Independence referendum

An independence referendum is a type of referendum in which the citizens of a territory decide whether the territory should become an independent sovereign state. An independence referendum that results in a vote for independence does not always ultimately result in independence.

The articles on specific referendums are linked with dates in the table on past referendums.

Procedure

An independence referendum typically arises first after political success for nationalists of a territory. This could come in the election of politicians or parties with separatist policies, or from pressure from nationalist organisations.

Negotiations

Negotiations for the terms of an independence referendum may take place between the nationalists and the government which exercises sovereignty over the territory. If terms can be agreed, then the independence referendum can be held with its result binding, and respected by the international community. Independence referendums can be held without the consent of governments, but their results are usually ignored by the international community.

Various issues can be discussed in negotiations, such as the date and timing of the poll, as well as voter eligibility. For these instances, common electoral practice is often widely used, although there can be deviations, as seen with the lowering of the voting age for the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.

Other issues to be negotiated include what question or questions should be on the ballot, and what the voting options could be. Independence referendums can offer options of greater autonomy as well as, or instead of, the status quo. They can also put forward other constitutional questions to ballot. The questions that referendums ask may be revised if parties involved in negotiations consider them to be too leading.

Negotiations notably need to address what would make a result binding. For some independence referendums, a simple majority is required for one option. In other cases, a quota can be used, where a certain percentage of the vote or the electorate needs to be in favour of an option for it to be binding.

Successful negotiations can be hard to achieve for nationalists, as governments can be reluctant to give up sovereignty. For example, nationalists planned to hold a referendum in Catalonia in 2014, but met opposition from the Spanish government. As a result, the referendum that went ahead was unofficial and non-binding.

Aftermath

In the event of a vote for independence, there may be negotiations on the terms of secession for the territory from the sovereign state. A declaration of independence for a new state is then made, and international recognition can follow, as well as membership of international organisations such as the United Nations. In cases involving non-binding referendums, this can lead to a unilateral declaration of independence, and therefore partially recognised or self-proclaimed states.

In the event of a vote against independence, there may still be a strong nationalist movement and calls for there to be a rerun of the independence referendum. For example, after two referendums in Quebec, the Parti Québécois has continued to raise the prospect of holding another referendum, and the Scottish National Party has said that there should be a repeat of the 2014 referendum if the United Kingdom leaves the European Union.

