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Compare British Indian Ocean Territory (2004) - Svalbard (2001)
Compare British Indian Ocean Territory (2004) z Svalbard (2001)
| British Indian Ocean Territory (2004) | Svalbard (2001) | |
 |  | |
| Age structure | - | 0-14 years:
NA% 15-64 years: NA% 65 years and over: NA% |
| Airports | 1 (2003 est.) | 4 (2000 est.) |
| Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
total:
1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total:
3 under 914 m: 3 (2000 est.) |
| Area | total: 60 sq km
land: 60 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes the entire Chagos Archipelago |
total:
62,049 sq km land: 62,049 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Spitsbergen and Bjornoya (Bear Island) |
| Area - comparative | about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC | slightly smaller than West Virginia |
| 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. | First discovered by the Norwegians in the 12th century, the islands served as an international whaling base during the 17th and 18th centuries. Norway's sovereignty was recognized in 1920; five years later it officially took over the territory. |
| Birth rate | - | NA births/1,000 population |
| Budget | - | revenues:
$11.5 million expenditures: $11.5 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1998 est.) |
| Capital | - | Longyearbyen |
| Climate | tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds | arctic, tempered by warm North Atlantic Current; cool summers, cold winters; North Atlantic Current flows along west and north coasts of Spitsbergen, keeping water open and navigable most of the year |
| Coastline | 698 km | 3,587 km |
| Country name | conventional long form: British Indian Ocean Territory
conventional short form: none abbreviation: BIOT |
conventional long form:
none conventional short form: Svalbard (sometimes referred to as Spitzbergen) |
| Currency | - | Norwegian krone (NOK) |
| Death rate | - | NA deaths/1,000 population |
| Dependency status | overseas territory of the UK; administered by a commissioner, resident in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London | territory of Norway; administered by the Ministry of Industry, Oslo, through a governor (sysselmann) residing in Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen; by treaty (9 February 1920) sovereignty was given to Norway |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | - |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | 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; 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 | focus of a maritime boundary dispute between Norway and Russia |
| Economic aid - recipient | - | $8.2 million from Norway (1998) |
| 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. | Coal mining is the major economic activity on Svalbard. The treaty of 9 February 1920 gives the 41 signatories equal rights to exploit mineral deposits, subject to Norwegian regulation. Although US, UK, Dutch, and Swedish coal companies have mined in the past, the only companies still mining are Norwegian and Russian. The settlements on Svalbard are essentially company towns. The Norwegian state-owned coal company employs nearly 60% of the Norwegian population on the island, runs many of the local services, and provides most of the local infrastructure. There is also some trapping of seal, polar bear, fox, and walrus. |
| Electricity - consumption | NA kWh | NA kWh |
| Electricity - production | NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by the US military | NA kWh |
| Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
NA% hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA% |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on Diego Garcia 15 m |
lowest point:
Arctic Ocean 0 m highest point: Newtontoppen 1,717 m |
| Environment - current issues | NA | NA |
| Ethnic groups | - | Norwegian 55.4%, Russian and Ukrainian 44.3%, other 0.3% (1998) |
| Exchange rates | - | Norwegian kroner per US dollar - 8.7784 (January 2001), 8.8018 (2000), 7.7992 (1999), 7.5451 (1998), 7.0734 (1997), 6.4498 (1996) |
| 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 |
chief of state:
King HARALD V of Norway (since 17 January 1991) head of government: Governor Morten RUUD (since NA November 1998) and Assistant Governor Odd Redar HUMLEGAARD (since NA) elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor and assistant governor responsible to the Polar Department of the Ministry of Justice |
| Exports | - | $NA |
| 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 Norway is used |
| GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $NA |
| GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $NA |
| GDP - real growth rate | - | NA% |
| Geographic coordinates | 6 00 S, 71 30 E | 78 00 N, 20 00 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 | northernmost part of the Kingdom of Norway; consists of nine main islands; glaciers and snowfields cover 60% of the total area |
| Highways | total: NA km
paved: short section of paved road between port and airfield on Diego Garcia unpaved: NA km |
total:
NA km paved: NA km unpaved: NA km |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | - | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
| Imports | - | $NA |
| Independence | - | none (territory of Norway) |
| Industrial production growth rate | - | NA% |
| Infant mortality rate | - | NA deaths/1,000 live births |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | - | NA% |
| International organization participation | - | none |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 13 (Svalbard and Jan Mayen) (2000) |
| Irrigated land | 0 sq km (1998 est.) | NA sq km |
| Labor force | - | NA |
| 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% (no trees, and the only bushes are crowberry and cloudberry) |
| Languages | - | Russian, Norwegian |
| Legal system | the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply | NA |
| Life expectancy at birth | - | total population:
NA years male: NA years female: NA years |
| Location | archipelago in the Indian Ocean, south of India, about one-half the way from Africa to Indonesia | Northern Europe, islands between the Arctic Ocean, Barents Sea, Greenland Sea, and Norwegian Sea, north of Norway |
| Map references | Political Map of the World | Arctic Region |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 3 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm |
exclusive fishing zone:
200 NM unilaterally claimed by Norway but not recognized by Russia territorial sea: 4 NM |
| Merchant marine | - | none (2000 est.) |
| Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the UK; the US lease on Diego Garcia expires in 2016 | demilitarized by treaty (9 February 1920) |
| National holiday | - | NA |
| Natural hazards | NA | ice floes often block up the entrance to Bellsund (a transit point for coal export) on the west coast and occasionally make parts of the northeastern coast inaccessible to maritime traffic |
| Natural resources | coconuts, fish, sugarcane | coal, copper, iron ore, phosphate, zinc, wildlife, fish |
| Net migration rate | - | NA migrant(s)/1,000 population |
| 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.) |
2,332 (July 2001 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | - | NA% |
| Population growth rate | - | -3.55% (2001 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | Diego Garcia | Barentsburg, Longyearbyen, Ny-Alesund, Pyramiden |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 1, FM 1 (plus 2 repeaters), shortwave 0 (1998) |
| Radios | - | NA |
| Railways | - | 0 km |
| 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) |
general assessment:
probably adequate domestic: local telephone service international: satellite earth station - 1 of unknown type (for communication with Norwegian mainland only) |
| Telephones - main lines in use | NA | NA |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | - | NA |
| Television broadcast stations | 1 (1997) | NA |
| Terrain | flat and low (most areas do not exceed four meters in elevation) | wild, rugged mountains; much of high land ice covered; west coast clear of ice about one-half of the year; fjords along west and north coasts |
| Total fertility rate | - | NA children born/woman |
| Waterways | - | none |
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