Compare Reunion (2004) - British Indian Ocean Territory (2007)

Compare Reunion (2004) z British Indian Ocean Territory (2007)

	Reunion (2004)	British Indian Ocean Territory (2007)

Administrative divisions	none (overseas department of France); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 4 arrondissements, 24 communes, and 47 cantons	-
Age structure	0-14 years: 30.9% (male 121,050; female 115,440) 15-64 years: 63.1% (male 238,553; female 245,236) 65 years and over: 6% (male 18,626; female 27,248) (2004 est.)	-
Agriculture - products	sugarcane, vanilla, tobacco, tropical fruits, vegetables, corn	-
Airports	2 (2003 est.)	1 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.)	total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2007)
Area	total: 2,517 sq km land: 2,507 sq km water: 10 sq km	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
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than Rhode Island	land area is about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC
Background	The Portuguese discovered the uninhabited island in 1513. From the 17th to the 19th centuries, French immigration, supplemented by influxes of Africans, Chinese, Malays, and Malabar Indians, gave the island its ethnic mix. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 cost the island its importance as a stopover on the East Indies trade route.	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.
Birth rate	19.69 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)	-
Budget	revenues: $1.26 billion expenditures: $2.62 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (1998)	-
Capital	Saint-Denis	-
Climate	tropical, but temperature moderates with elevation; cool and dry from May to November, hot and rainy from November to April	tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds
Coastline	207 km	698 km
Constitution	28 September 1958 (French Constitution)	-
Country name	conventional long form: Department of Reunion conventional short form: Reunion local long form: none local short form: Ile de la Reunion former: Bourbon Island	conventional long form: British Indian Ocean Territory conventional short form: none abbreviation: BIOT
Currency	euro (EUR)	-
Death rate	5.48 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)	-
Debt - external	NA	-
Dependency status	overseas department of France	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 department of France)	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Diplomatic representation in the US	none (overseas department of France)	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Disputes - international	none	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
Economic aid - recipient	$NA; note - substantial annual subsidies from France (2001 est.)	-
Economy - overview	The economy has traditionally been based on agriculture, but services now dominate. Sugarcane has been the primary crop for more than a century, and in some years it accounts for 85% of exports. The government has been pushing the development of a tourist industry to relieve high unemployment, which amounts to one-third of the labor force. The gap in Reunion between the well-off and the poor is extraordinary and accounts for the persistent social tensions. The white and Indian communities are substantially better off than other segments of the population, often approaching European standards, whereas minority groups suffer the poverty and unemployment typical of the poorer nations of the African continent. The outbreak of severe rioting in February 1991 illustrates the seriousness of socioeconomic tensions. The economic well-being of Reunion depends heavily on continued financial assistance from France.	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.
Electricity - consumption	1.005 billion kWh (2001)	NA kWh
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2001)	-
Electricity - imports	0 kWh (2001)	-
Electricity - production	1.08 billion kWh (2001)	NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by the US military
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Piton des Neiges 3,069 m	lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Diego Garcia 15 m
Environment - current issues	NA	NA
Ethnic groups	French, African, Malagasy, Chinese, Pakistani, Indian	-
Exchange rates	euros per US dollar - 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999)	-
Executive branch	chief of state: President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995), represented by Prefect Dominique VIAN (since 16 August 2004) head of government: President of the General Council Jean-Luc POUDROUX (since NA March 1998) and President of the Regional Council Paul VERGES (since NA March 1993) 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 the Interior; the presidents of the General and Regional Councils are elected by the members of those councils	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
Exports	NA (2001)	-
Exports - commodities	sugar 63%, rum and molasses 4%, perfume essences 2%, lobster 3%, (1993)	-
Exports - partners	France 74%, Japan 6%, Comoros 4% (2000)	-
Fiscal year	calendar year	-
Flag description	the flag of France is used	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
GDP	purchasing power parity - $4.348 billion (2003 est.)	-
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 8% industry: 19% services: 73% (2000 est.)	-
GDP - per capita	purchasing power parity - $5,800 (2001 est.)	-
GDP - real growth rate	2.5% (2003 est.)	-
Geographic coordinates	21 06 S, 55 36 E	6 00 S, 71 30 E; note - Diego Garcia 7 20 S, 72 25 E
Geography - note	this mountainous, volcanic island has an active volcano, Piton de la Fournaise; there is a tropical cyclone center at Saint-Denis, which is the monitoring station for the whole of the Indian Ocean	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
Highways	total: 2,724 km paved: 1,300 km (including 73 km of four-lane road) unpaved: 1,424 km (1994)	-
