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.

Geography British Indian Ocean Territory

Location: Southern Asia, archipelago in the Indian Ocean, about one-half
the way from Africa to Indonesia

Geographic coordinates: 6 00 S, 71 30 E

Map references: Political Map of the World

Area: includes the entire Chagos Archipelago water: Area - comparative:
about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 698 km

Maritime claims: exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 3 NM

Climate: tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds

Terrain: flat and low (most areas do not exceed four meters in elevation)

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point:
unnamed location on Diego Garcia 15 m

Natural resources: coconuts, fish, sugarcane

Land use: arable land: NEGL permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 0 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: NA

Environment - current issues: NA

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

People British Indian Ocean Territory

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
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.)

Population growth rate: NA%

Government British Indian Ocean Territory

Country name: conventional long form: British Indian Ocean Territory
conventional short form: none abbreviation: BIOT

Dependency status: overseas territory of the UK; administered by a
commissioner, resident in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London

Legal system: