British Indian Ocean Territory
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "In tutela nostra Limuria"  (Latin) "Limuria is in our charge"
Anthem: God Save the Queen (official) National Song:"I Vow to Thee, My Country" (official national song)[citation needed][dubious – discuss]
Capital		Diego Garcia 7°18′S 72°24′E / 7.3°S 72.4°E / -7.3; 72.4
Largest city		Diego Garcia
Official language(s)		English
Ethnic groups		95.88% British and American 4.12% other[1]
Government		British Overseas Territory
-	Monarch	H.M. Queen Elizabeth II
-	Commissioner	Colin Roberts[2]
-	Administrator	John McManus[2]
Created		1965
Area
-	Total	54,400 km2 (n/a) 21,004 sq mi
-	Water (%)	99.89
Population
-	estimate	4,000[3] (n/a)
-	Density	58.3/km2 (n/a) 160.0/sq mi
Currency		United States dollar[4][5] (USD)
Time zone		(UTC+6)
Drives on the		right
ISO 3166 code		IO
Internet TLD		.io
Calling code		+246

The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Chagos Islands is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia. The territory comprises the six atolls of the Chagos Archipelago (Phehandweep फेहंद्वीप in Hindi and other North Indian languages, Paeikaana Theevukal பேகான தீவுகள் in Tamil, Feyhandheebu ފޭހަންދީބު in Dhivehi) with over 1,000 individual islands (many tiny) having a total land area of 60 square kilometres (23 sq mi).^[5]

The largest island is Diego Garcia (area 44 km²), the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States. Following the eviction of the native population (Chagossians) in the 1960s, the only inhabitants are US and British military personnel and associated contractors, who collectively number around 4,000 (2004 figures).^[5]

History[link]

Maldivian mariners knew the Chagos Islands well.^[6] In Maldivian lore they are known as Fōlhavahi or Hollhavai (the latter name in the closer Southern Maldives). According to Southern Maldivian oral tradition, traders and fishermen were occasionally lost at sea and got stranded in one of the islands of the Chagos. Eventually they were rescued and brought back home. However, these islands were judged to be too far away from the Maldives to be settled permanently by them. Thus for many centuries the Chagos were ignored by their northern neighbours.

The islands of Chagos Archipelago were charted by Vasco da Gama in the early sixteenth century, then claimed in the eighteenth century by France as a possession of Mauritius. They were first settled in the 18th century, by African slaves and Indian labourers brought by Franco-Mauritians to found coconut plantations.^[7] In 1810, Mauritius was captured by the United Kingdom, and France ceded the territory in the Treaty of Paris.

In 1965, the United Kingdom split the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius, and the islands of Aldabra, Farquhar and Desroches (Des Roches) from the Seychelles, to form the British Indian Ocean Territory. The purpose was to allow the construction of military facilities for the mutual benefit of the United Kingdom and the United States. The islands were formally established as an overseas territory of the United Kingdom on 8 November 1965. On 23 June 1976, Aldabra, Farquhar and Desroches were returned to Seychelles as a result of its attaining independence. Subsequently, BIOT has consisted only of the six main island groups comprising the Chagos Archipelago.

Depopulation of Chagos Islands[link]

In 1966, the British government purchased the privately owned copra plantations and closed them down. Over the next five years, the British authorities forcibly and clandestinely removed the entire population of about 2,000 people, known as Chagossians (or Ilois), from Diego Garcia and two other Chagos atolls, Peros Banhos and Salomon, to Mauritius^[8] (see Depopulation of Diego Garcia). In 1971, the United Kingdom and the United States signed a treaty, leasing the island of Diego Garcia to the American military for the purposes of building a large air and naval base on the Island. The deal was important to the United Kingdom, as the United States agreed to give them a substantial discount on the purchase of Polaris nuclear missiles in return for the use of the islands as a base^{[citation needed]}. The strategic location of the island was also significant at the centre of the Indian Ocean, and to counter any Soviet threat in the region.

View of Diego Garcia, showing military base.

