A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breakaway territories from within the larger state. In 2010, the UN's International Court of Justice ruled in an advisory opinion in Kosovo that "International law contains no prohibition on declarations of independence", though the state from which the territory wishes to secede may regard the declaration as rebellion, which may lead to a war of independence or a constitutional settlement to resolve the crisis. Unofficial and symbolic declarations of independence can also be used to make a political statement like "A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace" by John Perry Barlow in 1996.
List of declarations of independence
StateDeclarationDateAssociationSignatoriesFirst recognizing state(s) Declaration of 1 November 1954Algerian War Albania Albanian Declaration of IndependenceAssembly of Vlorë Ambazonia Ambazonian Declaration of IndependenceSouthern Cameroons Ambazonia Consortium United FrontDeclaration of Independence of ArmeniaArmenian National Congress (1917), Armenian Revolutionary Federation Declaration of State Sovereignty of ArmeniaLevon Ter-Petrosyan and Supreme Council of Armenia secretary Ara SahakianProclamation of the Nagorno Karabakh RepublicNagorno-Karabakh Regional and Shahumyan District Councils of People's Deputies of the Azerbaijan SSRAzawadi Declaration of IndependenceNational Movement for the Liberation of AzawadDeclaration of Independence of AzerbaijanAzerbaijani National CouncilAct on Restoration of State Independence of AzerbaijanSupreme Council of AzerbaijanProclamation of Bangladeshi Independence 1947 Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh Proclamation of Bangladeshi Independence Constituent Assembly of BangladeshThird Constituent CharterRada of the Belarusian Democratic RepublicAnnouncement of the Declaration of Independence of the Soviet Socialist Republic of ByelorussiaCommunist Party (Bolsheviks) of Byelorussia, trade unionsDeclaration of State Sovereignty of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist RepublicSupreme Soviet of the BSSRBelgian Declaration of Independence Provisional Government of BelgiumBosnian Declaration of Independence BougainvilleBougainville Declaration of Independence Bougainville Interim GovernmentDeclaration of the Independence of Brazil Pedro I of BrazilBulgarian Declaration of Independence Ferdinand of Bulgaria and the Government of BulgariaBurmese Declaration of Independence Declaration of the Catalan Republic as a state of the Iberian Federation SpainFrancesc Macià, Generalitat Government of CataloniaDeclaration of the Catalan state within the Federal Republic of Spain SpainLluís Companys, Generalitat Government of CataloniaDeclaration from the representatives of Catalonia as the Catalan Republic (present-day: )Act of Independence of Central America Spain Chilean Declaration of Independence SpainNational CongressColombian Declaration of Independence Spain Comoros Comorian Declaration of Independence Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Crimea Supreme Council of CrimeaDeclaration of the Establishment of the Sovereign and Independent Republic of Croatia Czechoslovak Declaration of Independence Czechoslovak National CouncilMartin Declaration Slovak National CouncilDominican Act of Independence (1844) Haiti Dominican Republic Dominican Act of Independence (1863) East Timorese declaration of independence Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence Unilateral grant of independence by the British governmentEstonian Declaration of Independence Estonian Salvation CommitteeEstonian Reconfirmation of Independence Congress of Estonia (reconfirmed earlier recognition)Finnish Declaration of Independence Parliament of Finland(present-day )Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire(real independence) Supreme Provisional Governmental Board FloridaFlorida's Constitution of 1861 Florida State Legislature GaliciaDeclaration of the Republic of Galicia Spain Georgian Declaration of Independence, 1918 Georgian National Council Act of Restoration of State Independence of Georgia Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia Georgia, State of Georgia's secession declaration Greek Declaration of Independence First National AssemblyGuinea-Bissau Declaration of Independence Haitian Declaration of Independence Jean-Jacques Dessalines France HungaryHungarian Declaration of Independence HabsburgsIcelandic Declaration of Independence Indian Rebellion of 1857Mughal EmpireDeclaration of the Independence of India Declaration of IndependenceProclamation of Indonesian Independence Sukarno & Mohammad HattaIraq Declaration of Independence Proclamation of the Irish Republic Provisional Government of the Irish Republic Irish RepublicIrish Declaration of Independence Dáil ÉireannIsraeli Declaration of Independence Jewish People's Council KatangaKatangan Declaration of Independence Congo-Léopoldville On the State Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan Supreme Soviet of the Republic of KazakhstanKorean Declaration of Independence Provisional