This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on British Indian Ocean Territory is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
| British Indian Ocean Territory | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||||
| Motto: "In tutela nostra Limuria" (Latin) "Limuria is in our charge" |
||||||
| Anthem: God Save the Queen |
||||||
 |
||||||
| Capital (and largest city) |
Diego Garcia | |||||
| Official languages | English | |||||
| Government | British Overseas Territory | |||||
| - | Commissioner | Colin Roberts[1] | ||||
| - | Administrator | Joanne Yeadon[1] | ||||
| Created | 1965 | |||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 60 km² (n/a) 23.2 sq mi |
||||
| - | Water (%) | 0 | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | estimate | 3,500 (n/a) | ||||
| - | Density | 58.3/km² (n/a) 160.0/sq mi |
||||
| Currency | Pound sterling1 (GBP) |
|||||
| Time zone | (UTC+6) | |||||
| Internet TLD | .io | |||||
| Calling code | +246 | |||||
| 1 | U.S. dollar also accepted. | |||||
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Chagos Islands is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia. The territory comprises the six atolls of the Chagos Archipelago with over 1,000 individual islands.
The largest island is Diego Garcia, the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States.
Contents |
History
The Islands of Chagos Archipelago were discovered by Vasco da Gama in the early sixteenth century, then claimed in the eighteenth century by France as a possession of Mauritius. However, in 1810, Mauritius was captured by the United Kingdom, and France ceded the territory in the Treaty of Paris. Agricultural workers migrated to the Islands in the late nineteenth century, settling on the main island of Diego Garcia and establishing copra plantations.
In 1965, the United Kingdom split the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius, and the islands of Aldabra, Farquhar and Desroches (Des Roches) from the Seychelles to form the British Indian Ocean Territory. The purpose was to allow the construction of military facilities for the mutual benefit of the United Kingdom and the United States. The islands were formally established as an overseas territory of the United Kingdom on November 8, 1965. On June 23, 1976, Aldabra, Farquhar and Desroches were returned to Seychelles as a result of it attaining independence. Subsequently, BIOT has consisted only of the six main island groups comprising the Chagos Archipelago.
The creation of BIOT has been subject to legal controversy, as some legal opinions from international law expertscitation needed say that the decision to separate the BIOT from Mauritius was illegal because international law does not allow the dismembering of a country before independence. However the decision was taken with the full agreement of the Mauritius Council of Ministers.
In 1966, the British Government purchased the privately owned copra plantations, and closed them down, and removed the entire population (known as the Chagossians, or Ilois) of Diego Garcia to Mauritius. In 1971, the United Kingdom and the United States signed a treaty, leasing the island of Diego Garcia to the American military for the purposes of building a large air and naval base on the Island. The deal was important to the United Kingdom, as the United States agreed to give them a substantial discount on the purchase of Polaris nuclear missiles in return for the use of the islands as a basecitation needed. The strategic location of the Island was also significant at the centre of the Indian Ocean, and to counter any Soviet threat in the region.
Work on the military base commenced in 1971, with a large airbase with several long range runways constructed, as well as a harbour suitable for large naval vessels. Although classed as a joint UK/US base, in practice it is mainly staffed by the American military, although a British garrison is maintained at all times, and Royal Air Force long range patrol aircraft are deployed there. The United States Air Force used the base during the 1991 Gulf War and the 2001 war in Afghanistan, as well as the 2003 Iraq War.
During the 1980s, the Mauritian Government asserted a claim to sovereignty for the territory, citing the 1965 separation as illegal under international law, despite their apparent agreement at the time. The UK does not recognise Mauritius' claim, but has agreed to cede the Territory to Mauritius when it is no longer required for defence purposes. The Seychelles also launched a sovereignty claim on several of the Islands.
The islanders, who now reside in Mauritius and the Seychelles have continually asserted their right to return to Diego Garcia, winning important legal victories in the English High Court in 2000, 2006 and 2007. However, in the High Court and Court of Appeal in 2003 and 2004, the islanders application for further compensation on top of the £14.5 million value package of compensation they had already received was dismissed by the court.
On 11 May 2006 the High Court ruled that a 2004 Order in Council preventing the Chagossians resettlement of the islands was unlawful, and consequently that the Chagossians were entitled to return to the outer islands of the Chagos Archipelago.[2][3] On 23 May 2007, this was confirmed by the Court of Appeal. In a UK Government-sponsored visit, the islanders visited Diego Garcia on April 3, 2006 for humanitarian purposes, including the tending of the graves of their ancestors.[4]
Politics and law
As this is a territory of the United Kingdom, the head of state is Queen Elizabeth II. There is no Governor appointed to represent the Queen on the territory, as there are currently no longer any native inhabitants. The head of government is the Commissioner, currently Colin Roberts (since June 2008[1], replacing Leigh Turner) and Administrator Joanne Yeadon (since December 2007[1], replacing Tony Humphries), all of whom reside in the UK. The Commissioner's representative in the Territory is the officer commanding the detachment of British forces.
The laws of the territory are based on the constitution, set out in the British Indian Ocean Territory (Constitution) Order 2004, which gives the Commissioner full powers to make laws for the Territory.[5] Applicable treaties between the United Kingdom and the United States govern the use of the military base. The United States is required to ask permission of the United Kingdom to use the base for offensive military action.
The UK has an agreement with Mauritius to return the territory in the event that they are no longer required for defense purposes.citation needed
Geography and communications
The territory is an archipelago of 55 [6] islands, the largest being Diego Garcia, accounting for almost threequarters of the total land area of the territory, which is 60 km². The terrain is flat and low, with most areas not exceeding 2 metres above sea level. The climate is tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds.
With the exception of one four-lane motorway, the only one of its kind in the South Indian Ocean, most of the islands in the territory have no roads of any sort. Diego Garcia has a short stretch of paved road between the port and airfield; otherwise most transport is by bicycle.
Diego Garcia's military base is home to the territory's only airport (one paved runway over 3000 metres long), capable of operating very heavy USAF bombers like the B-52, and only one major seaport.
Economy
All economic activity is concentrated on Diego Garcia, where joint UK-US defence facilities are located. Approximately 2,000 native inhabitants, known as the Chagossians or Ilois, were relocated to Mauritius before construction of UK-US military facilities; in 1995, there were approximately 1700 UK and US military personnel and 1500 civilian contractors living on the island. 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. The licensing of commercial fishing provides an annual income of about one million dollars for the Territory.[7] Separate telephone facilities for military and public needs are available, providing all standard commercial telephone services, including connection to the Internet. International telephone service is carried by communications satellite. The Territory has three radio broadcast stations, one AM and two FM, and one television broadcast station. Because of its extreme equatorial location, Diego Garcia can not only used geosynchronous satellites over the Indian Ocean, but also some over the eastern Atlantic Ocean.
Postage stamps have been issued for British Indian Ocean Territory since 17 January 1968.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Asia and Oceania British Indian Ocean Territory (British Overseas Territory). Accessed 2008-08-28.
- ^ News - Telegraph
- ^ This is a draft of the judgment to be handed down on ––––– 2000 at ––––– a.m. in Court No –––. It is confidential to Counsel and Solicitors, but the substance may be communicated to clients not more than one hour before the giving of judgment. The offi
- ^ BBC NEWS | UK | Paradise regained - for a few days
- ^ UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office "Country Profile of BIOT"
- ^ UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office "BIOT Country Profile" Retrieved December 13, 2007
- ^ House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 21 Jun 2004 (pt 13)
External links
- Let Them Return - The Chagos People's Homeland Campaign
- Diego Garcia Online: Information for the Diego Garcia, BIOT population.
- UK Foreign Office- profile
- British Indian Ocean Territory entry at The World Factbook
- Diego Garcia timeline posted at the History Commons
- US Military Site on Diego Garcia
- A Return from Exile in Sight? The Chagossians and their Struggle, from the Northwestern Journal of International Human Rights
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 28 August 2008, at 18:57.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "British Indian Ocean Territory".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.