List of independence referenda

This is a list of independence referrals ; H. those referendums that were held or are planned to vote on the state independence of an area.

Completed

Note: Sort by first date

Proposed state	Affiliation	Referendum on	Yes to independence	voter turnout	Yes to another possibility	Declaration of independence (note)
Liberia	ACS	October 27, 1846	52%	66%	-	July 26, 1847
Maryland	MSCS	January 31, 1853	100%		-	June 8, 1854
Norway	Sweden-Norway	August 13, 1905	99.95%	85.42%	-	October 26, 1905
Iceland	Denmark	October 19, 1918	92.6%	43.48%	-	December 1, 1918
Westralia	Australia	April 8, 1933	66.23%	100%	-	not called out
Cambodia	France	October 3, 1945	100%	80.3%	-	November 9, 1953
Mongolia	China	October 20, 1945	100%	98.5%	-	January 5, 1946
Faroe Islands	Denmark	September 14, 1946	48.7%	67.52%	-	Referendum not recognized by Denmark
Saarland	France	October 23, 1955	32.29%	97.55%	-	attached to Germany on January 1, 1957
Dahomey	France	September 28, 1958	-	-	97.84%	Remaining Communauté française
Djibouti	France	September 28, 1958	24.76%		52.78%
Ivory Coast	France	September 28, 1958	-	-	99.99%	Remaining Communauté française
French Sudan	France	September 28, 1958	-	-	97.54%	Remaining Communauté française (today Mali )
Gabon	France	September 28, 1958	-	-	92.58%	Remaining Communauté française
Guinea	France	September 28, 1958	95.22%	85.47%	4.78%	October 2, 1958
Comoros	France	September 28, 1958	-	-	97.33%	Remaining Communauté française
Republic of the Congo	France	September 28, 1958	-	-	99.38%	Remaining Communauté française
Madagascar	France	September 28, 1958	-	-	77.64%	Remaining Communauté française
Mauritania	France	September 28, 1958	-	-	94.04%	Remaining Communauté française
New Caledonia	France	September 28, 1958		-	98.12%	Remaining Communauté française
Niger	France	September 28, 1958	21.57%	37.42%	78.43%	Remaining Communauté française
Upper Volta	France	September 28, 1958	-	-	99.18%	Remaining Communauté française (today Burkina Faso )
French Polynesia	France	September 28, 1958	-	-	64.40%	Remaining Communauté française
Saint-Pierre and Miquelon	France	September 28, 1958	-	-	98.06%	Remaining Communauté française
Senegal	France	September 28, 1958	-	-	97.55%	Remaining Communauté française
Chad	France	September 28, 1958	-	-	98.29%	Remaining Communauté française
South African Union	United Kingdom	5th October 1960	52.3%	90.77%		May 31, 1961; Proclamation of the Republic
Samoa	New Zealand	May 10, 1961	85.4%		-	January 1, 1962
Algeria	France	July 1, 1962	99.72%	91.9%	-	3rd July 1962
Malta	United Kingdom	May 1964	54.5%	79.7%	-	September 21, 1964
Southern Rhodesia	United Kingdom	5th November 1964	90.51%	61.87%	-	November 11, 1965; today part of Zimbabwe , formerly Rhodesia
Djibouti	France	March 19, 1967	39.4%		94.96%
Puerto Rico	United States	July 23, 1967	0.6%	65.9%	60.4%	Part of the US Commonwealth
West Papua	Indonesia	July / August 1969	0%		100%	Consent to give up independence
Northern Mariana Islands	United States	November 9, 1969	0.59%	65.26%	60.82%	chosen integration with Guam; rejected by Guam in a referendum
Bahrain	United Kingdom	1970			-	August 14, 1971
Niue	New Zealand	3rd September 1974	65.4%		-	October 19, 1974; Self-government in free association with New Zealand
Comoros	France	22nd December 1974	94.57%	93.28%	-	July 6, 1975
Pacific Islands Trust Territory	United States	July 8, 1975	59.1%	35.2% -52.6%	-	November 3, 1986 as the Federated States of Micronesia ; Palau and Marshall Islands no majority
Guam	United States	4th September 1976	6%		58.05%	improved status within the USA
Aruba	Netherlands	March 25, 1977	95.17%	70.08%	-	Independence planned for 1996; 1994 plans abandoned
Djibouti	France	June 27, 1977	> 99.8%		77.2%	June 27, 1977
Nevis	St. Kitts and Nevis	18th August 1977	99.66%	57.99%	-	referendum not recognized
St. Vincent and the Grenadines	United Kingdom	1979			-	October 27, 1979
Quebec	Canada	May 20, 1980	40.44%	85.6%	-
Ciskei	South Africa	4th December 1980	99.45%	60%	-	December 4, 1981; since April 27, 1994 part of South Africa again
Guam	United States	January 30, 1982	3.82%		49.49%	absolute majority of US Commonwealth missed
Guam	United States	4th September 1982	-		72.82%	Part of the US Commonwealth
Palau	United States	February 10, 1983	-		62.1%	no 3/4 majority
Micronesia	United States	June 21, 1983	-		76.88%	affiliated state of the USA
Marshall Islands	United States	September 7, 1983	-		58%	affiliated state of the USA
Coconut islands	Australia	April 6, 1984	3.47%	100%	88.42%	Integration with Australia
Palau	United States	4th September 1984	-		67.1%	affiliated state of the USA
