The British Indian Ocean Territory lies roughly in the middle of the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia, and 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) south of India, near the ► Seychelles and the ► Maldives. It is governed as the British Indian Ocean Territory, but Britain's ownership is disputed by its former inhabitants and by ► Mauritius. The territory comprises the six atolls of the Chagos Archipelago with over 1,000 individual islands. The largest island is the atoll of Diego Garcia, which is the site of a joint naval support facility of the ► United Kingdom and the ► United States. The former indigenous Ilois now live in ► Mauritius, which claims the islands as part of its sovereign territory.
Short name
British Indian Ocean Territory
Official name
British Indian Ocean Territory
Status
British overseas territory, British since 1815
Location
Indian Ocean
Capital
Diego Garcia
Population
approximately 4,000 military personnel and contractor inhabitants
This section holds a short summary of the history of the area of present-day the British Indian Ocean Territory, illustrated with maps, including historical maps of former countries and empires that included present-day the British Indian Ocean Territory.
The United Kingdom established the British Indian Ocean Territory in 1965 out of the Chagos Archipelago, part of Mauritius, and parts of the Seychelles. The former parts of the Seychelles were returned to Seychelles in 1976. The territory is not self-governing.
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