Compare British Indian Ocean Territory (2001) - Spratly Islands (2001)

Compare British Indian Ocean Territory (2001) z Spratly Islands (2001)

	British Indian Ocean Territory (2001)	Spratly Islands (2001)

Airports	1 (2000 est.)	4 (2000 est.)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2000 est.)	total: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2000 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways	-	total: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 2 (2000 est.)
Area	total: 60 sq km land: 60 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes the entire Chagos Archipelago	total: less than 5 sq km land: less than 5 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes 100 or so islets, coral reefs, and sea mounts scattered over an area of nearly 410,000 sq km of the central South China Sea
Area - comparative	about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC	NA
Background	Established as a territory of the UK in 1965, a number of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) islands were 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. Former agricultural workers, earlier resident in the islands, were relocated primarily to Mauritius but also to the Seychelles, between 1967 and 1973. In 2000, a British High Court ruling invalidated the local immigration order which had excluded them from the archipelago, but upheld the special military status of Diego Garcia.	Rich fishing grounds and the potential for gas and oil deposits have caused this archipelago to be claimed in its entirety by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam, while portions are claimed by Malaysia and the Philippines. All five parties have occupied certain islands or reefs, and occasional clashes have occurred between Chinese and Vietnamese naval forces
Climate	tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds	tropical
Coastline	698 km	926 km
Country name	conventional long form: British Indian Ocean Territory conventional short form: none abbreviation: BIOT	conventional long form: none conventional short form: Spratly Islands
Dependency status	overseas territory of the UK; administered by a commissioner, resident in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London	-
Diplomatic representation from the US	none (overseas territory of the UK)	-
Diplomatic representation in the US	none (overseas territory of the UK)	-
Disputes - international	the Chagos Archipelago is claimed by Mauritius and Seychelles	all of the Spratly Islands are claimed by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam; parts of them are claimed by Malaysia and the Philippines; in 1984, Brunei established an exclusive fishing zone that encompasses Louisa Reef in the southern Spratly Islands, but has not publicly claimed the island; in 2000, China joined ASEAN discussions towards creating a South China Sea "code of conduct" - a non-legally binding confidence building measure
Economy - overview	All economic activity is concentrated on the largest island of Diego Garcia, where joint UK-US defense facilities are located. Construction projects and various services needed to support the military installations are done by military and contract employees from the UK, Mauritius, the Philippines, and the US. There are no industrial or agricultural activities on the islands. When the Ilois return, they plan to reestablish sugarcane production and fishing.	Economic activity is limited to commercial fishing. The proximity to nearby oil- and gas-producing sedimentary basins suggests the potential for oil and gas deposits, but the region is largely unexplored, and there are no reliable estimates of potential reserves; commercial exploitation has yet to be developed.
Electricity - consumption	NA kWh	-
Electricity - production	NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by the US military	-
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Diego Garcia 15 m	lowest point: South China Sea 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Southwest Cay 4 m
Environment - current issues	NA	NA
Executive branch	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952) head of government: Commissioner John WHITE (since NA); Administrator Louise SAVILL (since NA); note - both reside in the UK cabinet: NA elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; commissioner and administrator appointed by the monarch	-
Flag description	white with six blue wavy horizontal stripes; the flag of the UK is in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the striped section bears a palm tree and yellow crown centered on the outer half of the flag	-
Geographic coordinates	6 00 S, 71 30 E	8 38 N, 111 55 E
Geography - note	archipelago of 2,300 islands; Diego Garcia, largest and southernmost island, occupies strategic location in central Indian Ocean; island is site of joint US-UK military facility	strategically located near several primary shipping lanes in the central South China Sea; includes numerous small islands, atolls, shoals, and coral reefs
Highways	total: NA km paved: short stretch of paved road of NA km between port and airfield on Diego Garcia unpaved: NA km	-
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)	1 (2000)	-
Irrigated land	0 sq km (1993)	0 sq km (1993)
Land boundaries	0 km	0 km
Land use	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: NA% other: NA%	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 0% other: 100%
Legal system	the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply	-
Location	Southern Asia, archipelago in the Indian Ocean, about one-half the way from Africa to Indonesia	Southeastern Asia, group of reefs and islands in the South China Sea, about two-thirds of the way from southern Vietnam to the southern Philippines
Map references	World	Southeast Asia
Maritime claims	exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 3 NM	NA
Military - note	defense is the responsibility of the UK; the US lease on Diego Garcia expires in 2016	Spratly Islands consist of more than 100 small islands or reefs, of which about 45 are claimed and occupied by China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam
Natural hazards	NA	typhoons; serious maritime hazard because of numerous reefs and shoals
Natural resources	coconuts, fish, sugarcane	fish, guano, undetermined oil and natural gas potential
Population	no indigenous inhabitants note: approximately 1,200 former agricultural workers resident in the Chagos Archipelago, often referred to as Chagossians or Ilois, were relocated to Mauritius and the Seychelles around the time of the construction of UK-US military facilities; in 1995, there were approximately 1,700 UK and US military personnel and 1,500 civilian contractors living on the island of Diego Garcia	no indigenous inhabitants note: there are scattered garrisons occupied by personnel of several claimant states (July 2001 est.)
Ports and harbors	Diego Garcia	none; offshore anchorage only
Radio broadcast stations	AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998)	-
Radios	NA	-
Telephone system	general assessment: separate facilities for military and public needs are available domestic: all commercial telephone services are available, including connection to the Internet international: international telephone service is carried by satellite (2000)	-
Telephones - main lines in use	NA	-
Television broadcast stations	1 (1997)	-
Terrain	flat and low (most areas do not exceed four meters in elevation)	flat
Waterways	none	none

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