For other uses, see Independence (disambiguation)

Independence is autonomous self-government of a country by its residents and indigenous population. The term independence is used in contrast to subjugation , which refers to a region as a "territory" —subject to the political and military control of an external government.

Autonomy (in slight contrast) refers to a kind of independence which has been granted by a overseeing authority that itself still retains ultimate authority over that territory. A protectorate refers to an autonomous region that depends upon a larger government, for its protection as an autonomous region. The establishment of independence often comes through revolution, which typically refers to the violent overthrow of a ruling authority. The dates of established independence and (to a lesser degree the commencement of revolution), are typically celebrated as national holidays.

See #Article note regarding the ambiguity for dates given in various articles, as attributed to the CIA World Factbook

See also

• List of countries by date of nationhood
• Declaration of Independence
• Independence Day
• War of Independence
• independent city
• judicial independence
• colonialism
• imperialism
• neocolonialism
• statistical independence
• Independence constitution
• Independence Air

Article note

The dates of independence, as they have been ported into many articles from the CIA World Factbook are defined as follows:

For most countries, [the given date is that] when sovereignty was achieved...For the other countries, the date given may not represent "independence" in the strict sense, but rather some significant nationhood event such as the traditional founding date or the date of unification, federation, confederation, establishment, or fundamental change in the form of government, such as state succession .