Compare British Indian Ocean Territory (2004) - Heard Island and McDonald Islands (2001)

Compare British Indian Ocean Territory (2004) z Heard Island and McDonald Islands (2001)

	British Indian Ocean Territory (2004)	Heard Island and McDonald Islands (2001)

Airports	1 (2003 est.)	-
Airports - with paved runways	total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2004 est.)	-
Area	total: 60 sq km land: 60 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes the entire Chagos Archipelago	total: 412 sq km land: 412 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative	about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC	slightly more than two 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 that had excluded them from the archipelago, but upheld the special military status of Diego Garcia.	These uninhabited, barren islands were transferred from the UK to Australia in 1947. Populated by large numbers of seal and bird species, the islands have been designated a nature preserve.
Climate	tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds	antarctic
Coastline	698 km	101.9 km
Country name	conventional long form: British Indian Ocean Territory conventional short form: none abbreviation: BIOT	conventional long form: Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands conventional short form: Heard Island and McDonald Islands
Dependency status	overseas territory of the UK; administered by a commissioner, resident in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London	territory of Australia; administered from Canberra by the Department of the Environment, Sport, and Territories
Diplomatic representation from the US	none (overseas territory of the UK)	none (territory of Australia)
Diplomatic representation in the US	none (overseas territory of the UK)	none (territory of Australia)
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; the UK resists the Chagossians' demand for an immediate return to the islands; repatriation is complicated by the exclusive US military lease of Diego Garcia that restricted access to the largest island in the chain	none
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.	no economic activity
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: Southern Ocean 0 m highest point: Big Ben 2,745 m
Environment - current issues	NA	NA
Executive branch	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952) head of government: Commissioner Tony CROMBIE (since January 2004); Administrator Charles A. HAMILTON (since 2002); 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	the flag of Australia is used
Geographic coordinates	6 00 S, 71 30 E	53 06 S, 72 31 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	primarily used for research stations
Highways	total: NA km paved: short section of paved road between port and airfield on Diego Garcia unpaved: NA km	-
Irrigated land	0 sq km (1998 est.)	0 sq km (1993)
Land boundaries	0 km	0 km
Land use	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2001)	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	the laws of Australia, where applicable, apply
Location	archipelago in the Indian Ocean, south of India, about one-half the way from Africa to Indonesia	Southern Africa, islands in the Indian Ocean, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica
Map references	Political Map of the World	Antarctic Region
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 3 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm	exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 3 NM
Military - note	defense is the responsibility of the UK; the US lease on Diego Garcia expires in 2016	defense is the responsibility of Australia
Natural hazards	NA	Heard Island is dominated by a dormant volcano called Big Ben
Natural resources	coconuts, fish, sugarcane	none
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 in the 1960s and 1970s, in November 2000 they were granted the right of return by a British High Court ruling, though no timetable has been set; 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 2004 est.)	uninhabited (July 2001 est.)
Ports and harbors	Diego Garcia	none; offshore anchorage only
Radio broadcast stations	AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998)	-
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)	Heard Island - bleak and mountainous, with a quiescent volcano; McDonald Islands - small and rocky
Waterways	-	none

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