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British Indian Ocean Territory

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Background :

Formerly administered as part of the British Crown Colony of Mauritius, the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) was established as an overseas territory of the UK in 1965. A number of the islands of the territory were later transferred to the Seychelles when it attained independence in 1976. Subsequently, BIOT has consisted only of the six main island groups comprising the Chagos Archipelago. The largest and most southerly of the islands, Diego Garcia, contains a joint UK-US naval support facility. All of the remaining islands are uninhabited. Between 1967 and 1973, former agricultural workers, earlier residents in the islands, were relocated primarily to Mauritius, but also to the Seychelles. Negotiations between 1971 and 1982 resulted in the establishment of a trust fund by the British Government as compensation for the displaced islanders, known as Chagossians. Beginning in 1998, the islanders pursued a series of lawsuits against the British Government seeking further compensation and the right to return to the territory. In 2006 and 2007, British court rulings invalidated the immigration policies contained in the 2004 BIOT Constitution Order that had excluded the islanders from the archipelago, but upheld the special military status of Diego Garcia. In 2008, the House of Lords, as the final court of appeal in the UK, ruled in favor of the British Government by overturning the lower court rulings and finding no right of return on the part of the Chagossians. 

Location :

archipelago in the Indian Ocean, south of India, about halfway between Africa and Indonesia 

Geographic Coordinates Center :

6 00 S, 71 30 E  (Latitude, Longtitude)

Geographic Coordinates Rectangle :

West 71.26
North -5.27
East 72.49
South -7.44

Map references :

Other Regions 

Area :

total 54 400 square km
land 60 square km

Coastline :

698.00 km

Climate :

tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds 

Terrain :

flat and low (most areas do not exceed two meters in elevation) 

Elevation extremes :

lowest point 0 metres
highest point 15 metres

Natural resources :

coconuts fish
sugarcane

Land use :

arable land 0.00 %
permanent crops 0.00 %
other 100.00 %

Irrigated land :

0 square km

Country name :

conventional long form British Indian Ocean Territory

Country Codes :

ISO 3166 IO
ISO Numeric 86
ISO3 IOT
FIPS IO
ccTLD io
English British Indian Ocean Territory

Executive branch :

Queen ELIZABETH II

Communications :

FM Radio broadcast stations 2
Television broadcast stations 1
Internet Country code (ccTLD) io
Internet Hosts 160

Transportation :

Airports with paved runways 1

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