Work on the military base commenced in 1971, with a large airbase with several long range runways constructed, as well as a harbour suitable for large naval vessels. Although classed as a joint UK/US base, in practice it is mainly staffed by the American military, although a British garrison is maintained at all times, and Royal Air Force long range patrol aircraft are deployed there. The United States Air Force used the base during the 1991 Gulf War and the 2001 war in Afghanistan, as well as the 2003 Iraq War.

During the 1980s^{[year needed]}, Mauritius asserted a claim to sovereignty for the territory, citing the 1965 separation as illegal under international law, despite their apparent agreement at the time. The UK does not recognise Mauritius' claim, but has agreed to cede the territory to Mauritius when it is no longer required for defence purposes.^[9] The Seychelles also launched a sovereignty claim on several of the islands.^{[which?][when?]}

The islanders, who now reside in Mauritius and the Seychelles, have continually asserted their right to return to Diego Garcia, winning important legal victories in the English High Court in 2000, 2006 and 2007. However, in the High Court and Court of Appeal in 2003 and 2004, the islanders' application for further compensation on top of the £14.5 million value package of compensation they had already received was dismissed by the court.

On 11 May 2006, the High Court ruled that a 2004 Order in Council preventing the Chagossians' resettlement of the islands was unlawful, and consequently that the Chagossians were entitled to return to the outer islands of the Chagos Archipelago.^[10] On 23 May 2007, this was confirmed by the Court of Appeal.^[11] In a visit sponsored by the British government, the islanders visited Diego Garcia and other islands on 3 April 2006 for humanitarian purposes, including the tending of the graves of their ancestors.^[12] On 22 October 2008, the British government won an appeal to the House of Lords regarding the royal prerogative used to continue excluding the Chagossians from their homeland.^[13][14]

According to a WikiLeaks disclosure documents,^[15] in a calculated move in 2009 to prevent re-settlement of the BIOT by native Chagossians, the UK proposed that the BIOT become a "marine reserve" with the aim of preventing the former inhabitants from returning to their lands. The summary of the diplomatic cable is as follows:

HMG would like to establish a “marine park” or “reserve” providing comprehensive environmental protection to the reefs and waters of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), a senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) official informed Polcouns on May 12. The official insisted that the establishment of a marine park – the world’s largest – would in no way impinge on USG use of the BIOT, including Diego Garcia, for military purposes. He agreed that the UK and U.S. should carefully negotiate the details of the marine reserve to assure that U.S. interests were safeguarded and the strategic value of BIOT was upheld. He said that the BIOT’s former inhabitants would find it difficult, if not impossible, to pursue their claim for resettlement on the islands if the entire Chagos Archipelago were a marine reserve.

A marine reserve was set up in April 2010 to mixed reactions from Chagossians. While the UK Foreign Office claimed that it was an environmental move as well as a necessary move to improve the coral populations off east Africa and therefore sub-saharan marine supplies, some Chagossians claimed that the reserve would prevent any resettlement due to the inability to fish in protected areas. The Chagossian UK-based Diego Garcian Society stated that it welcomed the marine reserve, noting that it was in the interest of Chagossians to have the area protected while they were exiled and that it could be renegotiated upon resettlement. The Foreign Office claimed the reserve was made "without prejudice to the outcome of the current, pending proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights".^[16]

Politics and law[link]

View of East Point, Diego Garcia from air.

As a territory of the United Kingdom, the head of state is Queen Elizabeth II. There is no Governor appointed to represent the Queen on the territory, as there are no longer any native inhabitants. The head of government is the Commissioner, currently Colin Roberts (since July 2008,^[2] replacing Leigh Turner) and Administrator John McManus (since April 2011,^[2] replacing Joanne Yeadon), all of whom reside in the United Kingdom. The Commissioner's representative in the territory is the officer commanding the detachment of British forces.

The laws of the territory are based on the constitution, set out in the British Indian Ocean Territory (Constitution) Order 2004, which gives the Commissioner full powers to make laws for the territory.^[2] Applicable treaties between the United Kingdom and the United States govern the use of the military base. The United States is required to ask permission of the United Kingdom to use the base for offensive military action.

Geography and communications[link]

British Indian Ocean Territory (B.I.O.T.) prior to Seychelles independence in 1976. The land at bottom left is the northern tip of Madagascar. (Desroches is not labelled, but is a part of the Amirante Islands.)

