United Nations trust territories
Territories under League of Nations Mandate, excluding Palestine and SW Africa, were transferred into UN trusteeships. Validity of existing rights of populations acquired by mandates, including the rights of Jews to settle in Palestine, is preserved
The United Nations trust territories were the successors of the remaining League of Nations mandates, and came into being when the League of Nations ceased to exist in 1946. All the trust territories were administered through the United Nations Trusteeship Council and authorised to a single country. The concept is distinct from a territory temporarily and directly governed by the United Nations.
The one League of Nations mandate not succeeded by a trust territory was South West Africa, at South Africa's insistence. South Africa's apartheid regime refused to commit to preparing the territory for independence and majority rule, as required by the trust territory guidelines, among other objections. South-West Africa eventually gained independence in 1990 as Namibia.
All trust territories have either attained self-government or independence. The last was Palau, formerly part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, which became a member state of the United Nations in December 1994.
Trust territories (and administering powers)
Former German Schutzgebiete
All these territories previously were League of Nations mandates.
Former Japanese possessions
Former Italian possessions
Italy was the only country to keep its former possession upon becoming a trust Territory.
The public source identifies “United Nations trust territories” as territories under League of Nations Mandate, excluding Palestine and SW Africa, were transferred into UN trusteeships. Validity of existing rights of populations acquired by mandates, including the rights of Jews to settle in Palestine, is preserved. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around United, Nations and trust.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q985073. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1946, 1990 and 1994.
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