Past referendums

Proposed state	Year	Former state	Majority for independence	Independence	Recognition	Notes
Liberia	1846	American Colonization Society	Yes	Yes	Yes
Maryland	1853	Maryland State Colonization Society	Yes	Yes	Yes
Norway	1905	Sweden and Norway	Yes	Yes	Yes
Iceland	1918	Denmark	Yes	Yes	Yes
Western Australia	1933	Australia	Yes	No	No
Cambodia	1945	France	Yes	Yes	Yes
Mongolia	1945	Republic of China	Yes	Yes	Yes
Faroe Islands	1946	Denmark	Yes	No	No	The Declaration of Independence was annulled by Denmark
Saar	1955	France	No	No	Yes	Territory later transferred to West Germany
Cameroon	1958	France	No	No	Yes	Referendum on the new French constitution. A no vote would have led to independence.
Central African Republic	1958	France	No	No	Yes	Referendum on the new French constitution. A no vote would have led to independence.
Chad	1958	France	No	No	Yes	Referendum on the new French constitution. A no vote would have led to independence.
Comoros	1958	France	No	No	Yes	Referendum on the new French constitution. A no vote would have led to independence.
Republic of the Congo	1958	France	No	No	Yes	Referendum on the new French constitution. A no vote would have led to independence.
Dahomey	1958	France	No	No	Yes	Referendum on the new French constitution. A no vote would have led to independence.
Djibouti	1958	France	No	No	Yes	Referendum on the new French constitution. A no vote would have led to independence.
French Polynesia	1958	France	No	No	Yes	Referendum on the new French constitution. A no vote would have led to independence.
Gabon	1958	France	No	No	Yes	Referendum on the new French constitution. A no vote would have led to independence.
Guinea	1958	France	Yes	Yes	Yes	Referendum on the new French constitution. A no vote led to independence.
Ivory Coast	1958	France	No	No	Yes	Referendum on the new French constitution. A no vote would have led to independence.
Madagascar	1958	France	No	No	Yes	Referendum on the new French constitution. A no vote would have led to independence.
Mali	1958	France	No	No	Yes	Referendum on the new French constitution. A no vote would have led to independence.
Mauritania	1958	France	No	No	Yes	Referendum on the new French constitution. A no vote would have led to independence.
New Caledonia	1958	France	No	No	Yes	Referendum on the new French constitution. A no vote would have led to independence.
Niger	1958	France	No	No	Yes	Referendum on the new French constitution. A no vote would have led to independence.
Saint Pierre and Miquelon	1958	France	No	No	Yes	Referendum on the new French constitution. A no vote would have led to independence.
Senegal	1958	France	No	No	Yes	Referendum on the new French constitution. A no vote would have led to independence.
Upper Volta	1958	France	No	No	Yes	Referendum on the new French constitution. A no vote would have led to independence.
Samoa	1961	New Zealand	Yes	Yes	Yes
Algeria	1962	France	Yes	Yes	Yes
Malta	1964	United Kingdom	Yes	Yes	Yes
Rhodesia	1964	United Kingdom	Yes	De facto	No
Djibouti	1967	France	No	No	Yes
Puerto Rico	1967	United States	No	No	Yes
West Papua	1969	Indonesia	No	No	Yes	The question asked was whether West Papua wanted to give up its sovereignty to Indonesia, with an alleged majority yes.
Northern Mariana Islands	1969	United States	No	No	Yes	A majority voted for integration with Guam
Bahrain	1970	United Kingdom	Yes	Yes	Yes	The question was whether Bahrainis preferred annexation by Iran or independence.
Niue	1974	New Zealand	Majority for associated status	Associated status achieved	Yes	The referendum was on whether Niue should became an associated state of New Zealand. This status is sometimes considered to be independence.
Comoros	1974	France	Yes	Yes	Yes	The country declared independence on 6 July 1975, with Mayotte remaining under French control.
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands	1975	United States	No	No	Yes	Only voters in what would become the Federated States of Micronesia voted for independence.
Guam	1976	United States	No	No	Yes	A majority voted for an improved status quo
Aruba	1977	Netherlands	Yes	No	Yes	Plans for full independence were scrapped in 1994
Djibouti	1977	France	Yes	Yes	Yes
Nevis	1977	Saint Kitts and Nevis	Yes	No	No	Referendum organised by the Nevis Reformation Party but not recognised by the Saint Kitts and Nevis government.
Quebec	1980	Canada	No	No	Yes
Ciskei	1980	South Africa	Yes	De facto	No	Like other Bantustans, its independence was not internationally recognised.
Guam	1982	United States	No	No	Yes
Micronesia	1983	United States	Yes	Yes	Yes	Micronesia became an associated state of the United States
Marshall Islands	1983	United States	No	No	Yes
Palau	1983	United States	No	No	Yes	Voters approved the Compact of Free Association with the United States
Palau	1984	United States	No	No	Yes	Voters again approved the Compact of Free Association with the United States
Cocos Islands	1984	Australia	No	No	Yes
Falkland Islands	1986	United Kingdom	No	No	Yes
New Caledonia	1987	France	No	No	Yes
Slovenia	1990	Yugoslavia	Yes	Yes	Yes
Armenia	1991	Soviet Union	Yes	Yes	Yes
