| Geography and Climate |
British Indian Ocean Territory is located in Southern Asia, archipelago in the Indian Ocean, about one-half the way from Africa to Indonesia. Area comparatively about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC.
British Indian Ocean Tr. has a tropical marine climate; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds. Terrain consists of flat and low (up to four meters in elevation). The elevation extreme has lowest point in Indian Ocean 0 m and highest point in unnamed location on Diego Garcia 15 m.
Natural resources are coconuts and fish. Land use: arable land: 0%, permanent crops: 0%, permanent pastures: 0%, forests and woodland: NA%, other: NA%.
Geography—note: archipelago of 2,300 islands; Diego Garcia, largest and southernmost island, occupies strategic location in central Indian Ocean; island is site of joint US-UK military facility.
Ref. Anonymous, 1999 |