“List of sovereign states by date of formation”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

Below is a list of sovereign states with the dates of their formation (date of their independence or of their constitution), sorted by continent.

This list includes the 195 states which are currently full member states or observer states of the United Nations. This does not include List of former sovereign states, but does include several states with limited recognition.^[1]

For proposed states or various indigenous nations which consider themselves still under occupation, see list of active autonomist and secessionist movements.

Nation-building is a long evolutionary process, and in most cases the date of a country's "formation" cannot be objectively determined; e.g., the fact that England and France were sovereign kingdoms on equal footing in the medieval period

does not prejudice the fact that England is not now a sovereign state (having passed sovereignty to the UK in 1707), while France is a Republic founded in 1792 (technically, France currently refers to the French Fifth Republic, formed in 1958).

An unambiguous measure is the date of national constitutions; but as constitutions are an entirely modern concept, all formation dates by that criterion are modern or early modern (the oldest constitution being that of San Marino, dating to 1600).

Independence dates for widely recognised states earlier than 1919 should be treated with caution, since prior to the founding of the League of Nations, there was no international body to recognise nationhood, and independence had no meaning beyond mutual recognition of de facto sovereigns (the role of the League of Nations was effectively taken over by the United Nations after the Second World War). See also: disputed territories.

Many countries have some remote (or fantastically remote) symbolic foundation date as part of their national mythology, sometimes artificially inflating a country's "age" for reasons of nationalism, sometimes merely gesturing at a long and gradual process of the formation of an ethnic identity. Such dates reflect not the formation of a state (an independent political entity), but of a nation (an ethnic or cultural grouping), terms that are often conflated in the context of nation states.

The following list contains the formation dates of countries with a short description of those events. For a more detailed description of a country's formation and history please see the main article for each country.

List

Africa

Americas

Asia

1. ^listed are the five UN member states with limited recognition: Israel (not recognized by 32 members), North and South Korea (no mutual recognition), Armenia (not recognized by Pakistan) and Cyprus (not recognized by Turkey); "China" has universal recognition, but the UN is unclear on which of the Chinas (People's Republic or Republic) this refers to.
2. ^Since the beginning of the Second Libyan Civil War in 2014, various areas of Libya are under the control of competing groups. These include domestic groups such as New General National Congress and local Tuareg groups, and foreign groups such as ISIL.
3. ^With the ongoing Somali Civil War, significant areas remain outside federal control.
4. ^A new constitution was approved in 2013, but most changes will not enter effect for another decade.
5. ^Country Profile: Cuba, September 2006, U.S. Library of Congress – Federal Research Division.
6. ^In the Dominican Republic, every constitutional amendment is considered a new constitution. The most recent amendment was the 2010 constitution.
7. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.venezuelatuya.com/historia/19_abril.htm|title=19 de abril de 1810|work=Venezuela Tuya}}
8. ^¹Following the Northern Iraq offensive in June 2014, large areas of Iraq are de facto under the control of Iraqi Kurds or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
9. ^{{cite news|title=Jordan's King Abdullah vows to allow elected cabinets|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13744640|date=12 June 2011|accessdate=27 October 2015|newspaper=BBC News|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613112638/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13744640|archivedate= 13 June 2011|deadurl=no}}
10. ^This constitution cut North Korean ties with the Soviet Union. Several new constitutions and amendments have followed (most recently in 2013), creating new titles for the national leader such as Eternal President and Chairman of the National Defence Commission. However, power has remained with the Kim dynasty since 1948.
11. ^¹²³{{sourcetext|source=Malaysia Act 1963}}
12. ^{{sourcetext|source=United Nations Member States}}
13. ^¹{{sourcetext|source=Federation of Malaya Independence Act 1957}}
14. ^¹²³{{sourcetext|source=Agreement relating to the separation of Singapore from Malaysia as an independent and sovereign state}}
15. ^¹{{sourcetext|source=Agreement relating to the separation of Singapore from Malaysia as an independent and sovereign state/proclamation of singapore}}
16. ^¹²{{sourcetext|source=Singapore Act 1966}}
17. ^¹{{sourcetext|source=Agreement relating to Malaysia between United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Federation of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore}}
18. ^Palestinian National Authority: For some clarification and more detail, see History of the State of Palestine.
19. ^Philippines: For some clarification and more detail, see Timeline of Philippine Sovereignty and Sovereignty of the Philippines.
20. ^{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2088.html?countryName=Philippines&countryCode=rp®ionCode=eas&#rp|title=The World Factbook|publisher=}}
21. ^{{Cite journal |url=http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Philippines.pdf |title=Country Profile: Philippines |date=March 2006 |publisher=U.S. Library of Congress – Federal Research Division |postscript=. }} says, "The Philippines attained independence from Spain on June 12, 1898, and from the United States on July 4, 1946.", implying that the cession of the Philippines to the U.S. by Spain on December 10, 1898 via the Treaty of Paris was invalid. Other sources (e.g. [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rp.html The CIA Factbook] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100111070218/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rp.html |date=2010-01-11 }}) say that the Philippine Islands were ceded to the US by Spain in 1898 following the Spanish–American War.
22. ^Republic of the Philippines, Philippine Government website.
23. ^¹{{cite web | title = UN approves PH territorial claim to Benham Rise |url =http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/183779/un-approves-ph-territorial-claim-to-benham-rise |publisher = | accessdate = April 28, 2012 }}
24. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.mofa.gov.sa/sites/mofaen/aboutKingDom/Pages/CountryDevelopment36143.aspx|title=History of the Kingdom|publisher=mofa.gov.sa|access-date=2017-09-23}}
25. ^¹Due to the ongoing Syrian Civil War, large areas of Syria are de facto under the control of other parties such as the Syrian opposition and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
26. ^The government of the Republic of China, which currently administers Taiwan, was the generally recognized sovereign power over Mainland China beginning on 1 January 1912 (also the first year of the Taiwanese calendar "民國"). Sovereign control of Taiwan by this government began on 25 October 1945 (Retrocession Day).
27. ^The PRC acquired de facto control in Mainland China on 1 October 1949. The Republic of China continued to be generally recognized as the legitimate government of China until 25 October 1971, when the PRC was admitted to the United Nations. Currently, due to the PRC's One-China policy, only 25 states recognize the Republic of China, although many more retain unofficial relations.
28. ^Deeley, Furness, and Schofield (2001) The International Boundaries of East Timor p. 8
29. ^¹²³⁴According to the Badinter Arbitration Committee, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was dissolved into five states. This is the result when the Serb-dominated Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) was formed on 27 April 1992 as a rump state, consisting only of the former Socialist Republics of Serbia and Montenegro. Its government claimed continuity to the former country, however, the international community refused to recognize it as such. The stance of the international community was that Yugoslavia had dissolved into its separate states. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was prevented by a UN resolution on 22 September 1992 from continuing to occupy the United Nations seat as successor state to SFRY. This question was important for claims on SFRY's international assets, including embassies in many countries. Only in 1996 had the FRY abandoned its claim to continuity from the SFRY. The FRY was dominated by Slobodan Milošević and his political allies. This was reaffirmed in the Succession Agreement signed in June 2001.
30. ^{{cite web|title=Hrvatska povijest|url=http://www.hupi.hr/povijest/|accessdate=6 July 2017}}
31. ^{{cite web|title=Grboslovlje u Hrvata >> Krunisani|url=http://croherald.com/sample-page/|accessdate=6 July 2017}}
32. ^{{cite web|title=Hrvatski Vladari / Croatian rulers - Geni|url=https://www.geni.com/projects/Hrvatski-Vladari-Croatian-rulers/629|accessdate=6 July 2017}}
33. ^{{cite web|title=TOPLI DOM JADRANA - PRIMORSKA HRVATSKA - Visite Croatia - Stema Guide|url=http://www.visitecroatia.com/hr/magazin/topli-dom-jadrana-primorska-hrvatska/|accessdate=6 July 2017}}
34. ^{{cite web|title=Croatia - World Leaders Index|url=http://worldleadersindex.org/croatia.html|accessdate=6 July 2017}}
35. ^The Faroe Islands and Greenland were administered by Denmark until 24 March 1948 and 1 May 1979 respectively. They are now autonomous countries with home rule, but remain part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
36. ^¹²The annexation of the Baltic republics in 1940 is considered an illegal occupation by the current Baltic governments and by a number of Western countries, including the United States and the European Union, who assert that the states were independent countries occupied by the Soviet Union. The Baltic republics were officially sovereign entities in a federation, according to Article 76 of the Constitution of the Soviet Union. However, the Soviet Union was heavily centralized and was de facto a single federal state.
37. ^¹The breaking-through of the Channel Tunnel on October 31, 1990 created a new land border between the UK and France (May 01, 1994, Under the Channel, traffic soon to roll, Baltimore Sun) However, the Channel Tunnel runs underwater and did not change the above-ground territory of either nation.
38. ^France swapped a small area of land with Andorra in 2001 to allow Andorra to construct the Envalira Tunnel access bridge.
39. ^Prior to 1999, the Constitution of Ireland claimed that "The national territory consists of the whole island of Ireland", but that its laws were only valid in the counties of the Republic.
40. ^{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2853991.stm |title=Liechtenstein prince wins powers |publisher=BBC News |accessdate=2015-10-26 |date=2003-03-16}}
41. ^East Timor had been under Indonesian occupation since 1975, but this occupation was not recognized by the wider global community.
42. ^Đerdapski ribolovi u prošlosti i u sadašnjosti, Volume 41 Mihailo Petrović Izd. Zadužbine Mikh. R. Radivojeviča, 1941
43. ^{{cite news|last1=Rettman|first1=Andrew|title=Kosovo: EU meeting is 'de facto recognition' by Serbia|url=https://euobserver.com/foreign/118965|accessdate=17 February 2015|work=EUobserver|date=6 February 2013|location=Brussels}}
44. ^[https://books.google.com/books?id=SyCHFtzIrnEC&pg=PA151&lpg=PA151&dq=historia+las+leyes+de+extranjeria&source=bl&ots=fC9AMCuG0m&sig=EXfugbtGuBnYX_qMDY1oA2ATTxQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ex8sUOTHHMiKhQeUsIDADQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=historia%20las%20leyes%20de%20extranjeria&f=false La Extranjería en la Historia Del Derecho Español]
45. ^{{cite web |title=Background Note: United Kingdom |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/acts_of_union_01.shtml |work=bbc.co.uk Acts of Union: The creation of the United Kingdom}}
46. ^{{Cite book| title=Union and empire: the making of the United Kingdom in 1707| author=Allan I. Macinnes| publisher=Cambridge University Press| year=2007| url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Union_and_empire.html?id=fVdVpfTsgfAC}}
47. ^{{Cite book| title=The British Atlantic world, 1500–1800| author=David Armitage, Michael J. Braddick| publisher=Palgrave Macmillan| year=2002| page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=g7mNJC5W_gIC&pg=PA20&dq=%22the+united+Kingdom+was+created%22&hl=en&ei=HSc9TubLJcan8QOvhe2HAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CEwQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=%22the%20united%20Kingdom%20was%20created%22&f=false 20]| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g7mNJC5W_gIC}}
48. ^[https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2815.htm Profile: Republic of Vanuatu], U.S. Department of State
49. ^¹²³⁴⁵⁶⁷⁸⁹¹⁰¹¹The Republics of the Soviet Union were officially sovereign entities in a federation, according to Article 76 of the Constitution of the Soviet Union. However, the Soviet Union was heavily centralized and was de facto a single federal state.
50. ^{{cite book|last1=Wolff|first1=Stefan|title=Disputed Territories: The Transnational Dynamics of Ethnic Conflict Settlement|date=2004|publisher=Berghahn Books|pages=30–31|url=https://www.google.com/books?id=QYTKZ0z6QygC}}
51. ^{{cite book|last1=Wippman|first1=David|editor1-last=Wippman|editor1-first=David|title=International Law and Ethnic Conflict|date=1998|publisher=Cornell University Press|page=220|url=https://www.google.com/books?id=uy1CCqO6qUIC|chapter=Practical and Legal Constraints on Internal Power Sharing}}
52. ^{{cite book|last1=Bahcheli|first1=Tozun|last2=Noel|first2=Sid|editor1-last=Noel|editor1-first=Sid|title=Relations of Ruling: Class and Gender in Postindustrial Societies|date=2005|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|page=215|url=https://www.google.com/books?id=oQHX2Xz185EC|chapter=Power Sharing for Cyprus (Again)? European Union Accession and the Prospects for Reunification}}
53. ^Baikonur is treated as a federal subject of Russia, but its exact status is a topic of dispute between the two countries. {{cite news|date=29 January 2013|title=Russia and Kazakhstan: What’s Behind the Baikonur Spat?|author=Katya Kumkova|work=EurasiaNet.org|url=http://www.eurasianet.org/node/66466|accessdate=2015-10-28}}
54. ^Christopher A Whatley (2001). Bought and Sold for English Gold: The Union of 1707 (Tuckwell Press, 2001)
55. ^{{cite book |title=An Outline of the People's Republic of Albania |publisher=8 Nëntori |year=1978 |page=47 |url=https://books.google.com/?id=_sBOAAAAMAAJ }}
56. ^{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of African history |last=Shillington |first=Kevin |publisher=CRC Press |location= |year=2005 |isbn=1-57958-453-5 |page=60 |url=https://books.google.com/?id=Ftz_gtO-pngC }}
57. ^{{cite book |title=Independence documents of the world |last=Blaustein |first=Albert P. |author2=Jay A. Sigler |author3=Benjamin R. Beede |publisher=Brill Archive |location= |year=1977 |isbn=0-379-00794-0 |page=11 |url=https://books.google.com/?id=feyI5kisdBcC }}
58. ^{{cite journal |doi=10.1086/236113 |last=Whittlesey |first=Derwent |date=June 1934 |title=Andorra's Autonomy |journal=The Journal of Modern History |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=147–155 |postscript=. }}
59. ^{{cite news |first=G.H. |last=Archambault |title=Andorra Occupied by French Police; De Gaulle Acts Under Historic Authority to Keep Order in Pyrenees Republic |work=New York Times |page=5 |date=Nov 16, 1944 |accessdate=April 25, 2009 |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0F11FB3A59147B93C4A8178AD95F408485F9 }}
60. ^{{cite news | title=1975: Divided Angola gets independence | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/11/newsid_2539000/2539679.stm | work=BBC On This Day | accessdate=2009-07-04 | date=1975-11-11}}
61. ^{{cite web |title=Background Note: Antigua and Barbuda |url=https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2336.htm | work=US Department of State | accessdate=2009-07-04}}
62. ^{{cite web |title=Congress of Tucumán |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/608414/Congress-of-Tucuman | work=Encyclopædia Britannica |accessdate=2009-07-04}}
63. ^{{cite web |title=Armenia: Independence |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/35178/Armenia/44276/Independence |work=Britannica.com |accessdate=2009-08-17}}
64. ^{{cite web |title=Australia's federation |work=Australian Government |url=http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/our-government/australias-federation |accessdate=April 19, 2009}}
65. ^{{cite web |title=Austria |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Austria.aspx |work=Encyclopedia.com |accessdate=2009-07-19}}
66. ^{{cite web |title=Vienna |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/628062/Vienna/24446/Evolution-of-the-modern-city | work=Encyclopædia Britannica |accessdate=2009-05-11}}
67. ^{{cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of the Third World |edition=3rd |last=Kurian |first=George Thomas |publisher=Facts on File |location= |year=1987 |isbn=0-8160-1118-4 |page=115 |url=https://books.google.com/?id=iOWyAAAAIAAJ |volume=1 }}
68. ^{{cite web |title=Bangladesh |work=Encyclopedia.com |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Bangladesh.aspx }}
69. ^{{cite web |title=Background Note: Belize |url=https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1955.htm |work=US Department of State }}
70. ^{{cite web |title=Background Note: Benin |url=https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/6761.htm |work=US Department of State }}
71. ^{{cite book |title=The Politics of Bhutan |last=Rose |first=Leo E. |publisher=Cornell University Press |location=Ithaca |year=1977 |isbn=0-8014-0909-8 |page=24 |quote=[T]here can be no doubt that since at least the tenth century no external power has controlled Bhutan, although there have been periods when various of its neighbors have been able to exert a strong cultural and/or political influence there. }}
72. ^{{cite book |title=International Encyclopaedia of Himalayas |volume=2 |first=Ramesh Chandra |last=Bisht |publisher=Mittal Publications |location=New Delhi |year=2008 |isbn=81-8324-265-0 |page=12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XWblUfYqGK4C&pg=PA12 }}
73. ^{{cite web |title=Botswana |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Botswana.aspx |work=Encyclopedia.com |accessdate=2009-07-18}}
74. ^{{cite web |title=Brazil |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Brazil.aspx |work=Encyclopedia.com |accessdate=2009-07-18}}
75. ^{{cite web |title=Bulgaria |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Bulgaria.aspx |work=Encyclopedia.com |accessdate=2009-07-19}}
76. ^{{cite web |title=Burkina Faso |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Burkina_Faso.aspx |work=Encyclopedia.com |accessdate=2009-07-18}}
