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British Indian Ocean Territory
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British Indian Ocean Territory in a nutshell
The British Indian Ocean Territory 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.
The territory is an archipelago of 55 islands, the largest being Diego Garcia, accounting for almost three-quarters 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, and moderated by trade winds.
The islands have a population of around 3600 - but few if any can be regarded as native to the islands.
The capital and largest city is Diego Garcia.
The islands have a complex history and arrangements for government - as documented in the Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Indian_Ocean_Territory
With the exception of one two-lane motorway, 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 bombers like the B-52) and only major seaport.
All economic activity is concentrated on Diego Garcia, where joint UK-US defence facilities are located. Approximately 2000 native inhabitants, known as the Chagossians or Ilois, were forcibly 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 carried out 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 $1 million for the territory.
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 use geosynchronous satellites over the Indian Ocean and also some over the eastern Atlantic Ocean.