Map of the British Indian Ocean Territory since 1976

The territory is an archipelago of 55 islands,^[2] the largest being Diego Garcia, accounting for almost three-quarters of the total land area of the territory, which is 60 km². The terrain is flat and low, with most areas not exceeding 2 metres above sea level. The climate is tropical marine; hot, humid, and moderated by trade winds.^{[citation needed]} In 2010 545,000 square kilometres (210,426 sq mi) of ocean around the islands was declared a marine reserve.^[16]

With the exception of one two-lane motorway,^{[clarification needed]} most of the islands in the territory have no roads of any sort. Diego Garcia has a short stretch of paved road between the port and airfield; otherwise transport is mostly by bicycle. Diego Garcia's military base is home to the territory's only airport. At 3000 metres long, it is capable of supporting very heavy USAF bombers like the B-52 and the Space Shuttle in the event of a mission abort. It also has a major seaport.

Demographics[link]

The total population was reported at 4,000 in 2006, of whom 2,200 were American military personnel or contractors, 1,400 were Filipino contract workers, 300 were Mauritian contract workers, and 100 were members of the British Armed Forces.^[17] It is believed the population has significantly decreased since the end of US bombing operations from the island in August 2006.

Economy[link]

All economic activity is concentrated on Diego Garcia, where joint Anglo-American defence facilities are located. Approximately 2,000 native inhabitants, known as the Chagossians or Ilois, were forcibly relocated to Mauritius before construction of these facilities; in 1995, there were approximately 1,700 UK and US military personnel and 1,500 civilian contractors living on the island.

Construction projects and various services needed to support the military installations are carried out by military and contract employees from Britain, Mauritius, the Philippines, and the US. There are no industrial or agricultural activities on the islands. The licensing of commercial fishing provides an annual income of about $1 million for the territory.^[18]

Separate telephone facilities for military and public needs are available, providing all standard commercial telephone services, including connection to the Internet. International telephone service is carried by communications satellite. The territory has three radio broadcast stations, one AM and two FM, and one television broadcast station. Because of its equatorial location,^{[clarification needed]} Diego Garcia can use geosynchronous satellites over the Indian Ocean and also some over the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Amateur radio operations occur from Diego Garcia, using the British callsign prefix VQ9.

Postage stamps have been issued for British Indian Ocean Territory since 17 January 1968. Since the territory was originally part of the Seychelles, these stamps were denominated in rupees until 1992. However, after 1992 they became denominated in pounds sterling which is the official currency of the territory.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

	Geography portal
	Asia portal
	South Asia portal
	United Kingdom portal

• British Overseas Territories
• List of island countries and territories in the Indian Ocean

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: British Indian Ocean Territory

Look up British Indian Ocean Territory in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• The Chagos Conservation Trust - A non-political charity whose aims are to promote conservation, scientific and historical research, and to advance education concerning the archipelago.
• Diego Garcia Online: Information for the Diego Garcia, BIOT population.
• UK Foreign Office- profile
• British Indian Ocean Territory entry at The World Factbook
• Diego Garcia timeline posted at the History Commons
• US Military Site on Diego Garcia
• Christian Nauvel, "A Return from Exile in Sight? The Chagossians and their Struggle" (2006) 5 Northwestern Journal of International Human Rights 96-126 Retrieved 9 May 2011
• EU Relations with British Indian Ocean Territory
• Chagos Islands (B.I.O.T.) at Britlink - British Islands & Territories

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Indians in the United Kingdom
(British Indians/ Indian Britons)

Ben Kingsley Nasser Hussain Anish Kapoor Shobna Gulati Monty Panesar Jay Sean Salman Rushdie Ravi Bopara Keith Vaz Dev Patel Naveen Andrews Freddie Mercury Katrina Kaif Lakshmi Mittal
Total population
England 1,414,100 (2009) Wales 20,100 (2009) Scotland 17,000 (2001) Northern Ireland 1,600 (2001) 2.3% of the UK's population (Not including those of partial heritage)
Regions with significant populations
Throughout the United Kingdom In particular London · Birmingham · Manchester · Leicester · Leeds · Glasgow · Preston · Sheffield · Liverpool · Nottingham · Southampton · Bristol · Newcastle upon Tyne · Slough · Edinburgh · Cardiff · Wolverhampton · Sandwell · Coventry
Languages
1st generation:  · Bengali{}Telugu · Hindi · Tamil · Punjabi · Gujarati · Indian Languages · Urdu English (British English, Indian English) 2nd generation: English, Indian Languages 3rd generation: predominantly English
Religion
Hinduism · Sikhism · Islam · Christianity · Buddhism · Bahá'í · Jainism
Related ethnic groups
British Asian · Indian Diaspora · Indian people · Anglo-Indians Indian Americans · Indo-Canadians · Indo-Caribbeans

The term British Indian (also Indian British or Indian Britons) refers to citizens of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in India. This includes people born in the UK who are of Indian descent, and Indian-born people who have migrated to the UK. Today, Indians number around one and a half million in the UK (not including those of mixed Indian and Other ancestry), making them the single largest visible ethnic minority population in the country. They make up the largest subgroup of British Asians, and are one of the largest Indian communities in the Indian diaspora, largely due to the Indian-British relations (including historical links such as India having been under British occupation and still being part of the Commonwealth of Nations). The British Indian community is the fifth largest in the Indian diaspora, behind the Indian communities in Nepal, the United States, Malaysia and Burma.

British Indians are a well established and middle class ethnic group.^[1] A study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in 2007 found British Indians have among the lowest poverty rates among different ethnic groups in Britain second only to White British.

History[link]

Middle Ages - 18th century[link]

No one knows the earliest origins of settlement of Indians in Great Britain for certain; if the Romani (Gypsies) are included, then the earliest arrivals may have been in the Middle Ages — although not normally included as South Asian, the Roma and Sinti (most in the UK have been Sinti) are both believed to have originated in parts of what is now North India and Pakistan and to have begun travelling westward around 1000 C.E., though they have mixed with Southwest Asians and Europeans over the centuries. Romani began arriving in sizeable numbers in parts of Western Europe in the 16th century.

17th - 19th centuries[link]

People from India have settled in Great Britain since the East India Company (EIC) recruited lascars to replace vacancies in their crews on East Indiamen whilst on voyages in India. Many were then refused passage back, and were marooned in London. There were also some ayahs, domestic servants and nannies of wealthy British families, who accompanied their employers back to "Blighty" when their stay in Asia came to an end.

The Navigation Act of 1660 restricted the employment of non-English sailors to a quarter of the crew on returning East India Company ships. Baptism records in East Greenwich suggest that young Indians from the Malabar Coast were being recruited as servants at the end of the 17th century, and records of the EIC also suggest that Indo-Portuguese cooks from Goa were retained by captains from voyage to voyage.^[2] In 1797, 13 were buried in the parish of St Nicholas at Deptford.

During the 17th to 19th centuries, the East India Company brought over thousands of Indian lascars, scholars and workers (who were largely Bengali and/or Muslim) to Britain, most of whom settled down and took local British wives, due to a lack of Indian women in Britain at the time.^[6] Due to the majority of early Asian immigrants being lascar seamen, the earliest Indian communities were found in port towns. Naval cooks also came, many of them from the Sylhet Division of what is now Bangladesh. One of the most famous early Bengali immigrants to Britain was Sake Dean Mahomet, a captain of the British East India Company. In 1810, he founded London's first Indian restaurant, the Hindoostane Coffee House. He is also reputed for introducing shampoo and therapeutic massage to the United Kingdom.^[7] By the mid-19th century, there were more than 40,000 Indian seamen, diplomats, scholars, soldiers, officials, tourists, businessmen and students in Britain.^[4]

20th century[link]

By the late 19th century and early 20th century, there were around 70,000 Indians in Britain,^[8] 51,616 of whom were lascar seamen (when World War I began).^[5]

Following the Second World War and the breakup of the British Empire, Indian migration to the UK increased through the 1950s and 1960s. The Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 and Immigration Act 1971 largely restricted any further primary immigration, although family members of already-settled migrants were still allowed. In addition, much of the subsequent growth in the British Indian community has come from the births of second- and third-generation Indian Britons.

Although post-war immigration was continuous, several distinct phases can be identified:

• Manual workers were recruited to fulfill the labour shortage that resulted from World War II. These included Anglo-Indians who were recruited to work on the railways as they had done in India.
• Workers mainly from the Punjab region arrived in the late 1950s and 1960s. Many worked in the foundries of the English Midlands and a large number of Sikh people worked at Heathrow Airport in west London. This created an environment to where the next generation of families do not lose their identity as easily.
• During the same time, medical staff from India were recruited for the newly formed National Health Service. These people were targeted as the British had established medical schools in the Indian subcontinent which conformed to the British standards of medical training.
• During the 1960s and 1970s, large numbers of East African Indians, who already held British passports, entered the UK after they were expelled from Kenya, Uganda and Zanzibar. Many of these people had been store-keepers in Africa and opened shops when they arrived in the UK.

21st century[link]

By the early 21st century, the British Indian community had grown to number over one million. According to the 2001 UK Census, 1,053,411 Britons had full Indian ethnicity (representing 1.8% of the UK's population). An overwhelming majority of 99.3% resided in England (in 2008 the figure is thought to be around 97.0%). In the nine year period between 2001 and 2010, the number of Indian-born people in the UK has increased in size by 43% from 467,634 to around 669,000 (an increase of over 200,000).^[9]

Demographics[link]

Indians have existed in the UK for generations and have long been the country's largest visible ethnic minority group. In 2006 there were at least 1.3 million fully blooded Indians in the UK, while one estimate for 2008 suggests a total of 1.6 million British Indians.^[11]

Ethnicity[link]

In the 2001 UK Census, Indians in the UK were most likely to have responded to code 41 - Indian or Indian British. Indian was one of only five sub categories in the UK census which represents a nation (along with Irish, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Chinese).

India is a diverse nation composed of many ethnic groups, this is reflected in the British Indian community although there are several ethnic groups that number considerably more than others. The largest subgroup of British Indians are those of Punjabi origin (representing approximately two thirds of direct migrants from South Asia to the UK), combined with Pakistani Punjabis they number over 2 million in the UK and are the largest Punjabi community outside of South Asia.^[12] British Gujaratis are also another large subgroup of the British Indian population and they form the largest overseas Gujarati population on earth, being larger than the combined Gujarati communities of New York City and Toronto (which are second and third largest, respectively). There are also approximately half a million Bengalis in the UK (although not all of these people originate from what is now considered India, but Bangladesh).^[13] Alongside Punjabis, Gujarats and Bengalis there are also significant numbers of Tamils and Parsis. There has also been a recent immigration of Malayalees from South India who number approximately 100,000.

Population[link]

According to the 2001 UK Census 1,053,411 people (1.8% of the country's population) was of Indian descent. Between 2001 and 2009, National Statistics has released estimates for the number of Indians in England only. They were as follows: 2001 - 1,045,600, 2002 - 1,074,700, 2003 - 1,109,100, 2004 - 1,156,000, 2005 - 1,215,400, 2006 - 1,264,200, 2007 - 1,316,000 2008 - 1,366,400 and 2009 - 1,414,100.^[14] Today there are considerable numbers of Indian Britons who have ancestry via the Caribbean, South and East Africa as well as the Pacific Islands. See also: British Indo-Caribbean community, Ugandan British, Kenyan British, South African British and Tanzanian British.

Population spread[link]

The table below shows the dispersity of Indian people in the United Kingdom. The figures for all of the English regions, cities and boroughs are based on 2009 estimates, whilst the figures for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are from the 2001 Census.