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: NA highest 10%: NA	-
Imports	NA (2001)	-
Imports - commodities	manufactured goods, food, beverages, tobacco, machinery and transportation equipment, raw materials, and petroleum products	-
Imports - partners	France 64%, Bahrain 3%, Germany 3%, Italy 3% (2000)	-
Independence	none (overseas department of France)	-
Industrial production growth rate	NA	-
Industries	sugar, rum, cigarettes, handicraft items, flower oil extraction	-
Infant mortality rate	total: 7.95 deaths/1,000 live births male: 8.71 deaths/1,000 live births female: 7.17 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)	-
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	NA	-
International organization participation	InOC, UPU, WFTU	-
Irrigated land	120 sq km (1998 est.)	0 sq km
Judicial branch	Court of Appeals or Cour d'Appel	-
Labor force	309,900 (2000)	-
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture 13%, industry 12%, services 75% (2000)	-
Land boundaries	0 km	0 km
Land use	arable land: 13.6% permanent crops: 1.2% other: 85.2% (2001)	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2005)
Languages	French (official), Creole widely used	-
Legal system	French law	the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply
Legislative branch	unicameral General Council (49 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve six-year terms) and a unicameral Regional Council (45 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve six-year terms) elections: General Council - last held 15 and 22 March 1998 (next to be held NA 2004); Regional Council - last held 28 March 2004 (next to be held NA 2010) election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - various right-wing candidates 13, PCR 10, PS 10, UDF 8, RPR 6, other left-wing candidates 2; Regional Council (second round) - percent of vote by party - PCR 44.9%, UMP 32.8%, PS-Greens 22.3%; seats by party - PCR 27, UMP 11, PS-Greens 7 note: Reunion elects three representatives to the French Senate; elections last held NA 2001 (next to be held NA 2006); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; Reunion also elects five deputies to the French National Assembly; elections last held 9 June-16 June 2002 (next to be held NA 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UMP-RPR 1, UMP 1, PCR 1	-
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 73.69 years male: 70.29 years female: 77.26 years (2004 est.)	-
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 88.9% male: 87% female: 90.8% (2003 est.)	-
Location	Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar	archipelago in the Indian Ocean, south of India, about one-half the way from Africa to Indonesia
Map references	World	Political Map of the World
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm	territorial sea: 3 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
Merchant marine	total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 28,264 GRT/44,885 DWT by type: chemical tanker 1 foreign-owned: Sweden 1 registered in other countries: 1	-
Military - note	defense is the responsibility of France	defense is the responsibility of the UK; the US lease on Diego Garcia expires in 2016
Military branches	no regular indigenous military forces; French forces (including Army, Navy, Air Force, and Gendarmerie)	-
Military manpower - availability	males age 15-49: 202,385 (2004 est.)	-
Military manpower - fit for military service	males age 15-49: 103,073 (2004 est.)	-
Military manpower - reaching military age annually	males: 7,070 (2004 est.)	-
National holiday	Bastille Day, 14 July (1789)	-
Nationality	noun: Reunionese (singular and plural) adjective: Reunionese	-
Natural hazards	periodic, devastating cyclones (December to April); Piton de la Fournaise on the southeastern coast is an active volcano	NA
Natural resources	fish, arable land, hydropower	coconuts, fish, sugarcane
Net migration rate	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)	-
Political parties and leaders	Communist Party of Reunion or PCR [Paul VERGES]; Rally for the Republic or RPR [Andre Maurice PIHOUEE]; Socialist Party or PS [Jean-Claude FRUTEAU]; Union for French Democracy or UDF [Gilbert GERARD]; Union for a Popular Movement or UMP [leader NA]	-
Political pressure groups and leaders	NA	-
Population	766,153 (July 2004 est.)	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
Population below poverty line	NA	-
Population growth rate	1.42% (2004 est.)	-
Ports and harbors	Le Port, Pointe des Galets	-
Radio broadcast stations	AM 2, FM 55, shortwave 0 (2001)	AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998)
Religions	Roman Catholic 86%, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist (1995)	-
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2004 est.)	-
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	-
Telephone system	general assessment: adequate system; principal center is Saint-Denis domestic: modern open-wire and microwave radio relay network international: country code - 262; radiotelephone communication to Comoros, France, Madagascar; new microwave route to Mauritius; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean); fiber optic submarine cable (SAT-3/WASC/SAFE) provides connectivity to Europe and Asia	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)
Telephones - main lines in use	300,000 est (2001)	NA
Telephones - mobile cellular	489,800 (2002)	-
Television broadcast stations	35 (plus 18 low-power repeaters) (2001)	1 (1997)
Terrain	mostly rugged and mountainous; fertile lowlands along coast	flat and low (most areas do not exceed two meters in elevation)
Total fertility rate	2.5 children born/woman (2004 est.)	-
Unemployment rate	36% (1999 est.)	-

Sitemap: Compare countries listing (map site) | Country listing (map site)
Links: Add to favorites | Information about this website | Stats | Polityka prywatnosci
This page was generated in ##czas## s. Size this page: ##rozmiar_strony## kB.