhi Hielscher Luxemburg Martí Rida Shin Twain Politicians al-Assad (Bashar) al-Assad (Hafez) Arafat Arbenz Aung San Barzani Boutwell Castro Chávez Chiang Cleveland Collins Gaddafi Habash Ho Jinnah Khomeini Lai Lenin Lula Lumumba Mamdani Mao Marighella Mosaddegh Mugabe Nasser Nehru Nkrumah Ngo Öcalan Perón Piłsudski Sankara Sukarno Traore Tito Zana Zelenskyy Resistance fighters Abiaka Arminius Katari Phan Sandino Tecumseh Túpac Vercingetorix Villa Zapata Prominent organizations Active A-APRP Axis of Resistance Hamas Hezbollah Houthis Economic Freedom Fighters Free Nations League Free Nations of Post-Russia Forum FSLN ILPS IMCWP Kurdistan Communities Union PKK PYD Muslim Brotherhood Pan-Green Coalition DPP PLO Fatah PFLP Polisario Front Progressive International São Paulo Forum Sinn Féin Social Movement Socialist International Zapatista Army of National Liberation Defunct American Anti-Imperialist League Black Panther Party Boxers Communist International ETA Fourth International Irish Republican Army Maidan People's Union Muslim National Guard Red Army Faction Viet Cong See also Anti-nationalism Anationalism Anti-fascism Anti-Putinism in Russia Authenticité Decolonization of the Americas "Fourth World" Kàngrì Left-wing antiglobalism Non-interventionism Proletarian internationalism Three Principles of the People Anti-national sentiments American British Chinese PRC Dutch French German Israeli Anti-Zionism Japanese Portuguese Russian Soviet Spanish Turkish Western Politics portal v t e

- [Anti-imperialism](/source/Anti-imperialism) – Political stance in opposition to interventionist or expansionist policies

- [Boundary problem (political science)](/source/Boundary_problem_(political_science))

- [Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations](/source/Community_for_Democracy_and_Rights_of_Nations) – Organization of unrecognized states

- [Consent of the governed](/source/Consent_of_the_governed) – Consent as source of political legitimacy

- [Decolonization](/source/Decolonization) – Undoing political, economic and cultural legacies of colonisation - [Special Committee on Decolonization](/source/Special_Committee_on_Decolonization) – UN General Assembly special committee - [United Nations list of non-self-governing territories](/source/United_Nations_list_of_non-self-governing_territories) – Type of territory defined by the United Nations Charter

- [Ethnic separatism](/source/Ethnic_separatism)

- [Ethnonationalism](/source/Ethnonationalism)

- [Ethnopluralism](/source/Ethnopluralism) – Political model attempting to preserve separate and bordered ethno-cultural regions

- [Independence movement](/source/Independence_movement)

- [Indigenous peoples](/source/Indigenous_peoples)

- [International relations theory](/source/International_relations_theory) – Study of international relations from a theoretical perspective

- [Irredentism](/source/Irredentism) – Territorial claim

- [Liberalism and nationalism](/source/Liberalism_and_nationalism)

- [Legitimacy](/source/Legitimacy_(political))

- [List of countries that have gained independence from the United Kingdom](/source/List_of_countries_that_have_gained_independence_from_the_United_Kingdom)

- [List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies](/source/List_of_historical_unrecognized_states_and_dependencies)

- [List of national liberation movements recognized by intergovernmental organizations](/source/List_of_national_liberation_movements_recognized_by_intergovernmental_organizations)

- [Lists of active separatist movements](/source/Lists_of_active_separatist_movements)

- [Nation-state](/source/Nation-state)

- [National delimitation in the Soviet Union](/source/National_delimitation_in_the_Soviet_Union) – Process of creating national territorial units from the ethnic diversity of USSR

- [National personal autonomy](/source/National_personal_autonomy) – Principle in Austromarxism; expression of left-wing nationalism

- [Non-Intervention](/source/Non-Intervention)

- [Plurinationalism](/source/Plurinationalism) – Coexistence of two or more sealed or preserved national groups within a polity

- [Popular sovereignty](/source/Popular_sovereignty) – Idea that the people are the source of all power

- [Religious nationalism](/source/Religious_nationalism) – Relationship between national identity and religion

- [Right to exist](/source/Right_to_exist) – Conceptual right of nations

- [Self-governance](/source/Self-governance) – Mode of governance

- [Separatism](/source/Separatism) – Advocacy for separation from a larger group

- [Stateless nation](/source/Stateless_nation) – Ethnic group or nation that does not possess its own state

- [Territorial integrity](/source/Territorial_integrity) – Principle of international law

- [United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1654 (XVI)](/source/United_Nations_General_Assembly_Resolution_1654_(XVI))

- [Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization](/source/Unrepresented_Nations_and_Peoples_Organization) – International organization formed in 1991

- [Wars of national liberation](/source/Wars_of_national_liberation) – Conflict fought for independencePages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets

- [Decentralization](/source/Decentralization)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Self determination (international law)"](https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/self_determination_(international_law)). *LII / Legal Information Institute*. Retrieved 2022-09-19.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Forsyth, Tim (2018). *Encyclopedia of International Development*. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis. "External" self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and "internal" self-determination refers to the right to have a representative government with effective participation in the political process...The right to self-determination was at first limited to colonial territories' right to external self-determination. The right was made secondary to territorial integrity and national unity, effective "locking" colonial boundaries. In 1970, the right to self-determination was expanded to apply beyond colonial situations. This declaration linked self-determination's internal and external aspects by suggesting that a racial or religious group denied equal participation in the political process would be entitled to external self-determination, voiding the principle that territorial integrity or national unity should not be threatened in extreme cases. The Vienna Declaration (1993) broaded this argument to include ethnic groups denied effective political participation. While representation and effective participation is usually enough to satisfy a people's right to self-determination, a people may have the right to external self-determination when those conditions are not met.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Alexander, Yonah, and Friedlander, Robert A. Self-determination: National, Regional, And Global Dimensions. United Kingdom, Taylor & Francis, 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** *See*: [United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1514](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/United_Nations_General_Assembly_Resolution_1514) in [Wikisource](/source/Wikisource) states

