Compare South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2002) - British Indian Ocean Territory (2002)

Compare South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2002) z British Indian Ocean Territory (2002)

	South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2002)	British Indian Ocean Territory (2002)

Airports	none (2001)	1 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways	-	total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2002)
Area	total: 3,903 sq km land: 3,903 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Shag Rocks, Black Rock, Clerke Rocks, South Georgia Island, Bird Island, and the South Sandwich Islands, which consist of some nine islands	total: 60 sq km land: 60 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes the entire Chagos Archipelago
Area - comparative	slightly larger than Rhode Island	about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC
Background	The islands lie approximately 1,000 km east of the Falkland Islands and have been under British administration since 1908 except for a brief period in 1982 when Argentina occupied them. Grytviken, on South Georgia, was a 19th and early 20th century whaling station. The famed explorer Ernest SHACKLETON stopped there in 1914 en route to his ill-fated attempt to cross Antarctica on foot. He returned some 20 months later with a few companions in a small boat and arranged a successful rescue for the rest of his crew, stranded off the Antarctic Peninsula. He died in 1922 on a subsequent expedition and is buried in Grytviken. Today, the station houses scientists from the British Antarctic Survey. The islands have large bird and seal populations and, recognizing the importance of preserving the marine stocks in adjacent waters, the UK, in 1993, extended the exclusive fishing zone from 12 NM to 200 NM around each island.	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.
Climate	variable, with mostly westerly winds throughout the year interspersed with periods of calm; nearly all precipitation falls as snow	tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds
Coastline	NA km	698 km
Constitution	adopted 3 October 1985	-
Country name	conventional long form: South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands conventional short form: none	conventional long form: British Indian Ocean Territory conventional short form: none abbreviation: BIOT
Dependency status	overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina; administered from the Falkland Islands by a commissioner, who is concurrently governor of the Falkland Islands, representing Queen ELIZABETH II; Grytviken, formerly a whaling station on South Georgia, is a scientific base	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 territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina)	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Diplomatic representation in the US	none (overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina)	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Disputes - international	South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands occupied briefly by Argentina in 1982; islands continue to be claimed by Argentina	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	Some fishing takes place in adjacent waters. There is a potential source of income from harvesting fin fish and krill. The islands receive income from postage stamps produced in the UK, sale of fishing licenses, and harbor and landing fees from tourist vessels. Tourism from specialized cruise ships is increasing rapidly.	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.
Electricity - consumption	NA kWh	NA kWh
Electricity - production	NA kWh	NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by the US military
Electricity - production by source	fossil fuel: NA% hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA%	-
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Paget (South Georgia) 2,934 m	lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Diego Garcia 15 m
Environment - current issues	NA	NA
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
Flag description	the flag of the UK 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
Geographic coordinates	54 30 S, 37 00 W	6 00 S, 71 30 E
Geography - note	the north coast of South Georgia has several large bays, which provide good anchorage; reindeer, introduced early in the 21st century, live on South Georgia	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
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.)	0 sq km (1998 est.)
Land boundaries	0 km	0 km
Land use	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (largely covered by permanent ice and snow with some sparse vegetation consisting of grass, moss, and lichen) (1998 est.)	arable land: NEGL permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.)
Legal system	the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply; the senior magistrate from the Falkland Islands presides over the Magistrates Court	the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply
Location	Southern South America, islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, east of the tip of South America	Southern Asia, archipelago in the Indian Ocean, about one-half the way from Africa to Indonesia
Map references	Antarctic Region	Political Map of the World
Maritime claims	exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM	exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 3 NM
Military - note	defense is the responsibility of the UK	defense is the responsibility of the UK; the US lease on Diego Garcia expires in 2016
National holiday	Liberation Day, 14 June (1982)	-
Natural hazards	the South Sandwich Islands have prevailing weather conditions that generally make them difficult to approach by ship; they are also subject to active volcanism	NA
Natural resources	fish	coconuts, fish, sugarcane
Population	no indigenous inhabitants note: the small military garrison on South Georgia withdrew in March 2001, to be replaced by a permanent group of scientists of the British Antarctic Survey, which also has a biological station on Bird Island; the South Sandwich Islands are uninhabited (July 2002 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 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.)
Ports and harbors	Grytviken	Diego Garcia
Radio broadcast stations	0 (2003)	AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998)
Radios	-	NA
Telephone system	general assessment: NA domestic: NA international: coastal radiotelephone station at Grytviken	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	0 (2003)	1 (1997)
Terrain	most of the islands, rising steeply from the sea, are rugged and mountainous; South Georgia is largely barren and has steep, glacier-covered mountains; the South Sandwich Islands are of volcanic origin with some active volcanoes	flat and low (most areas do not exceed four meters in elevation)
Waterways	none	none

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