Country: BRITISH INDIAN OCEAN TERRITORY

Capital: Diego Garcia Island

Geographic Coordinates:  6 00 S, 71 30 E

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 2004, approximately 4,000 UK and US military personnel and civilian contractors were living on the island of Diego Garcia

Language: Language

Head of State:  Queen ELIZABETH II; Commissioner Colin ROBERTS (head of government)

Main Industries: The territory earns foreign exchange by selling fishing licenses and postage stamps

GDP in US Dollars (per capita): NA

Currency Code: British Pound (GBP) and the US Dollar (USD)

Life Expectancy: NA

Environment - current issues: No data

Issues facing Women and Children: No data

Land Mine Ban Signatory: N

Local Media: NA

Interesting Fact: This territory, consisting of the Chagos Archipelago and other small island groups, was formed in 1965 by agreement with Mauritius and the Seychelles. The largest and most southerly of the islands, Diego Garcia (17 sq mi), contains a joint UK-US naval support facility, used during the Persian Gulf War (1991), the war against Afghanistan (1991), and the second Iraq war (2003). The island's small native population of approximately 1,200, known as the Ilois or Chagos islanders, were forced to relocate (1967–1973) to Mauritius and the Seychelles, where the majority of these former agricultural workers live in poverty in urban slums. In November 2000 they were granted the right of return by a British High Court ruling, though no timetable has been set.

Famous for: Diego Garcia Island (UK-US defense base), Turtle Cove

Location