List of states with limited recognition
A number of polities have declared independence and sought diplomatic recognition from the international community as de jure sovereign states, but have not been universally recognised as such. These entities often have de facto control of their territory. A number of such entities have existed in the past.
There are two traditional doctrines that provide indicia of how a de jure sovereign state comes into being. The declarative theory defines a state as a person in international law if it meets the following criteria:
- a defined territory
- a permanent population
- a government, and
- a capacity to enter into relations with other states.
Proto-states often reference either or both doctrines in order to legitimise their claims to statehood. There are, for example, entities which meet the declarative criteria, but whose statehood is not recognised by any other states. Non-recognition is often a result of conflicts with other countries that claim those entities as integral parts of their territory. In other cases, two or more partially recognised states may claim the same territorial area, with each of them de facto in control of a portion of it and the People's Republic of China. Entities that are recognised by only a minority of the world's states usually reference the declarative doctrine to legitimise their claims.
In many situations, international non-recognition is influenced by the presence of a foreign military force in the territory of the contested entity, making the description of the country's de facto status problematic. The international community can judge this military presence too intrusive, reducing the entity to a puppet state where effective sovereignty is retained by the foreign power. Historical cases in this sense can be seen in Japanese-led Manchukuo or the German-created Slovak Republic and Independent State of Croatia before and during World War II. In the 1996 case Loizidou v. Turkey, the European Court of Human Rights judged Turkey for having exercised authority in the territory of Northern Cyprus.
There are also entities which do not have control over any territory or do not unequivocally meet the declarative criteria for statehood but have been recognised to exist de jure as sovereign entities by at least one other state. Historically this has happened in the case of the Holy See, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and more recently the State of Palestine at the time of its declaration of independence in 1988. The Sovereign Military Order of Malta is currently in this position. See list of governments in exile for unrecognised governments without control over the territory claimed.
Criteria for inclusion
The criteria for inclusion means a polity must claim sovereignty, lack recognition from at least one UN member state, and either:- satisfy the declarative theory of statehood, or
- be recognised as a state by at least one UN member state.
Background
Some states maintain informal relations with states that do not officially recognise them. The Republic of China is one such state, as it maintains unofficial relations with many other states through its Economic and Cultural Offices, which allow regular consular services. This allows the ROC to have economic relations even with states that do not formally recognise it. A total of 56 states, including Germany, Italy, the United States, and the United Kingdom, maintain some form of unofficial mission in Taiwan. Kosovo, Artsakh, Northern Cyprus, Abkhazia, Transnistria, the Sahrawi Republic, Somaliland, and Palestine also host informal diplomatic missions, and/or maintain special delegations or other informal missions abroad.
Present geopolitical entities by level of recognition
UN member states not recognised by at least one UN member state
UN observer states not recognised by at least one UN member state
States that are neither UN members nor UN observers
Excluded entities
- The Sovereign Military Order of Malta is a non-state sovereign entity and is not included, as it claims neither statehood nor territory. It has established full diplomatic relations with 107 sovereign states as a sovereign subject of international law, and also maintains full diplomatic relations with the European Union, the Holy See, and the State of Palestine. Additionally, it participates in the United Nations as an observer entity. Although it is not recognised as a subject of international law by France, the order maintains official, but not diplomatic, relations with France and also with four other states: Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Canada.
- Uncontacted peoples who either live in societies that cannot be defined as states or whose statuses as such are not definitively known.
- Some subnational entities and regions function as de facto independent states, with the central government exercising little or no control over their territory. These entities, however, do not explicitly claim to be independent states and are therefore not included. Examples include Galmudug and Puntland in Somalia, Gaza in Palestine, Iraqi Kurdistan, Rojava in Syria, and the Wa State in Myanmar.
- Entities considered to be micronations are not included. Even though micronations generally claim to be sovereign and independent, it is often debatable whether a micronation truly controls its claimed territory. For this reason, micronations are usually not considered of geopolitical relevance. For a list of micronations, see list of micronations.
- Those areas undergoing current civil wars and other situations with problems over government succession, regardless of temporary alignment with [|the inclusion criteria], where the conflict is still in its active phase, the situation is too rapidly changing and no relatively stable proto-states have emerged yet.
- Rebel groups that have declared independence and exert some control over territory, but that reliable sources do not describe as meeting the threshold of a sovereign state under international law. Examples include Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic, though both entities have received international recognition from partially-recognized states.
- Those of the current irredentist movements and governments in exile that do not satisfy the inclusion criteria by simultaneously not satisfying the declarative theory and not having been recognised as state or legitimate government by any other state.
- Some states can be slow to establish relations with new UN member states and thus do not explicitly recognise them, despite having no dispute and sometimes favorable relations. These are excluded from the list. Examples include Croatia and Montenegro.