{{Short description|Successors to League of Nations mandates}} {{Distinguish|List of territories governed by the United Nations}} {{redirect|Trust Territory|the novel|Trust Territory (novel){{!}}''Trust Territory'' (novel)}} {{Use British English|date=May 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}} {{More citations needed|date=May 2009}} [[File:Palau District Police greet the UN Visiting Mission.jpg|thumb|Palau District Police greet the UN Visiting Mission to the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (1973).]] [[File:TTPI UN Mission 1978.jpg|thumb|Arrival of UN Visiting Mission in Majuro, Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (1978). The sign reads "Please release us from the bondage of your trusteeship agreement."]] thumb|UN trust territories by trustee thumb|Modern successor states of UN trust territories: {{legend|#346733|Modern states composed solely of former trust territories}} {{legend|#C6DEBD|Modern states composed partially of former trust territories}} The '''United Nations trust territories''' were the successors of the remaining League of Nations mandates, and came into being when the League of Nations ceased to exist in 1946. All the trust territories were administered through the United Nations Trusteeship Council and authorised to a single country. The concept is distinct from a territory temporarily and directly governed by the United Nations.
The one League of Nations mandate not succeeded by a trust territory was South West Africa, at South Africa's insistence. South Africa's apartheid regime refused to commit to preparing the territory for independence and majority rule, as required by the trust territory guidelines, among other objections. South-West Africa eventually gained independence in 1990 as Namibia.
All trust territories have either attained self-government or independence. The last was Palau, formerly part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, which became a member state of the United Nations in December 1994.
==Trust territories (and administering powers)==
===Former German {{lang|de|Schutzgebiete}}=== All these territories previously were League of Nations mandates.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width:100%; font-size:90%" |- ! Trust territories !! United Nations Trusteeship Power ! Prior name !! Prior sov. !! style=width:50% | Comments ! Current state |- | rowspan="2" | British Cameroon|| rowspan="2" | United Kingdom | rowspan="3" |Kamerun | rowspan="11" | German colonial empire | rowspan="2" | Following a plebiscite, Northern Cameroons became part of Nigeria in May 1961 and Southern Cameroons joined Cameroon in October 1961.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Elections in Africa: a data handbook |date=1999 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-829645-4 |editor-last=Nohlen |editor-first=Dieter |location=Oxford ; New York |pages=177 |editor-last2=Krennerich |editor-first2=Michael |editor-last3=Thibaut |editor-first3=Bernhard}}</ref>|| Nigeria |- | rowspan="2" | Republic of Cameroon |- | French Cameroon|| France || Achieved independence as Cameroon in 1960.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Cameroon - Independence, French-British Rule {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Cameroon/Moving-toward-independence |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260125225219/https://www.britannica.com/place/Cameroon/Moving-toward-independence |archive-date=2026-01-25 |access-date=2026-04-27 |work=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> |- | Territory of Nauru || Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom || rowspan="2" | German New Guinea || Granted independence from Australia (administering authority) in 1968.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Buchanan |first=Kelly |date=2018-01-31 |title=Nauru – 50 Years of Independence {{!}} In Custodia Legis |url=https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2018/01/nauru-50-years-of-independence |access-date=2026-04-27 |website=The Library of Congress}}</ref>|| Nauru |- | Territory of New Guinea | Australia |In 1975, it was legally unified with the Territory of Papua and granted independence as Papua New Guinea.<ref>''[https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/num_act/pngia1975247/ Papua New Guinea Independence Act 1975]'' (Cth)</ref> The western half of the island, formerly Dutch and now part of Indonesia, was never part of either territory. | Papua New Guinea |- | rowspan="2" | Ruanda-Urundi | rowspan="2" | Belgium || rowspan="3" | German East Africa|| rowspan="2" | Separately gained independence in 1962 as Republic of Rwanda and Kingdom of Burundi.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Feared |first=David Halberstam Special To the New York Times violence Was |date=1962-07-01 |title=Rwanda and Burundi Become Independent African Countries |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1962/07/01/archives/rwanda-and-burundi-become-independent-african-countries.html |access-date=2026-04-27 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>|| Republic of Rwanda |- | Republic of Burundi |- | Tanganyika Territory | United Kingdom |Granted independence in 1961.