What is an autonomous territory? 10 countries with the most overseas regions

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that he wants to control Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Trump has offered to "buy" the piece of land in the arctic and had even threatened military action -- a move that will mean an attack on its own NATO ally.

According to Trump, US controlling Greenland will secure it from the threat of Russia and China.

What is an autonomous region?

An autonomous region has its own government, internal affairs, ;laws and policies and is not controlled by an external authority. However, the region continues to be a part of a larger sovereign state.

Several countries have overseas or autonomous territories that are key for military and strategic reasons. Many of these have historical, economic and environmental reasons as well.

Some arise from colonial past as a few territories kept links with colonisers for economic stability, security or because they were too small to be nations themselves.

Which are the countries with most autonomous territories?

United Kingdom: 14 territories

The United Kingdom had colonised large parts of the world in the 20th century and continues to hold control over 14 of its territories across the Atlantic, Caribbean, Pacific and the polar regions.

Among these Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar and Montserrat are inhabited. These regions are self-governing but demand on the UK for defence and foreign affairs.

Some territories with sparse population include the British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, Pitcairn Islands, South Georgia Island and the South Sandwich Islands, along with the Akrotiri and Dhekelia bases in Cyprus. These are used for military, scientific and environmental purposes.

Last week, the UK gave sovereignty of Chagos Islands in the British Indian Ocean Territory back to Mauritius.

United States of America: 14 territories

The US has control of five inhabited territories and nine uninhabited regions in the Pacific and the Caribbean.

The inhabited territories include Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.

These regions have local governments but limited representation at the federal level.

Among these, Puerto Rico is a self-governing commonwealth and is the most populous territory.

The US also controls a group of uninhabited islands commonly referred to as the US Minor Outlying Islands. These are Baker Island, Howard Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, Navassa Island, Palmyra Atoll and Wake Island. These islands are mainly used for military and strategic purposes.

France: 13 territories

France has control over 13 overseas territories in the Atlantic, Caribbean, Indian Ocean, Pacific and South America. Five of these regions are fully integrated into France and the French government controls administrations. They have representation in the French Parliament has use the euro as their currency.

French Guiana also houses the Guiana Space Centre, which several European space companies and agencies use for their space launches.

Further, France administers French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Wallis and Futuna, Saint Martin and Saint Barthelemy, and Clipperton Island, all of which have autonomy.

Australia: 7 territories

Australia has three inhabited overseas territories, including Norfolk Island, Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. People of these regions have the Australian citizenship, while having an autonomous government.

The four mostly uninhabited territories are Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, the Coral Sea Islands Territory and the Australian Antarctic Territory.

They are used for research, meteorological monitoring and the administration of Australia’s maritime jurisdiction purposes.

Netherlands: 6 territories

The Netherlands has six territories in the Caribbean. Three of these have their own governments and are known are “constituent” countries. These are Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten

While Aruba gained the status in 1986, Curacao and Sint Maarten became constituent countries in 2010.

The other three territories are Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. These regions are directly administered by The Hague but have local governments and use US dollar as their currency.

Norway: 5 territories

Norway controls five regions in Arctic and the Antarctic. In 1920, Svalbard was given special legal status under the 1920 Svalbard Treaty. This allowed international settlement and restricting military activity.

It also has control over Jan Mayen, an uninhabited volcanic island used for meteorological research, monitoring and defence.

Norway also claims three uninhabited territories in Antarctica. These are Bouvet Island, Peter I Island and Queen Maud Land.

New Zealand: 4 territories

New Zealand has claim over four overseas territories. Of these, Cook Islands and Niue in the South Pacific Ocean are self-governing in “free association” with New Zealand.

They are associated with New Zealand voluntarily. They govern themselves but are dependent on New Zealand for defence and foreign policy.

Additionally, Tokelau came under the control of New Zealand in 1925 and is a non-self-governing territory. The UN considers it a territory where people have “not yet attained a full measure of self-government”.

New Zealand also claims the Ross Dependency in Antarctia since 1923. It is used for research purposes.

Denmark: 2 territories

Apart from Greenland, which is at the centre of Trump's attention, the Kingdom of Denmark also controls the self-governing Faroe Islands.

The Faroe Islands became self-governing following an agreement in 2005.

China: 2 territories

China has two Special Administrative Regions (SARs) of Hong Kong and Macau.

They are autonomous with their own political, economic and legal system but operate under “One Country, Two Systems”.

Hong Kong was a British colony but was returned to China in 1997. Meanwhile, Macau was a Portuguese colony that was returned in 1999 and still operates under the Portuguese legal system.

In a unique case, China also controls five autonomous regions within its mainland.

Taiwan, which China considers a province, has its own government, economy and legal system, but China insists it is part of its sovereign territory.

Portugal: 2 territories

Portugal claims two autonomous regions in the Atlantic Ocean. These are The Azores and Madeira.

The Azores are an archipelago of nine volcanic islands in the North Atlantic Ocean. They were claimed by Portugal in 1439. However, now they have an own regional government.

Madeira was officially discovered in 1419 by two sailors who had lost their way due to a storm. The region gained autonomy in 1976 following the Carnation Revolution.