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [McWhinney, Edward](/source/Edward_McWhinney) (2007). *Self-Determination of Peoples and Plural-Ethnic States in Contemporary International Law: Failed States, Nation-Building and the Alternative, Federal Option*. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 8. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-9004158351](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-9004158351).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Griffiths, Martin, ed. (2013). *Encyclopedia of International Relations and Global Politics*. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis. Since the end of decolonization, it has become clear that the diplomatic compromises that facilitated the transfer of political authority during that era are now obsolete. Today, the principle of self-determination lacks both definition and applicability. Saving it from a complete descent into incoherence will require a renewal of the links between autonomy, democracy, human rights and the right to self-determination. Central to cultivating this renewal should be the adoption of a more liberal and expansive interpretation of the meaning of self-determination. Self-determination does not have to mean irredentism, secession and the violent renegotiation of territorial frontiers. The promotion of minority rights, devolution, federalism and greater acknowledgement of the legitimacy of cultural self-expression are all expressions of self-determination.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Legal Aspects of Self-Determination"](https://pesd.princeton.edu/node/511). *The Princeton Encyclopedia of Self-Determination*. Princeton University.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** [Spencer, Metta](/source/Metta_Spencer) (2005). ["Separatism"](https://archive.org/details/encyclopedia-of-democratic-thought/page/807/mode/2up). In Clarke, Paul Barry; Foweraker, Joe (eds.). [*Encyclopedia of Democratic Thought*](https://archive.org/details/encyclopedia-of-democratic-thought/mode/2up) (Master e-book ed.). [Routledge](/source/Routledge), imprint of [Taylor & Francis](/source/Taylor_%26_Francis). p. 807. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-203-42210-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-203-42210-4) – via [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive). At present, international law is ambiguous regarding the right to secede. Some documents assert that self-determination is a fundamental right, but in practice the United Nations and other international organisations have very rarely recognized breakaway states, and the trend at the turn of the millennium seems to be toward increasing the opposition to separatism, largely as a result of the grave effects observable in most cases where it has been attempted. One ICJ judge, Rosalyn Higgins, has written that there is no legal right of secession where there is representative government. However, some other experts disagree, adding that self-determination is justifiable where there is representative government but the minority nevertheless faces severe human rights violations.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Fisch_9-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Fisch_9-1) Jörg Fisch (9 December 2015). [*A History of the Self-Determination of Peoples: The Domestication of an Illusion*](https://books.google.com/books?id=PETjCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA118). Cambridge University Press. p. 118. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-107-03796-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-107-03796-0).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Emerson, Rupert (1971). ["Self-Determination"](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-journal-of-international-law/article/abs/selfdetermination/E1B317190AE2F5FF70E810289C63E905). *American Journal of International Law*. **65** (3): 459–475. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.2307/2198970](https://doi.org/10.2307%2F2198970). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0002-9300](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0002-9300).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["President Wilson's Address to Congress, Analyzing German and Austrian Peace Utterances (Delivered to Congress in Joint Session on February 11, 1918)"](http://www.gwpda.org/1918/wilpeace.html). *gwpda.org*. February 11, 1918. Retrieved September 5, 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Manela, Erez (2021), Motadel, David (ed.), ["The Wilsonian Uprisings of 1919"](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/revolutionary-world/wilsonian-uprisings-of-1919/4957EB339AD9ADC5AD5A3AD6F9D9023D), *Revolutionary World: Global Upheaval in the Modern Age*, Cambridge University Press, pp. 152–174, [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1017/9781108182409.007](https://doi.org/10.1017%2F9781108182409.007), [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-107-19840-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-107-19840-1){{[citation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Citation)}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_work_parameter_with_ISBN))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** *See*: Clause 3 of the [Atlantic Charter](/source/Atlantic_Charter) reads: "Third, they respect the right of all people to choose the form of government under which they will live; and they wish to see sovereign rights and self government restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of them" then became one of the eight cardinal principal points of the Charter all people had a right to self-determination.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Daniel, Thürer; Thomas, Burri (2008). ["Self-Determination"](https://opil.ouplaw.com/view/10.1093/law:epil/9780199231690/law-9780199231690-e873). *Oxford Public International Law*. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1093/law:epil/9780199231690/e873](https://doi.org/10.1093%2Flaw%3Aepil%2F9780199231690%2Fe873). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-923169-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-923169-0).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Unterberger_15-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Unterberger_15-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Unterberger_15-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Unterberger_15-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Unterberger_15-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-Unterberger_15-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-Unterberger_15-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-Unterberger_15-7) Betty Miller Unterberger, ["Self-Determination"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080220083041/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_gx5215/is_2002/ai_n19132482), *Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy,* 2002.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Oxford_University_Press_16-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Oxford_University_Press_16-1) Mayall, James (2013). "International Society, State Sovereignty, and National Self-Determination". In Breuilly, John (ed.). *The Oxford Handbook of the History of Nationalism*. Oxford University Press. p. 542. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-876820-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-876820-3).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** Hecher, Michael; Borland, Elizabeth (2001). [*National Self-Determination: The Emergence of an International Norm*](https://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/1550896). Russell Sage Foundation. pp. 186–233. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-61044-280-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-61044-280-0).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** Mayall, James (2013). "International Society, State Sovereignty, and National Self-Determination". In Breuilly, John (ed.). *The Oxford Handbook of the History of Nationalism*. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 539–540. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-876820-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-876820-3).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** Hechter, Michael (2013). [*Alien Rule*](https://books.google.com/books?id=rZk2AQAAQBAJ). Cambridge University Press. p. 5. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-107-04254-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-107-04254-4).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Simma_20-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Simma_20-1) Oeter, Stefan (2024). "Self Determination". In Simma; et al. (eds.). *The Charter of the United Nations: A Commentary* (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 457–484. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780192864536](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780192864536).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** [Chimène Keitner](/source/Chim%C3%A8ne_Keitner), [Oxford University](/source/Oxford_University), [Self-Determination: The Legacy of the French Revolution](http://www.ciaonet.org/isa/woc01/National) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200304141255/http://www.ciaonet.org/) 2020-03-04 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine), paper presented at International Studies Association Annual Meeting, March 2000.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** ["Self-Determination Not a New Expedient; First Plebiscite Was Held in Avignon During the French Revolution—Forthcoming Book Traces History and Growth of the Movement"](https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60B16FD3D5C147A93C2AB178CD85F4D8185F9), *[New York Times](/source/New_York_Times)*, July 20, 1919, 69.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** [Erica Benner](/source/Erica_Benner), *Really existing nationalisms: a post-communist view from Marx and Engels*, [p. 188](https://books.google.com/books?id=N-7Xc8WtCLgC&dq=%22self-determination%22+of+colonies+marx&pg=PA188), Oxford University Press, 1995 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-19-827959-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-19-827959-0), [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-827959-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-827959-4)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Lenin_24-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Lenin_24-1) ["What Is Meant By The Self-Determination of Nations?"](https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1914/self-det/ch01.htm#v20pp72-395). Marxists.org. Retrieved 2012-03-04.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Lewis_25-0)** Lewis, Tom (October–November 2000). ["Marxism and Nationalism"](https://isreview.org/issues/14/marxism_nationalism_part2/). *International Socialist Review* (14). Retrieved 22 October 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Luxemburg_26-0)** Luxemburg, Rosa (1909). [*The National Question, Chapter 1: The Right of Nations to Self-Determination*](https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1909/national-question/ch01.htm). Marxists.org. Retrieved 24 November 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-27)** ["The World in 1945"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120113032655/https://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/world45.pdf) (PDF). *United nations*. May 2010. Archived from [the original](https://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/world45.pdf) (PDF) on 2012-01-13. Retrieved 2012-03-04.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:0_28-0)** Service, Robert (2005). [*A history of modern Russia from Nicholas II to Vladimir Putin*](http://archive.org/details/historyofmodernr00robe). Internet Archive. Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press. pp. 75–80. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0674018013](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0674018013).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Oeter_29-0)** Cite error: The named reference Oeter was invoked but never defined (see the [help page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Cite_errors/Cite_error_references_no_text)).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-30)** Sarah D. Shields. *Fezzes in the River*. Oxford University Press.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Macmillan,_Margaret_page_211_31-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Macmillan,_Margaret_page_211_31-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Macmillan,_Margaret_page_211_31-2) Macmillan, Margaret *Paris 1919*, New York: Random House page 211.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-32)** *Gdańsk i Ziemia Gdańska* Franciszek Mamuszka Wiedza Powszechna, 1966 page 83

1. **[^](#cite_ref-33)** Książka polska w Gdańsku w okresie zaboru pruskiego 1793-1919, page 61 Maria Babnis, Ossolineum 1989

1. **[^](#cite_ref-34)** Macmillan, Margaret *Paris 1919*, New York: Random House page 218.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-35)** Macmillan, Margaret *Paris 1919*, New York: Random House page 219.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-36)** ["Statute of Westminster 1931"](http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1931/4/pdfs/ukpga_19310004_en.pdf) (PDF). *legislation.gov.uk*. The National Archives (UK). 2017. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20181222222020/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1931/4/pdfs/ukpga_19310004_en.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 22 December 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2024. All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0

1. **[^](#cite_ref-37)** ["United Nations Charter"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120112181932/https://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/). Un.org. Archived from [the original](https://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/) on 2012-01-12. Retrieved 2015-05-08.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-38)** ["Text of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120303001412/http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/ccpr.htm). .ohchr.org. Archived from [the original](http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/ccpr.htm) on March 3, 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-04.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-39)** ["Text of International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120303114220/http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/cescr.htm). .ohchr.org. Archived from [the original](http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/cescr.htm) on March 3, 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-04.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-nonselfgov_40-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-nonselfgov_40-1) ["Trust and Non-Self-Governing Territories listed by the United Nations General Assembly"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120104193826/https://www.un.org/en/decolonization/nonselfgov.shtml). Un.org. Archived from [the original](https://www.un.org/en/decolonization/nonselfgov.shtml) on 2012-01-04. Retrieved 2014-04-10.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-ReferenceA_41-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-ReferenceA_41-1) [United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1514](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/United_Nations_General_Assembly_Resolution_1514)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-42)** [United Nations General Assembly 15th Session - The Trusteeship System and Non-Self-Governing Territories (pages: 509-510)](http://unyearbook.un.org/1960YUN/1960_P1_SEC3_CH4.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120320074502/http://unyearbook.un.org/1960YUN/1960_P1_SEC3_CH4.pdf) March 20, 2012, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Hensel_43-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Hensel_43-1) Paul R. Hensel and Michael E. Allison, Department of Political Science [Florida State University](/source/Florida_State_University) and Ahmed Khanani, Department of Political Science, [Indiana University](/source/Indiana_University), [The Colonial Legacy and Border Stability: Uti Possidetis and Territorial Claims in the Americas](http://garnet.acns.fsu.edu/~phensel/Research/io05.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20050528084649/http://garnet.acns.fsu.edu/~phensel/Research/io05.pdf) 2005-05-28 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine), research paper at Paul Hensel's Florida State university web site.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Gudeleviciute_44-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Gudeleviciute_44-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Gudeleviciute_44-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Gudeleviciute_44-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Gudeleviciute_44-4) Vita Gudeleviciute, [Does the Principle of Self-determination Prevail over the Principle of Territorial Integrity?](https://www.tamilnet.com/img/publish/2009/10/Gudeleviciute.pdf), *International Journal of Baltic Law*, [Vytautas Magnus University](/source/Vytautas_Magnus_University) School of Law, Volume 2, No. 2 (April 2005).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-45)** [Resolution 1514 (XV) "Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples"](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/United_Nations_General_Assembly_Resolution_1514)[*[circular reference](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability#Wikipedia_and_sources_that_mirror_or_use_it)*]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-46)** [Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples](http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/independence.htm) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120508055042/http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/independence.htm) 2012-05-08 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine), General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-47)** [\[1\]](https://web.archive.org/web/20060824053616/http://www.apcss.org/Publications/Edited%20Volumes/ReligiousRadicalism/PagesfromReligiousRadicalismandSecurityinSouthAsiach10.pdf) p. 220