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Leys |first=Colin |date=1962 |title=Tanganyika: The Realities of Independence |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40198635 |journal=International Journal |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=251–268 |doi=10.2307/40198635 |issn=0020-7020|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Federated with the former British protectorate Zanzibar in 1964 to form Tanzania.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Zanzibar and Tanganyika Unite to Form Tanzania {{!}} History {{!}} Research Starters {{!}} EBSCO Research |url=https://www.ebsco.com/ |access-date=2026-04-27 |website=EBSCO |language=en}}</ref> | United Republic of Tanzania |- | French Togoland | France | rowspan="2" |Togoland |Became independent as Togo in 1960.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Togo {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/places/africa/togo-political-geography/togo |access-date=2026-04-27 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref> | Togo |- | British Togoland | United Kingdom |This territory was merged in 1956 with the British colony of the Gold Coast,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Historical Documents - Office of the Historian |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1955-57v18/d122 |access-date=2026-04-27 |website=history.state.gov}}</ref> which was granted independence as Ghana in 1957.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ghana Gains Independence from the United Kingdom {{!}} History {{!}} Research Starters {{!}} EBSCO Research |url=https://www.ebsco.com/ |access-date=2026-04-27 |website=EBSCO |language=en}}</ref> | Ghana |- | Western Samoa | New Zealand |German Samoa | Granted independence in 1962,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Western Samoa Gains Independence from New Zealand {{!}} History {{!}} Research Starters {{!}} EBSCO Research |url=https://www.ebsco.com/ |access-date=2026-04-27 |website=EBSCO |language=en}}</ref> known since 1997 simply as Samoa.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Constitution Amendment Act (No 2) 1997 |url=http://www.paclii.org/ws/legis/num_act/caa21997295/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260216105254/http://www.paclii.org/ws/legis/num_act/caa21997295/ |archive-date=2026-02-16 |access-date=2026-04-27 |website=www.paclii.org}}</ref> | Independent State of Samoa |}
===Former Japanese possessions=== {| class="wikitable sortable" style="width:100%; font-size:90%" |- ! Trust territories !! United Nations Trusteeship Power ! Prior name !! Prior sov. ! Current state !! style="width:50%" | Comments |- | rowspan="4" | Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands|| rowspan="4" | United States | rowspan="4" |South Seas Mandate | rowspan="4" |Empire of Japan||Northern Mariana Islands|| Became US Commonwealth in 1986.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Proclamation 5564 -- United States Relations With the Northern Mariana Islands, Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands {{!}} Ronald Reagan |url=https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/proclamation-5564-united-states-relations-northern-mariana-islands-micronesia-and |access-date=2026-04-27 |website=www.reaganlibrary.gov |language=en}}</ref> |- |Marshall Islands |Became an associated state of the United States after signing a Compact of Free Association in 1986.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Rep. Fascell |first=Dante B. [D-FL-19 |date=1986-01-14 |title=Text - H.J.Res.187 - 99th Congress (1985-1986): Compact of Free Association Act of 1985 |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/99th-congress/house-joint-resolution/187/text |access-date=2026-04-27 |website=www.congress.gov}}</ref> |- | Federated States of Micronesia |Became an associated state of United States after signing a Compact of Free Association in 1986.<ref name=":0" /> |- | Palau |Became an associated state of United States after signing and ratifying a Compact of Free Association going into effect in 1994.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Del. de Lugo |first=Ron [D-VI-At Large |date=1989-12-12 |title=Text - H.J.Res.175 - 101st Congress (1989-1990): Palau Compact of Free Association Implementation Act |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/101st-congress/house-joint-resolution/175/text |access-date=2026-04-27 |website=www.congress.gov}}</ref> |}
===Former Fascist Italian possessions=== Italy was the only country to keep its former possession upon becoming a trust Territory. {| class="wikitable sortable" style="width:100%; font-size:90%" |- ! Trust territories !! United Nations Trusteeship Power ! Prior name !! Prior sov. ! Current state !! style="width:50%" | Comments |- | Territory of Somaliland|| Italy || Italian East Africa|| Italian Empire | Somalia || In 1960, the Trust Territory merged with the State of Somaliland to form the Somali Republic <ref>{{Cite web |title=Historical Documents - Office of the Historian |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v14/d62 |access-date=2026-04-27 |website=history.state.gov}}</ref> |}
