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)

Radio broadcast stations:
AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998)

Radios:
NA

Television broadcast stations:
1 (1997)

Televisions:
NA

Internet country code:
.io

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
1 (2000)

Transportation British Indian Ocean Territory

Highways:
total: NA km
paved: short section of paved road between port and airfield on
Diego Garcia
unpaved: NA km

Ports and harbors:
Diego Garcia

Airports:
1 (2003 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2004 est.)

Military British Indian Ocean Territory

Military - note:
defense is the responsibility of the UK; the US lease on Diego
Garcia expires in 2016

Transnational Issues British Indian Ocean Territory

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

This page was last updated on 10 February, 2005

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@British Virgin Islands

Introduction British Virgin Islands

Background:
First settled by the Dutch in 1648, the islands were annexed in
1672 by the English. The economy is closely tied to the larger and
more populous US Virgin Islands to the west; the US dollar is the
legal currency.

Geography British Virgin Islands

Location:
Caribbean, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean,
east of Puerto Rico

Geographic coordinates:
18 30 N, 64 30 W

Map references:
Central America and the Caribbean

Area:
total: 153 sq km
note: comprised of 16 inhabited and more than 20 uninhabited
islands; includes the island of Anegada
water: 0 sq km
land: 153 sq km

Area - comparative:
about 0.9 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries:
0 km

Coastline:
80 km

Maritime claims: