Political status and decolonisation

Tokelau political status: current status

Where the question stood on 22 September 2026: Tokelau remains a New Zealand territory, with no referendum since 2007.

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Status verified as of 22 September 2026. Political positions change; this explainer describes the documented position on that date.

Current position

Tokelau remains a territory of New Zealand. Two UN-supervised referendums on free-association status both fell short of the required two-thirds majority, and no further referendum has been held since 2007.[1]

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Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.

  1. 1.

    Claim: A second referendum, held 20-24 October 2007, again proposed free-association status; 64.4% voted in favour, falling short of the required two-thirds majority by 16 votes, and Tokelau's status as a New Zealand territory again did not change.

    • 2007 Tokelauan self-determination referendum (Wikipedia) link, 2007 referendum result section. Source record

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