Glossary · Term

British Overseas Territories

2002 · 21st century · Also known as British Overseas Territory

The British Overseas Territories are the fourteen territories under British sovereignty that are not part of the United Kingdom, mostly small islands left from the British Empire, such as Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands, Montserrat and Pitcairn. The name replaced 'British Dependent Territories' in 2002. They govern themselves internally under a governor appointed by the Crown.

British Overseas Territories
Image: Rob984 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 8 state histories

MontserratCayman IslandsBritish Virgin IslandsGibraltarFalkland IslandsPitcairn IslandsTurks and Caicos IslandsRepublic of Anguilla

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). British Overseas Territories. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/british-overseas-territories
MLA
“British Overseas Territories.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/british-overseas-territories. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “British Overseas Territories.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/british-overseas-territories.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘British Overseas Territories’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/british-overseas-territories (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