Government of the Republic of KoreaProclamation of the Republic of Kosova Assembly of KosovoKosovo declaration of independence Administration "Democratically elected leaders of our people"Latvian Declaration of Independence People's Council of LatviaOn the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSRLiberian Declaration of Independence American Colonization SocietyLiberian Constitutional ConventionAct of Independence of Lithuania Council of LithuaniaAct of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania Supreme Council of Lithuania Lower CanadaDeclaration of Independence of Lower Canada Robert Nelson MacedoniaIndependence of the Republic of Macedonia (present-day Malaysia)Federation of Malaya Independence Act 1957 Tunku Abdul Rahman, Prime Minister of Malaysia MississippiA Declaration of the Immediate Causes which Induce and Justify the Secession of the State of Mississippi from the Federal Union Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Moldova Parliament of the Republic of MoldovaMontenegro declaration of independence Assembly of the Republic of Montenegro Moroccan Declaration of Independence FranceIstiqlal PartyAct of Abjuration Union of Utrecht Northern America (present-day )Solemn Act of the Declaration of Independence of Northern America Congress of AnáhuacDeclaration of Independence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Northern EpirusNorthern Epirote Declaration of Independence AlbaniaProvisional Government of Northern Epirus North SolomonsDeclaration of Independence of the Republic of the North Solomons Territory of Papua and New Guinea (Australia)Unknown Declaration of Independence of Norway , and the Constitution of Norway Norwegian Constituent AssemblyNational Liberation Day of Korea Kim Il SungPadanian Declaration of Independence Italy Lahore Resolution Muslim League (Pakistan)Palestinian Declaration of Independence Palestinian territories (claimed the West Bank until 1988)Palestinian National Council PeruAct of the Declaration of Independence of Peru José de San Martín Panama Secession of Panama from Colombia PhilippinesPhilippine Declaration of Independence Spain98 representatives of Dictatorial Government of the Philippines (ratified on September 29, 1898, by the Malolos Congress) Provinces of the Río de la Plata(present-day: )Argentine Declaration of Independence SpainCongress of TucumánRhodesian Unilateral Declaration of Independence Ian Smith and the rest of the CabinetRomanian Declaration of Independence King Carol IBelovezha Accords Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSRBir Lehlou Declaration Polisario FrontDeclaration of Arbroath Scottish leaders SerbiaThe Proclamation (Proglašenije/Проглашеније) Karađorđe Petrović and Serbian MPsProclamation of SingaporeSingapore was forced out of Malaysia by the Malaysian Parliament, and the proclamations were then agreed by the two governments. See the Independence of Singapore Agreement 1965 (1985 Rev. Ed.) and the Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Lee Kuan Yew, Prime Minister of SingaporeSlovak National Council's Declaration of Independence of the Slovak Nation Slovak National CouncilSlovenian Declaration of Independence Somaliland Declaration of Independence National Liberation Day of Korea Syngman Rhee South CarolinaDeclaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union South Carolinians in CharlestonDeclaration of Independence of Sri Lanka (Then known as "Ceylon") SyriaSyrian Declaration of Independence (1920) Syrian National CongressSyrian Declaration of Independence (1941) Georges CatrouxTexas Declaration of Independence Mexico Texas, State ofA Declaration of the Causes which Impel the State of Texas to Secede from the Federal Union Texas LegislatureTibet's Declaration of Independence China13th Dalai LamaAbout Independence and Bases of a State System of Turkmenistan noneIV Universal Central Council of UkraineDeclaration of Independence of Ukraine Verkhovna RadaUkraine and Russia: The Post-Soviet Transition by Roman Solchanyk, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2000, (page 100)Canadian Yearbook of International Law, Vol 30, 1992, University of British Columbia Press, 1993, (page 371), p. 355United States Declaration of Independence Second Continental CongressUS-Morocco Diplomatic Relationship . Official Web site of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United States of America. United Tribes of New ZealandDeclaration of the Independence of New Zealand —Māori chiefsDeclaration of Independence Supreme Council of UzbekistanVenezuelan Declaration of Independence National CongressVermont Declaration of Independence British QuebecProclamation of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam Hồ Chí MinhDemocratic Republic of the YorubalandDeclaration of Independence Modupe Onitiri-Abiola and Ominira Yoruba Group
See also Independence referendum List of national independence days List of sovereign states by date of formation Political history of the world Separatism Unilateral declaration of independence
Explanatory notes
References
External links