77. ^{{cite book |title=Vietnam |last=Tucker |first=Spencer |publisher=Routledge |year=1999 |isbn=1-85728-922-6 |pages=196–197 |url=https://books.google.com/?id=FEpuVkgzFJYC&dq }}
78. ^{{cite web |title=Statute of Westminster: Canada's Declaration of Independence |work=The Canadian Encyclopedia |url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/statute-of-westminster-canadas-declaration-of-independence-feature/ |accessdate=April 19, 2009}}
79. ^{{cite web |url=https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2835.htm |title=Background Note: Cape Verde |work=U.S. Department of State |date=June 2008 |accessdate=26 July 2009 }}
80. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.croatia.org/crown/articles/9970/1/1131-years-since-the-first-international-recognition-of-Croatia.html |title=1131 years since the first international recognition of Croatia |work=Katarina Tadić |date=May 14, 2010 |accessdate=January 4, 2011 }}
81. ^{{cite web|title=Estonian Declaration of Independence, 24 February 1918 |url=http://www.president.ee/en/estonia |work=President of the Republic of Estonia |accessdate=2009-07-19 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090522173844/http://www.president.ee/en/estonia/ |archivedate=May 22, 2009 }}
82. ^A. Berhe.2003.Revisiting resistance in Italian-occupied Ethiopia: the Patriots' Movement (1936-1941) and the redefinition of post-war Ethiopia. African dynamics, ISSN 1568-1777; vol. 2. Brill, Leiden, ISBN Number 90-04-12624-4
83. ^{{Citation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/01/world/middleeast/01greenzone.html |title=Green Zone, Heart of U.S. Occupation, Reverts to Iraqi Control |author=Campbell Robertson |author2=Stephen Farrell |date=December 31, 2008 |work=The New York Times}}
84. ^{{cite web|title=November 18, 1918 – Proclamation of Latvia's independence |url=http://latvija90.leta.lv/en/pagatne/november-18-1918-proclamation-of-latvias-independence |work=LETA |accessdate=2009-07-19 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029112200/http://latvija90.leta.lv/en/pagatne/november-18-1918-proclamation-of-latvias-independence |archivedate=October 29, 2008 }}
85. ^{{cite web |title=Colonization |url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam002.html | work=The African-American Mosaic | publisher=Library of Congress | date=July 5, 2005 | accessdate=2009-04-25 |quote=Liberia … was neither a sovereign power nor a bona fide colony of any sovereign nation. … the United States refused to claim sovereignty over Liberia.}}
86. ^{{cite web |title=About Lithuania |url=http://www.ltembassyus.org/index.php?-571947450 |work=Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania to the United States of America |accessdate=2009-07-19}}
87. ^{{fr}} André Larané, 5 février 789 : Idriss, premier roi du Maroc on herodote.net
88. ^{{cite book |title=The Politics of Nepal |last=Rose |first=Leo E. |author2=Margaret W. Fisher |publisher=Cornell University Press |location=Ithaca |year=1970 |isbn=0-8014-0574-2 |page=xi |quote=Nepal is of special interest, partly because it is an Asian country that was never reduced to colonial status. }}
89. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PubRes/Research/Papers/9/1/8/00PLLawRP07041-New-Zealand-sovereignty-1857-1907-1947-or-1987.htm |title=New Zealand Parliament – New Zealand sovereignty: 1857, 1907, 1947, or 1987? |work=New Zealand Parliament Research Papers |accessdate=April 19, 2009}}
90. ^{{cite web| title=Paraguay |work=Britannica.com |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/442637/Paraguay/27953/War-of-the-Triple-Alliance |accessdate=2009-06-26 }}
91. ^Independence recognized via the Treaty of Manila (1946).
92. ^{{cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi–bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+sg0033) |title=Singapore as Part of Malaysia |last=Leitch Lepoer |first=Barbara |year=1989 |work=Library of Congress Country Studies |publisher=Government Printing Office |accessdate=29 January 2011 |location=Washington, D.C. }}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Europe

Oceania

Transcontinental states

Sortable list

In this list, "date of last subordination" refers to the last date of control by an external government. The list shows large groupings associated with the dates of independence from decolonization (e.g. 41 current states gained control of sovereignty from United Kingdom and France between 1956 and 1966) or dissolution of a political union (e.g. 18 current states gained control of sovereignty from Soviet Union and Yugoslavia between 1990 and 1992). In other cases, a sovereign state submitted to foreign military occupation or political subjugation for a period of time and later regained its independence (e.g. 6 current states gained control of sovereignty from Nazi Germany between 1944 and 1945).

Dates refer to de facto rule or occupation of the major territory, whether or not legitimized by international recognition.

In a union such as Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, or the Kalmar Union, one of the constituents can be considered the dominant power – generally where the seat of government was located. The United Kingdom is a particularly complicated case. If England is viewed as the dominant member, then history can be traced from Roman conquest, Saxon invasions, 10th century unification, and the 1066 Norman Conquest before the union of England and Scotland in 1707. However, if viewed from a Scottish perspective, an unbroken history of sovereignty can be traced from unification in 843 through the 1707 union with England (with a brief annexation by England from 1657 to 1660). Some Scots view the 1707 union as a ceding of sovereignty to England.^[54]