1. **[^](#cite_ref-48)** Rothman, Lily; Ronk, Liz (2017-10-24). ["'The Turmoil of Burma' in 1949: The Constant Conflict of Myanmar"](https://time.com/4958097/burma-1949-conflict-turmoil-burma/). *TIME*. Retrieved 2025-03-07.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-49)** ["East Timor: Indonesia's invasion and the long road to independence"](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/30/east-timor-indonesias-invasion-and-the-long-road-to-independence). *[TheGuardian.com](/source/TheGuardian.com)*. 29 August 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-50)** [The Pentagon Papers Gravel Edition Volume 1, Chapter 5, "Origins of the Insurgency in South Vietnam, 1954–1960" (Boston: Beacon Press, 1971)](https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/pentagon/pent13.htm) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20170623032152/https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/pentagon/pent13.htm) 23 June 2017 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) Trích: "*France, as the third party in Vietnam, then became pivotal to any political settlement, its executor for the West. **But France had agreed to full independence for the GVN on ngày 4 tháng 6 năm 1954, nearly six weeks before the end of the Geneva Conference. By the terms of that June agreement, the GVN assumed responsibility for international contracts previously made on its behalf by France; but, there having been no reference to subsequent contracts, it was technically free of the Geneva Agreements.** It has been argued to the contrary that the GVN was bound by Geneva because it possessed at the time few of the attributes of full sovereignty, and especially because it was dependent on France for defense. But such debates turn on tenuous points of international law regarding the prerogatives of newly independent or partitioned states. France speedily divested itself of responsibilities for "civil administration" in South Vietnam*"

1. **[^](#cite_ref-51)** Martin Griffiths, [Self-determination, International Society And World Order](http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/MqLJ/2003/3.html), [Macquarie University](/source/Macquarie_University) Law Journal, 1, 2003.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-52)** ["United Nations Millennium Declaration, adopted by the UN General Assembly Resolution 55/2 (08 09 2000), paragraph 4"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120113024040/https://www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.pdf) (PDF). Archived from [the original](https://www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.pdf) (PDF) on 2012-01-13. Retrieved 2012-03-04.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Pavkovic_53-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Pavkovic_53-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Pavkovic_53-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Pavkovic_53-3) Pavkodic, Aleksander; Radan, Peter. ["n Pursuit of Sovereignty and Self-determination: Peoples, States and Secession in the International Order"](http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/MqLJ/2003/1.html). *Macquarie Law Journal*. Retrieved 2021-03-30.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-54)** [\[2\]](http://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/law/public-international-law/statehood-and-self-determination-reconciling-tradition-and-modernity-international-law) Duncan French, 2013, Statehood and Self-Determination Reconciling Tradition and Modernity in International Law, p.97

1. **[^](#cite_ref-55)** Pictet, Jean; et al. (1987). *Commentary on the Additional Protocols of 8 June 1977 to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949*. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. pp. 52–53.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Abulof_56-0)** Abulof, Uriel (2015). "The Confused Compass: From Self-determination to State-determination". *Ethnopolitics*. **14** (5): 488–497. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1080/17449057.2015.1051809](https://doi.org/10.1080%2F17449057.2015.1051809). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [142202032](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:142202032).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-c828_57-0)** Miller, David (1997). [*On Nationality*](https://academic.oup.com/book/6973). Oxford University PressOxford. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1093/0198293569.001.0001](https://doi.org/10.1093%2F0198293569.001.0001). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-829356-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-829356-9). Retrieved 2026-02-24.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-58)** ["Protracted conflicts in the GUAM area and their implications for international peace, security and development. The situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, Security Council, Sixty-third year/ General Assembly, Sixty-third session, Agenda items 13 and 18, A/63/664 – S/2008/823, 29 December 2008"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120120120717/http://www.un.int/azerbaijan/pdf/unrep1.pdf) (PDF). Archived from [the original](http://www.un.int/azerbaijan/pdf/unrep1.pdf) (PDF) on January 20, 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-04.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-59)** Johan D. van der Vyver (Fall 2000). ["Self-Determination of the Peoples of Quebec Under International Law"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120206211910/http://www.law.fsu.edu/journals/transnational/vol101/vyver.pdf) (PDF). *Journal of Transnational Law & Policy*. **10** (1–38). Archived from [the original](http://www.law.fsu.edu/journals/transnational/vol101/vyver.pdf) (PDF) on 2012-02-06. Retrieved 2012-03-04.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-60)** M. Mammadov (Winter 2006). ["Legal Aspects of the Nagorno-Garabagh Conflict"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120402120053/http://cria-online.org/1_2.html). *Caucasian Review of International Affairs*. **1** (1): 14–30. Archived from [the original](http://cria-online.org/1_2.html) on 2012-04-02. Retrieved 2012-03-04 – via cria-online.org.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-61)** S. Neil MacFarlane (December 14, 2010). ["Normative Conflict – Territorial Integrity and National Self-Determination"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160428013355/http://ucss.ge/lecture). Centre for Social Sciences. Archived from [the original](http://ucss.ge/lecture%203%20-%20TI%20and%20NSD41.doc) on 2016-04-28. Retrieved 2012-03-04.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Musgrave2000_62-0)** Thomas D. Musgrave (2000). [*Self-Determination and National Minorities*](https://books.google.com/books?id=BJg6T7SqJ1gC). Oxford University Press. p. 239. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-829898-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-829898-4). Retrieved 5 March 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-63)** ["The Challenge of Sovereignty in small states"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120430061445/http://www.falklands.gov.fk/assembly/documents/The%20Challenge%20of%20Sovereignty%20in%20small%20states.pdf) (PDF). Archived from [the original](http://www.falklands.gov.fk/assembly/documents/The%20Challenge%20of%20Sovereignty%20in%20small%20states.pdf) (PDF) on 2012-04-30. Retrieved 2012-03-07. Falkland Islands Government, Dick Sawle MLA, The Challenge of Sovereignty in small states *As I mentioned previously, the UN itself, in 2008, rejected the claim that a dispute over sovereignty affected self-determination, affirming self-determination to be "a basic human right."*

1. **[^](#cite_ref-64)** ["General Assembly GA/SPD/406"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120127063145/https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/gaspd406.doc.htm). UN Department of Public Information. 20 October 2008. Archived from [the original](https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/gaspd406.doc.htm) on 2012-01-27. Retrieved March 10, 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-65)** ["Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States: from George Washington 1789 to George Bush 1989"](https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/lincoln1.asp). *avalon.law.yale.edu*. Retrieved 2022-10-02.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-66)** Beran, Harry (March 1984). ["A Liberal Theory of Secession"](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9248.1984.tb00163.x#:~:text=The%20claim%20is%20made%20that,is%20morally%20and%20practically%20possible.). *Political Studies*. **32** (1): 26–27. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1111/j.1467-9248.1984.tb00163.x](https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1467-9248.1984.tb00163.x). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [144826573](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:144826573) – via Sage Journals.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Kreptul_67-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Kreptul_67-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Kreptul_67-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Kreptul_67-3) Andrei Kreptul, [The Constitutional Right of Secession in Political Theory and History](https://mises.org/journals/jls/17_4/17_4_3.pdf), [Journal of Libertarian Studies](/source/Journal_of_Libertarian_Studies), [Ludwig von Mises Institute](/source/Ludwig_von_Mises_Institute), Volume 17, no. 4 (Fall 2003), pp. 39 – 100.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-68)** Aleksandar Pavković, Peter Radan, [Creating New States: Theory and Practice of Secession](https://books.google.com/books?id=-IjHbPvp1W0C), p. 222, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-69)** [*Texas v. White*](https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0074_0700_ZO.html), 74 U.S. 700 (1868) at [Cornell University Law School](/source/Cornell_University_Law_School) Supreme Court collection.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-70)** Xenophon Contiades, [Sixth Scholarly Panel: Cultural Identity in the New Europe](http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/AUD/s6.htm), 1st Global Conference on Federalism and the Union of European Democracies, March 2004. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20090105214649/http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/AUD/s6.htm) January 5, 2009, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-71)** ["The Reform of the Constitution in 2003"](https://web.archive.org/web/20170102172008/https://www.fuerstenhaus.li/en/monarchy/the-reform-of-the-constitution-in-2003/). *fuerstenhaus.li*. Archived from [the original](https://www.fuerstenhaus.li/en/monarchy/the-reform-of-the-constitution-in-2003/) on 2017-01-02. Retrieved 2017-01-02.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Anstis_72-0)** Sebastian Anstis, [The Normative Bases of the Global Territorial Order](http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09592296.2010.482477), [Diplomacy and Statecraft](/source/International_relations), Volume 21, no. 2 (June 2010), pp. 306 – 323.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMalkasian199627–28_73-0)** [Malkasian 1996](#CITEREFMalkasian1996), pp. 27–28.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:1422_74-0)** Chorbajian, Levon; Donabédian, Patrick; Mutafian, Claude (1994). *The Caucasian knot: the history & geopolitics of Nagorno-Karabagh*. Politics in contemporary Asia. London: Atlantic Highlands, NJ : Zed Books. p. 37. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-85649-287-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-85649-287-4).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Eduard_Abrahamyan22_75-0)** Eduard Abrahamyan (2025). [*Small States, Russia and the West Polarity, Constellations and Heterogeneity in the Geopolitics of the Caucasus*](https://books.google.com/books?id=951ZEQAAQBAJ&pg=PA1964). Taylor & Francis. p. 1964. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-10-4035016-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-10-4035016-4). The violence prompted the Armenian society of the crumbling Soviet Union of 1990-1991 to act in self-defence, perceiving a 'tangible prospect of looming genocide in Artsakh.'

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Vicken_Cheterian2_76-0)** Vicken Cheterian (2011). [*War and Peace in the Caucasus Russia's Troubled Frontier*](https://books.google.com/books?id=iOCGDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA123). Oxford University Press. p. 123. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-78738-186-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-78738-186-5). By June 1989, the Armenian National Movement (Hayots Hamazkayin Sharzhoum, ANM) was formed, transforming the Karabakh Committee into an instrument for the struggle of national independence.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:03_77-0)** ["Anniversary of Karabakh movement reminds Yerevan residents about national idea"](https://www.eng.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/42438). *Caucasian Knot*. Retrieved 2025-09-17.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:12_78-0)** Civilnet (2018-02-22). ["Yerevan Photo Exhibit Celebrates 30th Anniversary of Karabakh Movement"](https://www.civilnet.am/en/news/383782/yerevan-photo-exhibit-celebrates-30th-anniversary-of-karabakh-movement/). *CIVILNET*. Retrieved 2025-09-17.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:05_79-0)** Paylan, Sheila (2025-09-18). "Legitimization of Violence and State Dissolution in Nagorno-Karabakh:". In Grzybowski, Janis; Oltramonti, Giulia Prelz; Verdebout, Agatha (eds.). [*Contested States in War and Law*](http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/jj.25941162). Bristol University Press. pp. 107–109. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.2307/jj.25941162.10](https://doi.org/10.2307%2Fjj.25941162.10). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-5292-4691-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-5292-4691-9). The case of Nagorno-Karabakh, by contrast, represents a genuine struggle for self-determination by the ethnic Armenian population, who have long expressed a clear and consistent will to determine their own political status and have sought to achieve this through established democratic processes, such as referendums

1. **[^](#cite_ref-80)** Civilnet (2025-03-29). ["Displaced Karabakh people demand right of return and continuation of social support"](https://www.civilnet.am/en/news/825342/displaced-karabakh-people-demand-right-of-return-and-continuation-of-social-support/). *CIVILNET*. Retrieved 2025-09-18.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-81)** Holloway, Sophie (2025-03-20). ["The forgotten Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh"](https://lacuna.org.uk/war-and-peace/the-forgotten-armenians-of-nagorno-karabakh/). *Lacuna Magazine*. Retrieved 2025-09-18.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-82)** ["Protesters in Yerevan demanded the return of Armenian prisoners from Azerbaijan"](https://www.eng.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/68286). *Caucasian Knot*. Retrieved 2025-09-18.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-fr24_83-0)** ["Nagorno-Karabakh dissolution not valid, says Armenian separatist leader"](https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20231222-nagorno-karabakh-dissolution-not-valid-says-armenian-separatist-leader). *France 24*. 2023-12-22. Retrieved 2024-10-10.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-84)** CivilNet (2025-04-17). ["Karabakh parliament in exile extends presidential term via constitutional amendment"](https://www.civilnet.am/en/news/945633/karabakh-parliament-in-exile-extends-presidential-term-via-constitutional-amendment/). *CIVILNET*. Retrieved 2025-09-19.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-news.am_85-0)** ["President: Document to 'dissolve' Karabakh republic was only way to save compatriots"](https://news.am/eng/news/814812.html). *news.am*. 2023-03-28. Retrieved 2024-12-22.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-86)** CivilNet (2025-09-02). ["Artsakh president says state structures remain, right of return non-negotiable"](https://www.civilnet.am/en/news/972356/artsakh-president-says-state-structures-remain-right-of-return-non-negotiable/). *CIVILNET*. Retrieved 2025-09-18.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-87)** ["Thousands of Karabakh Armenians call on Armenian government to defend their right to return"](https://www.nationalia.info/brief/11675/thousands-of-karabakh-armenians-call-on-armenian-government-to-defend-their-right-to-retur). *Nationalia* (in Catalan). 2025-09-18. Retrieved 2025-09-18. However, the conditions in Azerbaijan are entirely hostile to the return of the Armenian population. The Azerbaijani government continues the anti-Armenian policies it has pursued since independence, and there is evidence of a campaign to destroy Armenian heritage in Karabakh.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:2_88-0)** ["Right of Return of the Armenians of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh)"](https://arammanoukianinstitute.org/right-of-return-of-the-armenians-of-artsakh-nagorno-karabakh/). *Aram Manoukian Institute for Strategic Planning*. p. 22. Retrieved 2025-09-19. Although Baku claims that it has no problem in hosting the Armenians, its policies towards the Armenians of the region over the years have shown that without any international mechanism, presence, and guarantees, Armenians will once again face persecution.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-89)** [Harrison, Selig S.](/source/Selig_S._Harrison) (1981), [*In Afghanistan's Shadow: Baluch Nationalism and Soviet Temptations*](https://books.google.com/books?id=LLnCAAAAIAAJ), Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, p. 24, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-87003-029-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-87003-029-1), Pakistani leaders summarily rejected this declaration [of independence], touching off a nine-month diplomatic tug of war that came to a climax in the forcible annexation of Kalat... But it is clear that Baluch leaders, including the Khan, were bitterly opposed to what happened... Moreover, the Pakistani version of the accession debate is discredited by a study of the discussion of the Kalat Assembly on the accession issue and by interviews with a variety of Baluch leaders that confirm the authenticity of the official assembly proceedings.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-90)** Axmann, Martin (2009). *Back To The Future: The Khanate of Kalat and the Genesis of Baloch Nationalism - 1915-1955*. Oxford University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780195476453](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780195476453).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-91)** Mazzetti, Mark; Schmitt, Eric; Savage, Charlie (23 July 2011). ["Pakistan Spies on Its Diaspora, Spreading Fear"](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/world/asia/24isi.html). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. Retrieved 15 December 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-92)** Basit, Abdul (22 October 2025). ["The BLA Becomes South Asia's Most Effective Insurgent Group"](https://jamestown.org/the-bla-becomes-south-asias-most-effective-insurgent-group-2/). *Jamestown*. Retrieved 15 December 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-93)** Ellis-Petersen, Hannah (18 January 2024). ["Where is Balochistan and why is it the target of Iran and Pakistan strikes?"](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/18/where-balochistan-why-iran-pakistan-strikes). *The Guardian*. Retrieved 15 December 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-94)** ["EITB: *Basque parliament adopts resolution on self-determination*"](http://www.eitb24.com/portal/eitb24/noticia/en/politics/pp-and-pse-voted-against-basque-parliament-adopts-resolution-on-s?itemId=B24_18787&cl=%2Feitb24%2Fpolitica&idioma=en). Eitb24.com. Retrieved 2012-03-04.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-95)** [\[3\]](http://www9.euskadi.net/q93TodoWar/q93Desplegar.jsp) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20100407091254/http://www9.euskadi.net/q93TodoWar/q93Desplegar.jsp) April 7, 2010, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-96)** [¿QUÉ ES EL MLNV? ( y 4)](https://web.archive.org/web/20190115214359/http://www.goizargi.com/2003/queeselmlnv4.htm) "What is the MNLV (4)"