==Proposed trust territories== * Jerusalem: Under the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, Jerusalem would have become a ''corpus separatum'' territory under United Nations Trusteeship Council administration. Both Palestinian Arabs and the Yishuv opposed this solution.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Historical Documents - Office of the Historian |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1949v06/d1083 |access-date=2026-04-27 |website=history.state.gov}}</ref> * Korea: In wartime talks, Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed that Korea be placed under an American–Soviet trust administration. The plan was eclipsed after Roosevelt's death on 12 April 1945, although it was expressed in the December Moscow Conference, and caused considerable civil unrest in Korea.<ref>Gang Man-gil (1994). "한국사 17: 분단구조의 정착 1" ["17 Korean history: the settlement of the division structure 1"], pp. 133–137. 한길사 [Hangilsa], {{ISBN|978-89-356-0086-1}}</ref> *Vietnam: Roosevelt also proposed that French Indochina be placed under an international trusteeship as an alternative to French colonial rule and immediate independence.<ref>{{Citation|last=Bradley|first=Mark Philip|title=1. Setting the Stage: Vietnamese Revolutionary Nationalism and the First Vietnam War|date=2010-12-31|url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.7312/ande13480-003/html|work=The Columbia History of the Vietnam War|pages=93–119|editor-last=Anderson|editor-first=David L.|publisher=Columbia University Press|doi=10.7312/ande13480-003|isbn=978-0-231-13480-4|access-date=2021-11-09|archive-date=9 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211109111423/https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.7312/ande13480-003/html|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> * Italian Libya: Between 1945 and 1947, the Soviet Union made various proposals that Tripolitania be placed under Soviet trusteeship for ten years, or a joint trusteeship with the United Kingdom and the United States, or that Libya as a whole become an Italian trusteeship.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=St John|first=Ronald Bruce|date=April 1982|title=The Soviet Penetration of Libya|journal=The World Today|volume=38|issue=4|pages=131–138|jstor=40395373}} </ref> * Mandatory Palestine: The United States government under Harry Truman proposed a UN trusteeship status for the Mandatory Palestine in 1948.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.trumanlibrary.org/israel/palestin.htm | title=The United States and the Recognition of Israel: A Chronology | publisher=Harry S. Truman Library and Museum | work=Compiled by Raymond H. Geselbracht from Harry S. Truman and the Founding of Israel (Westport, Connecticut, 1997) by Michael T. Benson | access-date=3 August 2014 | archive-date=31 October 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031045628/http://www.trumanlibrary.org/israel/palestin.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pugh|first=Jeffrey D.|date=2012-11-01|title=Whose Brother's Keeper? International Trusteeship and the Search for Peace in the Palestinian Territories|url=https://academic.oup.com/isp/article-abstract/13/4/321/1786157/Whose-Brother-s-Keeper-International-Trusteeship|journal=International Studies Perspectives|volume=13|issue=4|pages=321–343|doi=10.1111/j.1528-3585.2012.00483.x|issn=1528-3577|access-date=15 June 2017|archive-date=12 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012112449/https://academic.oup.com/isp/article-abstract/13/4/321/1786157/Whose-Brother-s-Keeper-International-Trusteeship|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> * Ryukyu Islands and Bonin Islands: the Treaty of San Francisco included provisions which provided the United States the right to convert its administration over the Ryukyu and Bonin Islands into a trust territory, but it never did so before sovereignty was voluntarily reverted to Japan.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20136/volume-136-I-1832-English.pdf| title=ARGENTINA, AUSTRALIA, BELGIUM, BOLIVIA, BRAZIL, etc. - Treaty of Peace with Japan (with two declarations) | date=1951-09-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929012644/https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20136/volume-136-I-1832-English.pdf |archive-date=29 September 2017}}</ref>
== See also ==
* List of territories governed by the United Nations * Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands<br /> ==References== {{reflist}}
==Bibliography== * The United Nations and Decolonization: [https://www.un.org/en/decolonization/selfdet.shtml Trust Territories that Have Achieved Self-Determination] * [http://www.worldstatesmen.org/COLONIES.html WorldStatesmen – Index of Possessions and Colonies]
==External links== * {{Commons category-inline}}
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Category:Decolonization * * Category:States and territories established in 1946 Category:States and territories disestablished in 1994 Category:20th century in international relations Category:Governance of the British Empire