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| 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. |
| | Country | Surface Area: 60 square km
Population: 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.)
Located in: Southern Asia, archipelago of 2,300 islands, in the Indian Ocean
Head of State: Queen ELIZABETH II
Prime Minister: Commissioner Tony CROMBIE
Independent since: overseas territory of the UK; administered by a commissioner, resident in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London
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