1. **[^](#cite_ref-97)** ["What is the MNLV (3)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160303201128/http://www.goizargi.com/2003/queeselmlnv3.htm) (in Spanish). Goizargi.com. 2002-01-27. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2012-03-04.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-BBCprofile_98-0)** ["Nigeria profile"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13949550). *BBC Africa*. May 1, 2012. Retrieved May 19, 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-99)** ["Catalunya clama por la independencia"](http://www.elperiodico.com/es/diada-2012/20120911/manifestacion-diada-en-barcelona-2202293). *ElPeriodico*. El Periodico. 11 September 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-100)** ["Two thirds of the Catalan Parliament approve organising a self-determination citizen vote within the next 4 years"](https://web.archive.org/web/20121001020028/http://www.catalannewsagency.com/news/politics/two-thirds-catalan-parliament-approve-organising-self-determination-citizen-vote-withi). Catalan News Agency. 28 September 2013. Archived from [the original](http://www.catalannewsagency.com/news/politics/two-thirds-catalan-parliament-approve-organising-self-determination-citizen-vote-withi) on October 1, 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-101)** Frayer, Lauren (2014-11-10). ["Catalonia Votes For Independence; Spain Says It Won't Happen"](https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/11/10/362952892/referendums-outcome-indicates-catalonias-desire-for-independence). *NPR*. Retrieved 2026-01-30.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-102)** ["Catalonia president signs independence referendum decree"](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29390774). *BBC News*. 2014-09-27. Retrieved 2026-01-30.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-103)** Sanz, Inmaculada (2014-11-10). ["Spain's Catalans vote to secede in symbolic ballot, but turnout low"](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-spain-catalonia/spains-catalans-vote-to-secede-in-symbolic-ballot-but-turnout-low-idUSKBN0IS0TI20141110/). *Reuters*. Retrieved 2026-01-30.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-104)** Nardelli, Alberto (2014-11-10). ["Why an independence referendum in Catalonia is inevitable, in two charts"](https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/nov/10/why-an-independence-referendum-in-catalonia-is-inevitable-in-two-charts). *The Guardian*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0261-3077](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0261-3077). Retrieved 2026-01-30.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-105)** Minder, Raphael (2017-03-13). ["Artur Mas, Former Catalan Leader, Is Barred From Holding Office"](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/13/world/europe/artur-mas-catalonia-spain-independence.html). *The New York Times*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0362-4331](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved 2026-01-30.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-106)** López-Fonseca, El País, Rebeca Carranco, Óscar (2017-10-17). ["Spain's Constitutional Court strikes down Catalan referendum law"](https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2017/10/17/inenglish/1508250970_489373.html). *EL PAÍS*. Retrieved 2021-04-05.{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_multiple_names:_authors_list))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-107)** ["How police brutality helped Spain's 15-M protests | Iberosphere | News, comment and analysis on Spain, Portugal and beyond"](https://iberosphere.com/2011/06/spain-news-how-police-brutality-helped-spain%e2%80%99s-15-m-protests/2978). 2 June 2011. Retrieved 2021-04-05.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-108)** ["Los Mossos, un historial de abusos e impunidad"](https://www.abc.es/espana/abci-historial-abusos-impunidad-201710030349_noticia.html). *abc* (in Spanish). 2017-10-03. Retrieved 2021-04-05.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-109)** Carranco, Rebeca (2018-09-30). ["El 1 de octubre: el día del divorcio policial"](https://elpais.com/ccaa/2018/09/28/catalunya/1538157382_335488.html). *El País* (in Spanish). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1134-6582](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1134-6582). Retrieved 2021-04-05.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-110)** ["Vídeo: Encontronazos entre cuerpos de seguridad en el exterior de los colegios electorales"](https://elpais.com/elpais/2017/10/01/videos/1506865282_972654.html). *El País* (in Spanish). 2017-10-01. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1134-6582](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1134-6582). Retrieved 2021-04-05.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-111)** ["Els Mossos van tancar 600 col·legis electorals; la policia espanyola i la Guàrdia Civil, 92"](https://www.rac1.cat/info-rac1/20171005/431811387579/els-mossos-van-tancar-600-collegis-electorals-la-policia-espanyola-i-la-guardia-civil-92.html). RAC1. 6 October 2017. Retrieved 22 May 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-112)** ["El Govern trasllada els resultats definitius del referèndum de l'1 d'octubre al Parlament de Catalunya"](https://web.archive.org/web/20180523011210/http://premsa.gencat.cat/pres_fsvp/AppJava/notapremsavw/303541/ca/govern-trasllada-resultats-definitius-referendum-l1-doctubre-parlament-catalunya.do). Catalan News Agency. 6 October 2017. Archived from [the original](http://premsa.gencat.cat/pres_fsvp/AppJava/notapremsavw/303541/ca/govern-trasllada-resultats-definitius-referendum-l1-doctubre-parlament-catalunya.do) on 23 May 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-113)** Government of Canada, Foreign Affairs Trade and Development Canada (11 May 2014). ["Canada Rejects Illegitimate Referendums in Eastern Ukraine"](http://www.international.gc.ca/media/aff/news-communiques/2014/05/11b.aspx?lang=eng). Retrieved 2015-10-09.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-114)** ["EU@UN - EU Council conclusions on Ukraine"](https://web.archive.org/web/20151016041020/http://eu-un.europa.eu/articles/en/article_15004_en.htm). *eu-un.europa.eu*. Archived from [the original](http://eu-un.europa.eu/articles/en/article_15004_en.htm) on 2015-10-16. Retrieved 2015-10-09.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-115)** ["Trepidation, intimidation in eastern Ukraine as Sunday's election nears"](http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/5/23/intimidation-easternukrainevote.html). *america.aljazeera.com*. Retrieved 2015-10-09.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-116)** ["Ukraine's Poroshenko warns of 'full-scale' Russia invasion"](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33003237). *BBC News*. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 2015-10-09.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-117)** ["The Falkland Islands Constitution Order 2008"](http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2008/2846/contents/made). Legislation.gov.uk. 2011-07-04. Retrieved 2012-03-04.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Bulmer-Thomas1989_118-0)** Victor Bulmer-Thomas (17 August 1989). [*Britain and Latin America: A Changing Relationship*](https://books.google.com/books?id=Kfk0AWSaHjoC&pg=PA3). Cambridge University Press. p. 3. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-521-37205-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-37205-3). Retrieved 11 September 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-119)** ["Overwhelming turnout and YES vote in the Falklands referendum"](http://en.mercopress.com/2013/03/12/overwhelming-turnout-and-yes-vote-in-the-falklands-referendum). *Mercopress*. En.mercopress.com. Retrieved 2015-01-30.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-120)** [""Self determination and self sufficiency", Falklands message to the world on Liberation Day"](http://en.mercopress.com/2011/06/15/self-determination-and-self-sufficiency-falklands-message-to-the-world-on-liberation-day). En.mercopress.com. Retrieved 2012-03-04.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-121)** ["FALKLAND ISLANDS (MALVINAS), GIBRALTAR, AMERICAN SAMOA DISCUSSED IN CARIBBEAN REGIONAL SEMINAR ON DECOLONIZATION"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120113230723/https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2001/gacol3047.doc.htm). [United Nations](/source/United_Nations). Archived from [the original](https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2001/gacol3047.doc.htm) on 2012-01-13.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-122)** ["DIMAS"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110531174231/http://www.cancilleria.gov.ar/portal/seree/malvinas/homeing.html). Archived from [the original](http://www.cancilleria.gov.ar/portal/seree/malvinas/homeing.html) on 2011-05-31. Retrieved 2008-10-07. Argentina's Position on Different Aspects of the Question of the Malvinas Islands

1. **[^](#cite_ref-López1995_123-0)** Angel M. Oliveri López (1995). [*Key to an Enigma: British Sources Disprove British Claims to the Falkland/Malvinas Islands*](https://books.google.com/books?id=-u1ygYbRBHgC&pg=PA38). Lynne Rienner Publishers. p. 38. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-55587-521-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-55587-521-3).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-124)** Lowell S. Gustafson (7 April 1988). [*The Sovereignty Dispute Over the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands*](https://books.google.com/books?id=Ip-9_W7efbAC). Oxford University Press. p. 26. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-504184-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-504184-2). Retrieved 18 September 2012. *Sarandi* sailed on 5 January, with all the soldiers and convicts of the penal colony and those remaining Argentine settlers who wished to leave. The other settlers of various nationalities, remained at Port Louis....Nevertheless, this incident is not the forcible ejection of Argentine settlers that has become myth in Argentina.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-125)** Julius Goebel (2008) [1927]. [*The struggle for the Falkland Islands: a study in legal and diplomatic history*](https://books.google.com/books?id=FM8ZAAAAYAAJ). Yale University Press. p. 456. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780300029437](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780300029437). Retrieved 18 September 2012. On April 24, 1833 he addressed Lord Palmerston, inquiring whether orders had been actually given by the British government to expel the Buenos Aires garrison.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-126)** Mary Cawkell (1983). [*The Falkland story, 1592–1982*](https://books.google.com/books?id=wg8aAAAAYAAJ). A. Nelson. p. 30. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-904614-08-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-904614-08-4). Retrieved 18 September 2012. Argentina likes to stress that Argentine settlers were ousted and replaced. This is incorrect. Those settlers who wished to leave were allowed to go. The rest continued at the now renamed Port Louis.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-127)** J. Metford; Falklands or Malvinas? The background to the dispute. International Affairs, Vol 44 (1968), pp. 463–481. "Much is made in successive presentations of the Argentine case of the next episode in the history of the islands: the supposed fact that Great Britain 'brutally' and 'forcefully' expelled the Argentine garrison in 1833. The record is not nearly so dramatic. After the commander of the Lexington had declared, in December 1831, the Falklands 'free of all government', they remained without any visible authority. However, in September 1832, the Buenos Aires Government appointed an interim commandant to take charge of a penal settlement at San Carlos, the Government's reserve on East Falkland. The British representative immediately lodged a protest..."