Indian population in the United Kingdom regions
Region	Population of region	Indian population	Percentage of total population	Significant communities
London [15]	7,753,600	480,000	6.20%	Harrow - 15.9% Indian Brent - 14.2% Ealing - 12.9% Hounslow - 12.8% Redbridge - 10.7% Newham - 9.7% Hillingdon - 9.0% Barnet - 8.4%
West Midlands [16]	5,431,100	199,300	3.70%	Wolverhampton - 10.5% Indian Sandwell - 8.2% Coventry - 7.7% Birmingham - 5.8% Walsall - 5.3%
South East [17]	8,435,700	178,900	2.10%	Slough - 11.2% Indian
East Midlands [18]	4,451,200	143,200	3.20%	Leicester - 18.7% Indian Oadby and Wigston - 10.7% Blaby - 5.7% Charnwood - 5.1% Nottingham - 4.5% Derby - 3.5% Northampton - 3.5%
East [19]	5,766,600	115,600	2.00%	Bedford - 4.7% Cambridge - 4.7% Indian Luton - 4.3%
North West [20]	6,897,900	109,700	1.60%	Blackburn - 9.2% Indian Preston - 6.8% Bolton - 5.6% Manchester - 3.4% Trafford - 2.1%
Yorkshire and the Humber [21]	5,258,100	96,900	1.80%	Kirklees - 4.2% Bradford - 3.1% Indian Leeds - 2.6% Sheffield - 2.3%
South West [22]	5,231,200	63,700	1.20%	Bristol - 2.4% Indian Gloucester - 2.3% Swindon - 2.0%
North East [23]	2,584,300	26,700	1.00%	Newcastle Upon Tyne - 2.8% Indian
Scotland	5,094,800	17,000	0.30%	Glasgow - 2.4% Indian
Wales	2,903,085	8,200	0.30%	Cardiff - 1.3% Indian
Northern Ireland	1,685,267	1,600	0.10%

Communities[link]

The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir London is the largest Hindu temple outside India

London

Indians number over half a million in London, which is the city's single largest non-white ethnic group. Indians have a significant impact on the culture of the British capital. Within London, Southall, Hounslow, Brent, Croydon, Redbridge, Ealing, Barnet, Tooting, Harrow and Wembley, the latter of which is one of the few places outside of India where Indians make up the largest ethnic group (almost 4 times larger than the indigenous White British population). There are more Indians in the British capital than in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy and Portugal combined.

Leicester
Leicester is set to soon become the UK's first ethnic minority-majority city and Indians make up by far the largest ethnic group besides the White British. At 18.7% of the local population in 2009, Leicester has one of the highest percentages of Indians per head of the population of any local authority in the UK.^[24] According to the 2001 Census, 14.74% of Leicester's population were Hindu and 4.21%.^[25] Also worth of note is that Gujarati is the primary language of 16% of the city’s residents, 3% speak Punjabi as a primary language and 2% Urdu. Other smaller but common language groups include Hindi and Bengali.^[26]

Religion[link]

According to the 2001 Census, the religious breakdown of Indians in England and Wales can be seen in the table below.^[27] Although the majority of British Indians are Hindu, the UK is home to the largest Sikh community outside of India.^[28] Notable Gurdwaras in the country include: Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Guru Nanak Gurdwara Smethwick, Guru Nanak NSJ, Soho Road, Birmingham, see also: Gurdwaras in the United Kingdom. Notable Hindu temples include BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir London (the largest Hindu temple outside of India), Bhaktivedanta Manor, Shree Jalaram Prarthana Mandal, Skanda Vale, Sree Ganapathy Temple, Wimbledon and Tividale Tirupathy Balaji Temple. There are also significant numbers of Muslim and Christian British Indians as well as Ravidassias with their main temple (Bhawan) in Handsworth, Birmingham.

Sikhs are also supporting separate Sikh monitoring in the 2011 census, Virendra Sharma MP met with representatives from the Sikh community to lobby parliament in November 2009 stating "It is vital that the Office of National Statistics recognise the importance of the Sikh community and provide this monitoring at the next Census".^[29]

Religion	Percentage of Indian population in England and Wales.[27]
Hinduism	45.00%
Sikhism	29.06%
Islam	12.70%
Christianity	4.89%
Not Stated	4.63%
Other Religion	1.75%
Agnostic	1.73%
Buddhism	0.18%
Judaism	0.06%
Total	100%

Diaspora[link]

Today the British Indian community is extremely well established and it even has its own diaspora, many Indian British people now live abroad including in Canada (some 11,200), the United States (around 17,000), Oceania (largely Anglo-Indians) amongst others.^{[citation needed]}