Azerbaijan	1991	Soviet Union	Yes	Yes	Yes
Croatia	1991	Yugoslavia	Yes	Yes	Yes
Estonia	1991	Soviet Union	Yes	Yes	Yes
Georgia	1991	Soviet Union	Yes	Yes	Yes
Kosova	1991	Yugoslavia	Yes	No	No
Latvia	1991	Soviet Union	Yes	Yes	Yes
Lithuania	1991	Soviet Union	Yes	Yes	Yes
Macedonia	1991	Yugoslavia	Yes	Yes	Yes	Independence was achieved in 1993.
Nagorno-Karabakh	1991	Azerbaijan	Yes	De facto	No	Led to de facto independence
Ukraine	1991	Soviet Union	Yes	Yes	Yes
Transnistria	1991	Moldova	Yes	De facto	No	Led to de facto independence
Turkmenistan	1991	Soviet Union	Yes	Yes	Yes
Uzbekistan	1991	Soviet Union	Yes	Yes	Yes
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1992	Yugoslavia	Yes	Yes	Yes
Montenegro	1992	Yugoslavia	No	No	Yes
South Ossetia	1992	Georgia	Yes	De facto	No	Led to de facto independence
Eritrea	1993	Ethiopia	Yes	Yes	Yes
United States Virgin Islands	1993	United States	No	No	Yes
Puerto Rico	1993	United States	No	No	Yes
Curaçao	1993	Netherlands	No	No	Yes	A majority voted for restructuring the Netherlands Antilles
Moldova	1994	N/A	Yes	Yes	Yes	The issue was whether Moldova should retain its independent status
Bonaire	1994	Netherlands	No	No	Yes	A majority voted for keeping the status quo.
Sint Maarten	1994	Netherlands	No	No	Yes	A majority voted for keeping the status quo.
Saba	1994	Netherlands	No	No	Yes	A majority voted for keeping the status quo.
Sint Eustatius	1994	Netherlands	No	No	Yes	A majority voted for keeping the status quo.
Bermuda	1995	United Kingdom	No	No	Yes
Quebec	1995	Canada	No	No	Yes	Results ; Yes : 49.42 No : 50.58
Anjouan	1997	Comoros	Yes	Yes	No	Anjouan remained de facto independent until 2001
Nevis	1998	Saint Kitts and Nevis	Yes	No	Yes	62% of voters approved of independence, but a 2/3 majority was required.
Puerto Rico	1998	United States	No	No	Yes
East Timor	1999	Indonesia	Yes	Yes	Yes	The referendum was organised by the United Nations; independence was achieved in 2002
Sint Maarten	2000	Netherlands	No	No	Yes	A majority voted for becoming a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Bonaire	2004	Netherlands	No	No	Yes	A majority voted for integration with the Netherlands
Saba	2004	Netherlands	No	No	Yes	A majority voted for direct constitutional ties with the Netherlands
Kurdistan	2005	Iraq	Yes	No	No
Curaçao	2005	Netherlands	No	No	Yes	A majority voted to become an Autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Sint Eustatius	2005	Netherlands	No	No	Yes	A majority voted for remaining part of the Netherlands Antilles
Montenegro	2006	Serbia and Montenegro	Yes	Yes	Yes
South Ossetia	2006	Georgia	Yes	De facto	No	The issue was whether South Ossetia should retain its de facto independent status
Transnistria	2006	Moldova	Yes	De facto	No	The issue was whether Transnistria should retain its de facto independent status
Tokelau	2006	New Zealand	Majority for associated status	Associated status not achieved	Yes	The referendum was on whether Tokelau should became an associated state of New Zealand. This status is sometimes considered to be independence. 60% of voters approved, but a 2/3 majority was required.
Tokelau	2007	New Zealand	Majority for associated status	Associated status not achieved	Yes	The referendum was on whether Tokelau should became an associated state of New Zealand. This status is sometimes considered to be independence. 60% of voters approved, but a 2/3 majority was required.
South Sudan	2011	Sudan	Yes	Yes	Yes
Puerto Rico	2012	United States	No	No	Yes
Donetsk	2014	Ukraine	Yes	De facto	No	The issue was whether the Donetsk People's Republic should retain its de facto independent status. Only a portion of this territory can be considered independent.
Lugansk	2014	Ukraine	Yes	De facto	No	The issue was whether the Lugansk People's Republic should retain its de facto independent status. Only a portion of this territory can be considered independent.
Veneto	2014	Italy	Yes	No	No	The referendum was conducted online and through self-organised voting booths by a private organization, Plebiscite 2013, without voter verification, and without the cooperation of the Italian national or Venetian regional governments. Plebiscite 2013 claimed a turnout rate of 63.2% of all eligible voters, while critics of the poll cited turnout rates as low 3.6%, and traced a large portion of the website's traffic to users outside Italy.
Scotland	2014	United Kingdom	No	No	Yes
Catalonia	2014	Spain	Yes	No	No
Sint Eustatius	2014	Netherlands	No	No	Yes	A majority voted for autonomy within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but low turnout invalidated the result.

Scheduled independence referendums

Proposed state	Date	Current state	Recognition	Notes
Chuuk	–	Micronesia	No	Originally scheduled for 3 March 2015, but later indefinitely postponed.
Iraqi Kurdistan	–	Iraq	No	Originally to be held in late 2014, later postponed. See Iraqi Kurdistan independence referendum.
New Caledonia	Between 2016 and 2018	France	Yes	See Nouméa Accord.
Bougainville	Between 2016 and 2020	Papua New Guinea	Yes

See also

• Secession
• Independence
• Sovereignty
• Succession of states
• Declaration of independence