Compare British Indian Ocean Territory (2008) - French Guiana (2006)

Compare British Indian Ocean Territory (2008) z French Guiana (2006)

	British Indian Ocean Territory (2008)	French Guiana (2006)

Administrative divisions	-	none (overseas department of France)
Age structure	-	0-14 years: 28.9% (male 29,540/female 28,210) 15-64 years: 64.8% (male 69,302/female 59,980) 65 years and over: 6.3% (male 6,350/female 6,127) (2006 est.)
Agriculture - products	-	corn, rice, manioc (tapioca), sugar, cocoa, vegetables, bananas; cattle, pigs, poultry
Airports	1 (2007)	11 (2006)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2007)	total: 4 over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 1 (2006)
Airports - with unpaved runways	-	total: 7 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 5 (2006)
Area	total: 54,400 sq km land: 60 sq km; Diego Garcia 44 sq km water: 54,340 sq km note: includes the entire Chagos Archipelago of 55 islands	total: 91,000 sq km land: 89,150 sq km water: 1,850 sq km
Area - comparative	land area is about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC	slightly smaller than Indiana
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 settled by the French in 1604, French Guiana was the site of notorious penal settlements until 1951. The European Space Agency launches its communication satellites from Kourou.
Birth rate	-	20.46 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Budget	-	revenues: $135.5 million expenditures: $135.5 million; including capital expenditures of $105 million (1996)
Capital	-	name: Cayenne geographic coordinates: 4 56 N, 52 20 W time difference: UTC-3 (2 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Climate	tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds	tropical; hot, humid; little seasonal temperature variation
Coastline	698 km	378 km
Constitution	-	4 October 1958 (French Constitution)
Country name	conventional long form: British Indian Ocean Territory conventional short form: none abbreviation: BIOT	conventional long form: Department of Guiana conventional short form: French Guiana local long form: none local short form: Guyane
Death rate	-	4.88 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Debt - external	-	$800.3 million (2003)
Dependency status	overseas territory of the UK; administered by a commissioner, resident in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London	overseas department of France
Diplomatic representation from the US	none (overseas territory of the UK)	none (overseas department of France)
Diplomatic representation in the US	none (overseas territory of the UK)	none (overseas department of France)
Disputes - international	Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago including Diego Garcia; in 2001, the former inhabitants of the Chagos Archipelago, evicted in 1967 and 1973 and now residing chiefly in Mauritius, were granted UK citizenship and the right to repatriation; in May 2006, the High Court of London reversed U.K. Government's 2004 orders of council that banned habitation on the islands; a small group of Chagossians visited Diego Garcia in April 2006; repatriation is complicated by the exclusive US military lease of Diego Garcia that restricts access to the largest viable island in the chain	Suriname claims area between Riviere Litani and Riviere Marouini (both headwaters of the Lawa) in French Guiana
Economic aid - recipient	-	$NA
Economy - overview	All economic activity is concentrated on the largest island of Diego Garcia, where a joint UK-US military facility is located. Construction projects and various services needed to support the military installation are performed 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 native Ilois return, they plan to reestablish sugarcane production and fishing. The territory makes money by selling fishing licenses and postage stamps.	The economy is tied closely to the much larger French economy through subsidies and imports. Besides the French space center at Kourou (which accounts for 25% of GDP), fishing and forestry are the most important economic activities. Forest and woodland cover 90% of the country. The large reserves of tropical hardwoods, not fully exploited, support an expanding sawmill industry that provides sawn logs for export. Cultivation of crops is limited to the coastal area, where the population is largely concentrated; rice and manioc are the major crops. French Guiana is heavily dependent on imports of food and energy. Unemployment is a serious problem, particularly among younger workers.
Electricity - consumption	NA kWh	432.6 million kWh (2003)
Electricity - exports	-	0 kWh (2003)
Electricity - imports	-	0 kWh (2003)
Electricity - production	NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by the US military	465.2 million kWh (2003)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Diego Garcia 15 m	lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Bellevue de l'Inini 851 m
Environment - current issues	NA	NA
Ethnic groups	-	black or mulatto 66%, white 12%, East Indian, Chinese, Amerindian 12%, other 10%
Exchange rates	-	euros per US dollar - 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001)
Executive branch	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952) head of government: Commissioner Leigh TURNER (since July 2006); Administrator Tony HUMPHRIES (since February 2005); note - both reside in the UK and are represented by the officer commanding British Forces on Diego Garcia cabinet: NA elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; commissioner and administrator appointed by the monarch	chief of state: President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995), represented by Prefect Jean-Pierre LAFLAQUIERE (since 19 July 2006) head of government: President of the General Council Pierre DESERT (since 26 March 2004); President of the Regional Council Antoine KARAM (since 22 March 1992) cabinet: NA elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of Interior; presidents of the General and Regional Councils are appointed by the members of those councils
Exports	-	NA bbl/day
Exports - commodities	-	shrimp, timber, gold, rum, rosewood essence, clothing
Exports - partners	-	France 62%, Switzerland 7%, US 2% (2004)
Fiscal year	-	calendar year
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 France is used
GDP - composition by sector	-	agriculture: NA% 6.6% industry: NA% 15.6% services: NA% 77.8%
GDP - real growth rate	-	NA%
Geographic coordinates	6 00 S, 71 30 E; note - Diego Garcia 7 20 S, 72 25 E	4 00 N, 53 00 W
Geography - note	archipelago of 55 islands; Diego Garcia, largest and southernmost island, occupies strategic location in central Indian Ocean; island is site of joint US-UK military facility	mostly an unsettled wilderness; the only non-independent portion of the South American continent
Household income or consumption by percentage share	-	lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%
Illicit drugs	-	small amount of marijuana grown for local consumption; minor transshipment point to Europe
Imports	-	NA bbl/day
Imports - commodities	-	food (grains, processed meat), machinery and transport equipment, fuels and chemicals
Imports - partners	-	France 63%, US, Trinidad and Tobago, Italy (2004)
Independence	-	none (overseas department of France)
Industrial production growth rate	-	NA%
Industries	-	construction, shrimp processing, forestry products, rum, gold mining
Infant mortality rate	-	total: 11.76 deaths/1,000 live births male: 12.58 deaths/1,000 live births female: 10.89 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	-	1% (2003)
International organization participation	-	UPU, WCL, WFTU
Irrigated land	0 sq km	20 sq km (2003)
Judicial branch	-	Court of Appeals or Cour d'Appel (highest local court based in Martinique with jurisdiction over Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana)
Labor force	-	62,630 (1999)
Labor force - by occupation	-	agriculture: 18.2% industry: 21.2% services: 60.6% (1980)
Land boundaries	0 km	total: 1,240.4 km border countries: Brazil 730.4 km, Suriname 510 km
Land use	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2005)	arable land: 0.13% permanent crops: 0.04% other: 99.83% (90% forest, 10% other) (2005)
Languages	-	French
Legal system	the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply	French legal system
Legislative branch	-	unicameral General Council or Conseil General (19 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and a unicameral Regional Council or Conseil Regional (31 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) elections: General Council - last held in March 2000 (next to be held March 2006); Regional Council - last held 21 and 28 March 2004 (next to be held in 2010) election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PSG 5, various left-wing parties 5, independents 7, other 2; Regional Council - (second election results) percent of vote by party - PS 37.24%, UMP 31.58%, FDG/Walwari 31.18%; seats by party - PS 17, UMP 7, FDG/Walwari 7 note: one seat was elected to the French Senate on 27 September 1998 (next to be held September 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; 2 seats were elected to the French National Assembly on 9 June-16 June 2002 (next to be held in 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - UMP/RPR 1, Walwari Committee 1
Life expectancy at birth	-	total population: 77.27 years male: 73.95 years female: 80.75 years (2006 est.)
Literacy	-	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 83% male: 84% female: 82% (1982 est.)
Location	archipelago in the Indian Ocean, south of India, about one-half the way from Africa to Indonesia	Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Brazil and Suriname
Map references	Political Map of the World	South America
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 3 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm	territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Military - note	defense is the responsibility of the UK; the US lease on Diego Garcia expires in 2016	defense is the responsibility of France
Military branches	-	no regular military forces; Gendarmerie
Military expenditures - dollar figure	-	NA
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	-	NA
National holiday	-	Bastille Day, 14 July (1789)
Nationality	-	noun: French Guianese (singular and plural) adjective: French Guianese
Natural hazards	NA	high frequency of heavy showers and severe thunderstorms; flooding
Natural resources	coconuts, fish, sugarcane	bauxite, timber, gold (widely scattered), petroleum, kaolin, fish, niobium, tantalum, clay
Net migration rate	-	4.01 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Political parties and leaders	-	Guyana Democratic Forces or FDG [Georges OTHILY]; Guyanese Democratic Action or ADG [Andre LECANTE]; Guyanese Socialist Party or PSG [Marie-Claude VERDAN]; Popular National Guyanese Party or PNPG [Jose DORCY]; Socialist Party or PS [Alix LABBE]; Union for French Democracy or UDF [Georges HABRAN-MERY]; Union for a Popular Movement or UMP (includes RPR) [Remi Louis DUBOC]; Walwari Committee (aligned with the PRG in France) [Christine TAUBIRA-DELANON]
Political pressure groups and leaders	-	NA
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 November 2004, there were approximately 4,000 UK and US military personnel and civilian contractors living on the island of Diego Garcia	199,509 (July 2006 est.)
Population below poverty line	-	NA%
Population growth rate	-	1.96% (2006 est.)
Radio broadcast stations	AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998)	AM 2, FM 14 (including 6 repeaters), shortwave 6 (including 5 repeaters) (1998)
Religions	-	Roman Catholic
Sex ratio	-	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.16 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.04 male(s)/female total population: 1.12 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Suffrage	-	18 years of age; universal
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: country code (Diego Garcia) - 246; international telephone service is carried by satellite (2000)	general assessment: NA domestic: fair open-wire and microwave radio relay system international: country code - 594; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)
Telephones - main lines in use	NA	51,000 (2001)
Telephones - mobile cellular	-	98,000 (2004)
Television broadcast stations	1 (1997)	3 (plus eight low-power repeaters) (1997)
Terrain	flat and low (most areas do not exceed two meters in elevation)	low-lying coastal plains rising to hills and small mountains
Total fertility rate	-	2.98 children born/woman (2006 est.)
Unemployment rate	-	19.2% (December 2003)
Waterways	-	3,760 km note: 460 km navigable by small oceangoing vessels and coastal and river steamers, 3,300 km by native craft (2003)

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