Falkland Islands	United Kingdom	April 2, 1986	1.66%	88.19%	96.45%	remains part of the UK
New Caledonia	France	September 13, 1987	1.70%		98.3%	still part of France
Slovenia	Yugoslavia	December 23, 1990	88.5%	93.5%	-	June 25, 1991
Lithuania	Soviet Union	February 9, 1991	90.5%	84.7%	-	March 11, 1990
Estonia	Soviet Union	March 3, 1991	78.4%	82.9%	-	August 20, 1991
Latvia	Soviet Union	March 3, 1991	74.9%	87.6%	-	May 4th 1990
Georgia	Soviet Union	March 31, 1991	99.5%	90.6%	-	April 9, 1991
Croatia	Yugoslavia	May 19, 1991	93.24%	83.56%	-	June 25, 1991
Kosovo	Yugoslavia	September 1991	99.98%	87.01%	-	February 17, 2008; internationally controversial
Macau	People's Republic of China	September 8, 1991	96.46%	75.7%	-	September 8, 1991
Armenia	Soviet Union	September 21, 1991	99.51%	95.05%	-	September 21, 1991
Turkmenistan	Soviet Union	October 26, 1991	94.06%	97.38%	-	October 27, 1991
Ukraine	Soviet Union	1st December 1991	92.3%	84.2%	-	August 24, 1991
Transnistria	Moldova	1st December 1991	97.7%		-	internationally controversial
Artsakh	Azerbaijan	December 10, 1991	99.89%	82.17%	-	September 2, 1991 as Nagorno-Karabakh
Azerbaijan	Soviet Union	December 29, 1991	99.8%	95.3%	-	December 25, 1991
Uzbekistan	Soviet Union	December 29, 1991	98.3%	94.1%	-	August 31, 1991
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Yugoslavia	March 4th 1992	99.7%	63.4%	-	March 1, 1992
Montenegro	Yugoslavia	March 1, 1992	-		95.96%	Remain with Yugoslavia
South Ossetia	Georgia	January 19, 1992	99.91%	96.9%	-	December 21, 1991; internationally controversial
Eritrea	Ethiopia	April 1993	99.83%	98.52%	-	May 24, 1993
American Virgin Islands	United States	October 11, 1993	4.96%	27.49%	81.6%	Part of the USA
Puerto Rico	United States	November 14, 1993	4.5%	73.5%	48.9%	Part of the US Commonwealth
Curacao	Netherlands	November 19, 1993	0.49%		73.56%	Restructuring of the Netherlands Antilles
Moldova	-	March 6, 1994	97.7%	75.1%	-	Maintaining independence
Bonaire	Netherlands	October 21, 1994	0.22%	66.52%	89.65%	Maintaining the status
Sint Maarten	Netherlands	October 1994	6.2%		59.6%	Remain in the Netherlands
Saba	Netherlands	October 14, 1994	0.5%		86.3%	Maintaining the status
St. Eustatius	Netherlands	October 14, 1994	0.2%	44%	90.7%	Maintaining the status
Bermuda	United Kingdom	August 16, 1995	25.88%	58.76%	-
Quebec	Canada	October 30, 1995	49.42%	93.52%	-
Anjouan	Comoros	October 26, 1997	99.68%	94.79%	-	not recognized by the central government
Nevis	St. Kitts and Nevis	August 10, 1998	61.83%	57.99%	-	2/3 majority missed
Puerto Rico	United States	December 13, 1998	2.6%	71.3%	50.5%	Rejection of all proposals
East Timor	Indonesia	August 30, 1999	78.5%	98.60%	-	May 20, 2002
Sint Maarten	Netherlands	June 22, 2000	14.44%	55.7%	69.98 /	Country in the Kingdom of Netherlands
Bonaire	Netherlands	September 10, 2004	0.51%	57.11%	59.45%	Direct part of the Netherlands
Saba	Netherlands	November 5, 2004	0.79%	77.8%	86.04%	Direct part of the Netherlands
Curacao	Netherlands	April 8, 2005	4.81%	55.04%	67.82%	Country in the Kingdom of Netherlands
St. Eustatius	Netherlands	April 8, 2005	0.63%	55.98%	76.58%	Direct part of the Netherlands
Iraqi Kurdistan	Iraq	2005	99.88%		-
Tokelau	New Zealand	February 2006	60.07%	94.96%		2/3 majority not achieved
Montenegro	Yugoslavia	May 21, 2006	55.50%	86.05%	-	June 3, 2006
Transnistria	Moldova	17th September 2006	98.07%	78.55%	3.39%	internationally controversial
Tokelau	New Zealand	October 2007	64.4%	87.71%		2/3 majority not achieved
South Ossetia	Georgia		99.88%	94.56%	-	not recognized by Georgia
Catalonia	Spain	2009-2011		19%	-
South Sudan	Sudan	January 2011	98.83%	97.58%	-	July 9, 2011
Puerto Rico	United States	November 6, 2012	5.49%	78.19%	61.16%	State of the USA
Crimea	Ukraine	March 16, 2014	-	82%	95.5%	provisional independence and later annexation to Russia ; not recognized by Ukraine
Donetsk	Ukraine	May 11, 2014	89.07%	32-74.87%	-	internationally not recognized voting
Lugansk	Ukraine	May 11, 2014	96.2%	24-75%	-	internationally not recognized voting
Catalonia	Spain	November 9, 2014	80.76%	37-41.6%	-
Puerto Rico	United States	June 11, 2017	-		97.18%	State of the USA
Scotland	United Kingdom	18th September 2014	44.7%	84.59%	-
St. Eustatius	Netherlands	17th December 2014	0.44%	45.40%	65.53%	Quorum not reached
Iraqi Kurdistan	Iraq	25th September 2017	92%	> 70%	-	As of April 2018 not explained
Catalonia	Spain	October 1, 2017	90.09%	> 43.03%	-	not recognized by Spain
New Caledonia	France	4th November 2018	43.6%	80.36%	56.4%	still part of France
Bougainville	Papua New Guinea	November 23 - December 7, 2019	98%	87.6%	1.68%	Independence planned by mid-2022

Planned

Proposed state	Affiliation	Referendum on
New Caledonia	France	4th October 2020
Chuuk	Micronesia	March 2022 (originally planned for March 5, 2019)
Tokelau	New Zealand	2025

In addition, the Indonesian West Papua is aiming for a referendum on state independence. A corresponding petition was signed by 1.8 of the 2.5 million inhabitants of the area by the end of January 2019.

Scotland would also like to vote again on independence as a result of Brexit , in the referendum of which the majority of Scotland voted to remain in the EU , as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon often noted.

See also

• Right of peoples to self-determination
• Declaration of Independence

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bougainville votes for independence from Papua New Guinea , Deutschlandfunk, December 11, 2019
2. ^ Bougainville consultation period critical, says former combatant. RNZ, January 27, 2010.
3. ^ Covid-19 delays New Caledonia independence referendum. In: RNZ. May 31, 2020, accessed on July 9, 2020 . 
4. ↑ Chuuk independence vote postponed as China-US Pacific contest builds. REUTERS, February 27, 2020 (English).
5. ↑ Chuuk independence referendum postponed. RNZ, February 25, 2019 (English).
6. ↑ Concern as veteran leader pushes for poll on Tokelau independence. RNZ, May 11, 2020.
7. ↑ Diteken 1,8 Juta Orang, Petisi Referendum Papua Dibawa ke PBB. CNN Indonesia, January 28, 2019 (English).
8. ↑ Rieke Havertz: Brexit? Aye! In: time. October 27, 2019, accessed November 25, 2019 .