Amtliche Kurzform: Britische Jungferninseln
Name in Landessprache:   
Kurzform: British Virgin Islands  
Vollform: The British Virgin Islands
 
Name in Englisch: British Virgin Islands
Ehemaliger Name: 

Staatsgebiet: Das Gebiet der Britischen Jungferninseln umfasst die Inseln Anegada, Beef Island, Cooper Island, Ginger Island, Jost Van Dyke, Norman Island, Peter Island, Salt Island, Tortola, Virgin Gorda und darüber hinaus noch andere kleine Inseln um den „Sir Francis Drake Kanal“.
 

CIA Background-Info First inhabited by Arawak and later by Carib Indians, the Virgin Islands were settled by the Dutch in 1648 and then annexed by the English in 1672. The islands were part of the British colony of the Leeward Islands from 1872-1960; they were granted autonomy in 1967. The economy is closely tied to the larger and more populous US Virgin Islands to the west; the US dollar is the legal currency.

Amtliche Kurzform: Britisches Territorium im Indischen Ozean
Name in Landessprache:   
Kurzform:    
Vollform:  
 
Name in Englisch: British Indian Ocean Territory
Ehemaliger Name: 

Staatsgebiet: Heute umfasst es nur noch die Kronkolonie Tschagosinseln (geographische Bezeichnung: Tschagos-Archipel). Aldabra, Farquhar und Des Roches wurden den Seychellen eingegliedert. Der Archipel besteht aus sechs Atollen mit rund 60 größtenteils unbewohnten kleinen Inseln. Es liegt bei 6° 00' