British Indian Ocean Territory
(overseas territory of the UK)
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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 November 2004, approximately 4,000 UK and US military personnel and civilian contractors were living on the island of Diego Garcia. All economic activity is concentrated on the largest island of Diego Garcia, where a joint UK-US military facility is located. Construction projects and various services needed to support the military installation are performed by military and contract employees from the UK, Mauritius, the Philippines, and the US. There are no industrial or agricultural activities on the islands. When the native Ilois return, they plan to reestablish sugarcane production and fishing. The territory earns foreign exchange by selling fishing licenses and postage stamps. Source: The World Factbook, CIA. |
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.