Country Profiles: British Indian Ocean Territory

British Indian Ocean Territory is located in the Indian Ocean near South Asia. The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) became an overseas territory of the UK in 1965. Several of the islands in this territory were transferred in 1976 to the Seychelles when it gained independence. With an area of 54,400 sq km, it is about 1/3 of the size of Washington, D.C.

The British Indian Ocean Territory is an archipelago of 55 islands. It is mostly flat and low.

There are no indigenous inhabitants of the British Indian Ocean Territory. Around 1,200 former agricultural workers (often called Chagossians or Ilois) were relocated to Mauritius and the Seychelles in the 1960s/1970s. In November 2004, about 4,000 UK and US military personnel and civilian contractors were living on the island of Diego Garcia.

The current Chief of State is Queen Elizabeth II. The Heads of Government are Commissioner Colin Roberts and Administrator John McManus. The currency is the U.S. Dollar.

All of this information was gathered from the CIA World Factbook. For more information, check out these resources...

British Indian Ocean Territory, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, U.K.

British Indian Ocean Territory, CIA World Factbook

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