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 Definition  Field Listing  Rank
Order
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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.
Learn geography the easy way by playing ZL's Geographycards (www.geographycards.com)
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Location: |
archipelago
in the Indian Ocean, south of India, about one-half the way from
Africa to Indonesia |
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Geographic coordinates: |
6 00 S, 71
30 E |
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Map references: |
Political
Map of the World |
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Area: |
total:
60 sq km
land: 60 sq km
water: 0 sq km
note: includes the entire Chagos Archipelago |
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Area - comparative: |
about 0.3
times the size of Washington, DC |
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Land boundaries: |
0 km |
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Coastline: |
698 km
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Maritime claims: |
territorial sea: 3 nm
exclusive fishing zone:
200 nm |
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Climate: |
tropical
marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds |
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Terrain: |
flat and low
(most areas do not exceed four meters in elevation) |
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Elevation extremes: |
lowest
point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed
location on Diego Garcia 15 m |
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Natural resources: |
coconuts,
fish, sugarcane |
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Land use: |
arable
land: 0%
permanent crops: 0%
other: 100%
(2001) |
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Irrigated land: |
0 sq km
(1998 est.) |
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Natural hazards: |
NA |
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Environment - current issues: |
NA |
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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 Learn geography the easy way by playing ZL's Geographycards (www.geographycards.com)
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People |
British Indian Ocean
Territory |
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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 2001, there were approximately 1,500 UK and US military
personnel and 2,000 civilian contractors living on the island of
Diego Garcia (July 2004 est.) Learn geography the easy way by playing ZL's Geographycards (www.geographycards.com)
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Economy |
British Indian Ocean
Territory |
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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 |
Large portions of this information is from the US government open source publication "The World Factbook", other content copyright © Stratus-Pikpuk, Inc. You may use this information without permission for educational or other non-profit purposes if you refer to us as the source, contact us if you want to use this commercially.
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