British Indian Ocean Territory (2002) | Akrotiri (2006) | |
Airports | 1 (2001) | - |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2002) |
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Area | total: 60 sq km
land: 60 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes the entire Chagos Archipelago |
total: 123 sq km
note: includes a salt lake and wetlands |
Area - comparative | about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC | about 0.7 times the size of Washington, DC |
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 residents 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. | By terms of the 1960 Treaty of Establishment that created the independent Republic of Cyprus, the UK retained full sovereignty and jurisdiction over two areas of almost 254 square kilometers - Akrotiri and Dhekelia. The southernmost and smallest of these is the Akrotiri Sovereign Base Area, which is also referred to as the Western Sovereign Base Area. |
Capital | - | name: Episkopi Cantonment; also serves as capital of Dhekelia
geographic coordinates: 34 40 N, 32 51 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
Climate | tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds | temperate; Mediterranean with hot, dry summers and cool winters |
Coastline | 698 km | 56.3 km |
Constitution | - | Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia Order in Council 1960, effective 16 August 1960 |
Country name | conventional long form: British Indian Ocean Territory
conventional short form: none abbreviation: BIOT |
conventional long form: Akrotiri Sovereign Base Area
conventional short form: Akrotiri |
Dependency status | overseas territory of the UK; administered by a commissioner, resident in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London | overseas territory of UK; administered by an administrator who is also the Commander, British Forces Cyprus |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Disputes - international | Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago and its former inhabitants, who reside chiefly in Mauritius, but in 2001 were granted UK citizenship and the right to repatriation since eviction in 1965; repatriation is complicated by the US military lease of Diego Garcia, the largest island in the chain | - |
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 providing services to the military and their families located in Akrotiri. All food and manufactured goods must be imported. |
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 |
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Environment - current issues | NA | shooting around the salt lake; note - breeding place for loggerhead and green turtles; only remaining colony of griffon vultures is on the base |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952)
head of government: Commissioner Alan HUCKLE (since 2001); 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 |
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952)
head of government: Administrator Air Vice-Marshal Richard LACEY (since 26 April 2006); note - reports to the British Ministry of Defence elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the administrator is 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 | the flag of the UK is used |
Geographic coordinates | 6 00 S, 71 30 E | 34 37 N, 32 58 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 | British extraterritorial rights also extended to several small off-post sites scattered across Cyprus |
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 (1998 est.) | - |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 47.4 km
border countries: Cyprus 47.4 km |
Land use | arable land: NEGL
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.) |
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Languages | - | English, Greek |
Legal system | the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply | 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 | peninsula on the southwest coast of Cyprus |
Map references | Political Map of the World | Middle East |
Maritime claims | exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 3 NM |
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Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the UK; the US lease on Diego Garcia expires in 2016 | Akrotiri has a full RAF base, Headquarters for British Forces on Cyprus, and Episkopi Support Unit |
Natural hazards | NA | - |
Natural resources | coconuts, fish, sugarcane | - |
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 2001, there were approximately 1,500 UK and US military personnel and 2,000 civilian contractors living on the island of Diego Garcia (July 2002 est.) |
no indigenous inhabitants
note: approximately 1,300 military personnel are on the base; there are another 5,000 British citizens who are families of military personnel or civilian staff on both Akrotiri and Dhekelia; Cyprus citizens work on the base, but do not live there |
Ports and harbors | Diego Garcia | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998) | FM 1
note: British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides Radio 1 and Radio 2 service to Akrotiri, Dhekelia, and Nicosia (2006) |
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) | British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides multi-channel satellite service to Akrotiri, Dhekelia, and Nicosia (2006) |
Terrain | flat and low (most areas do not exceed four meters in elevation) | - |
Waterways | none | - |