page_title: British Indian Ocean Territory
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: British Indian Ocean Territory / Geography
context_page_description: The British Indian Ocean Territory is a British overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean halfway between Tanzania and Indonesia. The territory comprises the seven atolls of the Chagos Archipelago with over 1,000 individual islands – many very small – amounting to a total land area of 60 square kilometres. The largest and most southerly island is Diego Garcia, 27 km², the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States.
  The only inhabitants are US and British military personnel and associated contractors, who collectively number around 3,000. The forced removal of Chagossians from the Chagos Archipelago occurred between 1968 and 1973. The Chagossians, then numbering about 2,000 people, were expelled by the British government to Mauritius and Seychelles to allow the United States to build a joint UK–US military base there. Today, the exiled Chagossians are still trying to return, pointing out that the forced expulsion and dispossession was illegal, but the British government has repeatedly denied them the right of return. The islands are off-limits to Chagossians, casual tourists, and the media.
context_section_description: The territory is an archipelago of 55 islands, the largest being Diego Garcia, the only inhabited island which accounts for almost half of the territory's total land area (60 km²). The terrain is flat and low, with most areas not exceeding two metres above sea level. The climate is tropical marine; hot, humid, and moderated by trade winds. In 2010, 545,000 square kilometres (210,426 sq mi) of ocean around the islands was declared a marine reserve.
  The British Indian Ocean Territory (Constitution) Order 2004 defines the territory as comprising the following islands or groups of islands:
  Diego Garcia
  Three Brothers Islands
  Egmont Islands
  Nelson Island
  Peros Banhos
  Eagle Islands
  Salomon Islands
  Danger Islands
  As indicated above, the territory also included Aldabra, Farquhar and Desroches between 1965 and 1976; the latter group of islands is located north of Madagascar and were annexed from and returned to the Seychelles.
caption: Map of the British Indian Ocean Territory since 1976.
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