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Harper1998_128-0)** Marjory Harper (1998). [*Emigration from Scotland Between the Wars: Opportunity Or Exile?*](https://books.google.com/books?id=L4x2UdzPB4cC&pg=PA91). Manchester University Press. p. 91. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-7190-4927-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7190-4927-9).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-129)** ["The Gibraltar Constitution Order 2006"](https://web.archive.org/web/20121115055815/http://www.gibraltarlaws.gov.gi/constitution/Gibraltar_Constitution_Order_2006.pdf) (PDF). Gibraltarlaws.gov.gi. 2006-12-14. Archived from [the original](http://www.gibraltarlaws.gov.gi/constitution/Gibraltar_Constitution_Order_2006.pdf) (PDF) on 2012-11-15. Retrieved 2013-07-11.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-130)** ["Gibraltar's Quest for Self-Determination: A Critique of Gibraltar's New Constitution"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130117100124/http://law.uoregon.edu/org/oril//docs/9-1/Leathley.pdf) (PDF). OREGON REVIEW OF INT’L LAW [Vol. 9, 2007]. 2007. Archived from [the original](http://law.uoregon.edu/org/oril/docs/9-1/Leathley.pdf) (PDF) on 2013-01-17. Retrieved 2013-07-11.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-131)** [Despatch. Gibraltar Constitution Order 2006](http://www.gbc.gi/upload/pdf/NewGibraltarConstitution.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20131107060915/http://gbc.gi/upload/pdf/NewGibraltarConstitution.pdf) 2013-11-07 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine), section 5

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Fordham_132-0)** Lincoln, Simon J. (1994). ["The Legal Status of Gibraltar: Whose Rock is it Anyway?"](https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/144226179.pdf) (PDF). *Fordham International Law Journal*. **18** (1): 322.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Self-Determination_of_Peoples:_A_Legal_Reappraisal_133-0)** Antonio Cassese (1998). [*Self-Determination of Peoples: A Legal Reappraisal*](https://books.google.com/books?id=IVDtjzY3r2gC&q=Gibraltar+self-determination&pg=PA206). Cambridge University Press. p. 209. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780521637527](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780521637527).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-134)** ["Andalusian nationalists say 'yes' to Gibraltar's self-determination"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140413144944/http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=30023). Gibraltar Chronicle. 11 July 2013. Archived from [the original](http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=30023) on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-135)** See the following: - Shaw, Malcolm Nathan (2003). [*International law*](https://archive.org/details/internationallaw00shaw_380). Cambridge University Press. p. [178](https://archive.org/details/internationallaw00shaw_380/page/n320). Article 1 of the [Montevideo Convention](/source/Montevideo_Convention) on Rights and Duties of States, 1 lays down the most widely accepted formulation of the criteria of statehood in international law. It note that the state as an international person should possess the following qualifications: '(a) a permanent population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) capacity to enter into relations with other states' - Jasentuliyana, Nandasiri, ed. (1995). *Perspectives on international law*. Kluwer Law International. p. 20. So far as States are concerned, the traditional definitions provided for in the Montevideo Convention remain generally accepted.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-136)** Chaim Gans, [*A Political Theory for the Jewish People,*] [Oxford University Press](/source/Oxford_University_Press) 2016 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-190-23754-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-190-23754-7) pp.1-18

1. **[^](#cite_ref-137)** Claeys, Gregory (2013). [*Encyclopedia of Modern Political Thought*](https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781452234168). Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications, Ltd. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.4135/9781452234168](https://doi.org/10.4135%2F9781452234168). [hdl](/source/Hdl_(identifier)):[10138/156263](https://hdl.handle.net/10138%2F156263). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-87289-910-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-87289-910-0).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-SK_Chaube_Naga_Politics_138-0)** Chaube, Shibani Kinkar (1999) [1973]. *Hill politics in Northeast India*. Orient Longman. pp. 153–161. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [81-250-1695-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/81-250-1695-3). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [42913576](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/42913576).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Ranabir_Samaddar_139-0)** Samaddar, Ranabir (2004). *The Politics of Dialogue: Living Under the Geopolitical Histories of War and Peace*. Ashgate. pp. 171–173. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-7546-3607-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7546-3607-6). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [56466278](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/56466278).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Hamlet2001_140-0)** Hamlet Bareh (2001). [*Encyclopaedia of North-East India: Nagaland*](https://books.google.com/books?id=b9-Ie-Vp6NoC&pg=PA78). Mittal Publications. pp. 78–79. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-81-7099-793-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-81-7099-793-1).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-141)** Dr. Kunal Ghosh (1 January 2008). [*Separatism in North East India: Role of Religion, Language and Script*](https://books.google.com/books?id=_8ylAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT85). Suruchi Prakashan. p. 85. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-81-89622-33-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-81-89622-33-6).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-am001_142-0)** ["United Nations Treaty Series Nr. 10760: Agreement relating to Malaysia"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110514204944/http://untreaty.un.org/unts/1_60000/21/36/00041791.pdf) (PDF). *United Nations Treaty Collection*. United Nations. July 1963. Archived from [the original](http://untreaty.un.org/unts/1_60000/21/36/00041791.pdf) (PDF) on May 14, 2011. Retrieved 2010-07-29.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-143)** ["United Nations General Assembly 15th Session - The Trusteeship System and Non-Self-Governing Territories (pages: 509-510)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120121100604/http://unyearbook.un.org/1960YUN/1960_P1_SEC3_CH4.pdf) (PDF). Archived from [the original](http://unyearbook.un.org/1960YUN/1960_P1_SEC3_CH4.pdf) (PDF) on January 21, 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-04.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-144)** ["United Nations General Assembly 18th Session - the Question of Malaysia (pages: 41-44)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20111111232635/http://unyearbook.un.org/1963YUN/1963_P1_SEC1_CH3.pdf) (PDF). Archived from [the original](http://unyearbook.un.org/1963YUN/1963_P1_SEC1_CH3.pdf) (PDF) on November 11, 2011. Retrieved 2012-03-04.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-145)** [Jeffrey Kitingan](/source/Jeffrey_Kitingan): [There was no Sabah referendum](https://web.archive.org/web/20130310053153/http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/03/08/there-was-no-sabah-referendum/), published by [Free Malaysia Today](/source/Free_Malaysia_Today), March 8, 2013.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Manila_Accord_146-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Manila_Accord_146-1) ["United Nations Treaty Registered No. 8029, Manila Accord between Philippines, Federation of Malaya and Indonesia (31 JULY 1963)"](http://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20550/volume-550-I-8029-English.pdf) (PDF). Un.org. Retrieved 2012-05-29. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the [public domain](/source/Public_domain).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-147)** ["United Nations Treaty Series No. 8809, Agreement relating to the implementation of the Manila Accord"](http://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20608/volume-608-I-8809-English.pdf) (PDF). Un.org. Retrieved 2012-05-29.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-148)** ["General Assembly 15th Session – The Trusteeship System and Non-Self-Governing Territories (pages: 509 – 510)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120320074502/http://unyearbook.un.org/1960YUN/1960_P1_SEC3_CH4.pdf) (PDF). Archived from [the original](http://unyearbook.un.org/1960YUN/1960_P1_SEC3_CH4.pdf) (PDF) on March 20, 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-149)** ["General Assembly 18th Session – the Question of Malaysia (pages: 41 – 44)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20131029214700/http://unyearbook.un.org/1963YUN/1963_P1_SEC1_CH3.pdf) (PDF). Archived from [the original](http://unyearbook.un.org/1963YUN/1963_P1_SEC1_CH3.pdf) (PDF) on October 29, 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-150)** ["United Nations Member States"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120101132902/https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/org1469.doc.htm). Un.org. Archived from [the original](https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/org1469.doc.htm) on 2012-01-01. Retrieved 2012-03-04.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-151)** [Behice Ozlem Gokakin, MS Thesis, Bilkent Univ., 2001](http://www.thesis.bilkent.edu.tr/0001608.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20170306035518/http://www.thesis.bilkent.edu.tr/0001608.pdf) 2017-03-06 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) p.36, Vassiliou (the Council of Europe, 30.01.1990; to the question of Keith Speed (Member of the UK Parliament)): "the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities are political equals."

1. **[^](#cite_ref-152)** [Nathalie Tocci](/source/Nathalie_Tocci); Tamara Kovziridze. ["Cyprus"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110302211747/http://www.ecmi.de/fileadmin/downloads/publications/JEMIE/2004/1-2004Chapter2.pdf) (PDF). Archived from [the original](http://www.ecmi.de/fileadmin/downloads/publications/JEMIE/2004/1-2004Chapter2.pdf) (PDF) on 2011-03-02. Retrieved 2017-03-05. p.14: In July 1989, UN SG Perez de Cuellar stated "Cyprus is a common home for the Greek and Turkish communities, whose relationship would be not of majority and minority but rather of political equality"

1. **[^](#cite_ref-153)** James R. Crawford, "The Creation of States in International Law", 2007. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199228423.001.0001](https://doi.org/10.1093%2Facprof%3Aoso%2F9780199228423.001.0001)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-154)** Michael Stephen, 1997, The Cyprus Question. The case of Cyprus is sui generis, for there is no other State in the world which came into being as a result of two politically equal peoples coming together by the exercise by each of its sovereign right of self-determination, to create a unique legal relationship, which was in turn guaranteed by international treaty, to which each of them consented. From its very inception the Republic of Cyprus was never a unitary state in which there is only one electorate with a majority and minority. The two communities were political equals and each existed as a political entity.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-155)** [Saltzman and Evinch and Perles Law Firm](http://www.ataa.org/reference/pdf/Cristv.Turkey.pdf) The Republic of Cyprus was founded in 1960 as a bicommunal state in which the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities had the status of co-founders and equal partners.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-156)** Ethnic Cleansing and the European Union, p. 12

1. **[^](#cite_ref-157)** ["BBC Timeline: Cyprus, accessed 2-26-2008"](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/1021835.stm). *BBC News*. 2011-12-13. Retrieved 2012-03-04.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-158)** Prof. Elihu Lauterracht, B.E., Q.C.,1990, The Right of Self-Determination of the Turkish Cypriots. There appears to be nothing on the face of that language taken by itself, to suggest that there is any inequality of status between the parties or that either of them is doing anything other than further exercising its right of self-determination by participating in the settlement negotiations.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-159)** [Self-Determination and Secession in International Law](http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198702375.001.0001/acprof-9780198702375) Christian Walter, Antje Von Ungern-Sternberg, Kavus Abushov, Oxford University Press, 2014, p.64

1. **[^](#cite_ref-160)** [Impediments to Peacekeeping: The Case of Cyprus](http://www.brill.com/international-peacekeeping-yearbook-international-peace-operations-5) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20170222061554/http://www.brill.com/international-peacekeeping-yearbook-international-peace-operations-5) 2017-02-22 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) Stefan Talmon, p.58-59., in "International Peacekeeping: The Yearbook of International Peace Operations", Vol.8, 2002. Without a status-of-forces agreement (or similar arrangements) between the United Nations and the Government of the TRNC, UNFICYP operates solely within the framework of the laws, rules and regulations of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus which may be altered by the TRNC authorities unilaterally and without prior notice.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-161)** [European Court of Human Rights 02.07.2013 Decision](http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-122907) A de facto recognition of the acts of the regime in the northern area may be rendered necessary for practical purposes. Thus, *the adoption by the authorities of the "TRNC" of civil, administrative or criminal law measures, and their application or enforcement within that territory*, may be regarded as *having a legal basis* in domestic law for the purposes of the Convention

1. **[^](#cite_ref-162)** [ECtHR's 02.09.2015 Decision](http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-155000)"..the *court system* in the "TRNC", including both civil and criminal courts, reflected the judicial and common-law tradition of Cyprus in its functioning and procedures, and that the "TRNC" courts were thus to be considered as *"established by law"* with reference to the *"constitutional and legal basis"* on which they operated...the Court has already found that the *court system* set up in the "TRNC" was to be considered to have been *"established by law"* with reference to the "constitutional and legal basis" on which it operated, and it has *not accepted the allegation* that the "TRNC" courts as a whole *lacked independence and/or impartiality*...when an act of the "TRNC" authorities was in compliance with laws in force within the territory of northern Cyprus, those acts should in principle be regarded as having a legal basis in domestic law for the purposes of the Convention.."

1. **[^](#cite_ref-163)** ["HUDOC - European Court of Human Rights"](https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-103100). *hudoc.echr.coe.int*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-164)** [Courthouse News Service](http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/10/13/72392.htm) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20141022134345/http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/10/13/72392.htm) 2014-10-22 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) The news of the Court decision (13.10.2014)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-165)** [Justia, Dockets and Filings](http://dockets.justia.com/docket/district-of-columbia/dcdce/1:2009cv01967/139002) Page of the Court case (The Defendant: Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-166)** [Justia, Dockets and Filings](http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/district-of-columbia/dcdce/1:2009cv01967/139002/53) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20171025045018/https://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/district-of-columbia/dcdce/1:2009cv01967/139002/53) 2017-10-25 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) Decision of the Court

1. **[^](#cite_ref-167)** [Telegraph](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/03/criminals-fleeing-british-justice-can-no-longer-use-cyprus-safe) 03.02.2017

1. **[^](#cite_ref-168)** [Ambamarblearch](http://ambamarblearch-media.com/sites/default/files/dpp_files/TT.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20170205184501/http://ambamarblearch-media.com/sites/default/files/dpp_files/TT.pdf) 2017-02-05 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) Media, page 6

1. **[^](#cite_ref-169)** Dynamics of Self-determination in Palestine, P. J. I. M. De Waart - 1994, p 191

1. **[^](#cite_ref-170)** The Failure of the Two-State Solution, Hani Faris - 2013, p 177

1. **[^](#cite_ref-171)** Guy Leblanc. [Canada: Parti Québécois convention meets as support for separation wanes](https://wsws.org/articles/2000/may2000/que-m06.shtml) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20111128163824/https://wsws.org/articles/2000/may2000/que-m06.shtml) 2011-11-28 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Clift1982_172-0)** Dominique Clift (1982). [*Quebec nationalism in crisis*](https://books.google.com/books?id=ArsBP5Efqx4C&pg=PA106). McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. pp. 106–108. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-7735-0383-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7735-0383-0).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-173)** [Sardismo, lemma, Garzanti Linguistica.](http://www.garzantilinguistica.it/ricerca/?q=sardismo)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Carlo_Pala_174-0)** Pala, C. 2015. *Sardinia*. The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Nationalism. 1–3. [Abstract](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118663202.wberen319/abstract)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-175)** Hechter (M.), *The Dynamics of Secession*, Acta Sociologica, vol. 35, 1992, p. 267.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-176)** [Entrevista a Marcel Farinelli: "Córcega y Cerdeña forman un archipiélago invisible al tener sus islas nacionalismos de signo opuesto"](http://xaviercasals.wordpress.com/2014/04/09/entrevista-a-marcel-farinelli-1-corcega-y-cerdena-forman-un-archipielago-invisible-al-tener-sus-islas-nacionalismos-de-signo-opuesto/)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-art.torvergata.it_177-0)** [*La Sardegna durante il ventennio fascista*, Università di Tor Vergata](https://art.torvergata.it/retrieve/handle/2108/1380/6630/capitolo%201.pdf)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-theg_ScotSummary_178-0)** Carrell, Severin (23 April 2012). ["Scottish independence: the essential guide"](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/scottish-independence-essential-guide). *The Guardian*. Retrieved 10 February 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-hera_Scot_179-0)** ["Scottish independence support maintains lead in latest poll"](https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18208221.poll-puts-scottish-independence-support-highest-nearly-four-years/?ref=rss). *HeraldScotland*. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-rese_Memb_180-0)** Loft, Philip; Dempsey, Noel; Audickas, Lukas (9 August 2019). ["Membership of UK political parties - Commons Library briefing - UK Parliament"](https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN05125). *Researchbriefings.parliament.uk*. Retrieved 10 February 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-theg_Scot2014Results_181-0)** ["Scottish independence referendum: final results in full"](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2014/sep/18/-sp-scottish-independence-referendum-results-in-full). *The Guardian*. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-bbc._Scot_182-0)** ["Scotland backs Remain as UK votes Leave"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-36599102). *BBC News*. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-econ_Scot_183-0)** ["Scotland votes to stay in the EU—but is dragged out by England"](https://www.economist.com/britain/2016/06/24/scotland-votes-to-stay-in-the-eu-but-is-dragged-out-by-england). *The Economist*. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-hera_Bori_184-0)** ["Boris Johnson says 'No' to Nicola Sturgeon's demand for second Scottish independence referendum"](https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18011390.prime-minister-boris-johnson-says-no-nicola-sturgeons-indyref2-demand/). *HeraldScotland*. 3 November 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2020.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-section235_185-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-section235_185-1) ["Section 235"](https://web.archive.org/web/20090926114134/http://www.info.gov.za/documents/constitution/1996/96cons14.htm#235). *South African Constitution*. 1996. Archived from [the original](http://www.info.gov.za/documents/constitution/1996/96cons14.htm#235) on 2009-09-26. Retrieved 2009-05-17.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Groge2012_186-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Groge2012_186-1) Grote, Georg (2012). [*The South Tyrol question, 1866-2010 : from national rage to regional state*](https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/48510/9783035303032.pdf) (PDF). Oxford: Peter Lang. p. 71. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-3-0353-0303-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-0353-0303-2). Retrieved 2021-07-25.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-187)** [Professor Predicts 'Hispanic Homeland'](http://www.aztlan.net/homeland.htm), Associated Press, 2000 [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20121107032413/http://www.aztlan.net/homeland.htm) November 7, 2012, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-188)** Ness, Immanuel, ed. (2009-07-28). [*The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest*](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781405198073) (1 ed.). Wiley. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1002/9781405198073.wbierp1253](https://doi.org/10.1002%2F9781405198073.wbierp1253). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4051-8464-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4051-8464-9).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-189)** ["Special Committee on Decolonization Calls on United States to Expedite Puerto Rico's Self-determination Process – General Assembly GA/COL/3160 – Department of Public Information – June 14, 2007"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120114025222/https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/gacol3160.doc.htm). Un.org. Archived from [the original](https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/gacol3160.doc.htm) on 2012-01-14. Retrieved 2012-03-04.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-190)** For complete statistics of these plebiscites, see [Elections in Puerto Rico: Results](http://electionspuertorico.org/cgi-bin/events.cgi).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-191)** Castillo, Mariano (November 8, 2012). ["Puerto Ricans favor statehood for the first time"](http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/07/politics/election-puerto-rico/index.html). *[CNN](/source/CNN)*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-192)** [Middlebury Institute/Zogby Poll: "One in Five Americans Believe States Have the Right to Secede"](http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1531) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20080814090142/http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1531) 2008-08-14 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine), [Zogby International](http://zogby.com/), July 23, 2008.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-193)** Alex Mayer, ["Secession: still a popular idea?"](https://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/the-platform/editorial-writers-notebooks/2008/07/secession-still-a-popular-idea/) [Deprecated link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Archive.today_guidance) archived 2008-08-04 at [archive.today](/source/Archive.today), *[St. Louis Post-Dispatch](/source/St._Louis_Post-Dispatch),* July 25, 2008.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-194)** ["Official Website"](http://dixienet.org). *League of the South*. Retrieved October 4, 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-195)** Sebesta, Edward H.; Hague, Euan (2002). ["The US Civil War as a Theological War: Confederate Christian Nationalism and the League of the South"](http://www.utpjournals.press/doi/abs/10.3138/CRAS-s032-03-02). *Canadian Review of American Studies*. **32** (3). University of Toronto Press: 253–284. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.3138/CRAS-s032-03-02](https://doi.org/10.3138%2FCRAS-s032-03-02). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [159471217](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:159471217).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-196)** Southern Party of the South West Archives – Asheville Declaration, August 7, 1999 ["The Asheville Declaration"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110717103617/http://southernpartysw.tripod.com/southernpartiesofthesouthwestssecondsite/id14.html). Archived from [the original](http://southernpartysw.tripod.com/southernpartiesofthesouthwestssecondsite/id14.html) on July 17, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-197)** ["House votes in favor of resolving Puerto Rico's territorial status"](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/puerto-rico-status-act-house-vote-territory-plebiscite-rcna61871). *NBC News*. December 15, 2022.

## Bibliography

- Rudolf A. Mark, "National Self-Determination, as Understood by Lenin and the Bolsheviks." *Lithuanian Historical Studies* (2008), Vol. 13, p 21–39. [Online](https://brill.com/view/journals/lhs/13/1/article-p21_4.xml)

- Abulof, Uriel and Cordell, Karl (eds.) (2015). [Special Issue: Self-determination—A Double-edged Principle](http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/reno20/14/5), Ethnopolitics 14(5).

- Danspeckgruber, Wolfgang F., ed. *The Self-Determination of Peoples: Community, Nation, and State in an Interdependent World*, Boulder: [Lynne Rienner Publishers](/source/Lynne_Rienner_Publishers), 2002.

- Danspeckgruber, Wolfgang F., and Arthur Watts, eds. *Self-Determination and Self-Administration: A Sourcebook*, Boulder: [Lynne Rienner Publishers](/source/Lynne_Rienner_Publishers), 1997.

- Allen Buchanan, *Justice, Legitimacy, and Self-Determination: Moral Foundations for International Law (Oxford Political Theory)*, [Oxford University Press](/source/Oxford_University_Press), US, 2007.

- Annalisa Zinn, *Globalization and Self-Determination (Kindle Edition)*, [Taylor & Francis](/source/Taylor_%26_Francis), 2007.

- Marc Weller, *Autonomy, Self Governance and Conflict Resolution (Kindle Edition)*, [Taylor & Francis](/source/Taylor_%26_Francis), 2007.

- [Valpy Fitzgerald](/source/Valpy_Fitzgerald), Frances Stewart, Rajesh Venugopal (Editors), *Globalization, Violent Conflict and Self-Determination*, Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.

- Joanne Barker (Editor), *Sovereignty Matters: Locations of Contestation and Possibility in Indigenous Struggles for Self-Determination*, [University of Nebraska Press](/source/University_of_Nebraska_Press), 2005.

- David Raic, *Statehood and the Law of Self-Determination (Developments in International Law, V. 43) (Developments in International Law, V. 43)*, [Springer](/source/Springer_Science%2BBusiness_Media), 2002.

- Y.N. Kly and D. Kly, *In pursuit of The Right to Self-determination*, Collected Papers & Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Right to Self-Determination & the United Nations, Geneva 2000, Clarity Press, 2001.

- Antonio Cassese, *Self-Determination of Peoples: A Legal Reappraisal (Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lectures)*, [Cambridge University Press](/source/Cambridge_University_Press), 1999.

- Percy Lehning, *Theories of Secession*, Routledge, 1998.

- Malkasian, Mark (1996). *Gha-ra-bagh!: The Emergence of the National Democratic Movement in Armenia*. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-8143-2605-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8143-2605-6).

- Hurst Hannum, *Autonomy, Sovereignty, and Self-Determination: The Accommodation of Conflicting Rights*, [University of Pennsylvania Press](/source/University_of_Pennsylvania_Press), 1996.

- Temesgen Muleta-Erena, *The political and Cultural Locations of National Self-determination: The Oromia Case*, Oromia Quarterly, Vol. II, No. 2, 1999. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1460-1346](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1460-1346).

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Self-determination](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Self-determination).

- Thürer, Daniel, Burri, Thomas. [Self-determination](https://web.archive.org/web/20130715211014/http://www.mpepil.com/sample_article?id=%2Fepil%2Fentries%2Flaw-9780199231690-e873&recno=18&), *Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law*

- [United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1514(XV). "Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples"](https://undocs.org/A/Res/1514(XV))

- [United Nations Charter](https://web.archive.org/web/20080516034015/http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter).

- [Text of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights](https://web.archive.org/web/20080610141041/http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/a_ccpr.htm/).

- [Text of International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights](https://web.archive.org/web/20080610141047/http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/a_cescr.htm/).

- [Jacob T. Levy](/source/Jacob_T._Levy), [Self-Determination, Non-Domination, and Federalism](http://ssrn.com/abstract=1028374), published in Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy.

- ["Winds of Change or Hot Air? Decolonization, Self-determination and the Salt Water Test, "](https://archive.today/20121211060056/http://www.legalfrontiers.ca/2010/11/winds-of-change-or-hot-air-decolonization-and-the-salt-water-test/) Legal Frontiers International Law Blog

- [The Right of Nations to Self-Determination](https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1914/self-det/index.htm) [Vladimir Lenin](/source/Vladimir_Lenin) February – May 1914.

- [Parliamentarians for National Self-Determination](https://web.archive.org/web/20070313120829/http://www.mahapunjab.org/PNSD/) Unofficial page for London-based Parliamentary lobby group.

- [United Nations Trust Territories that have achieved self-determination](https://www.un.org/Depts/dpi/decolonization/trust4.htm)

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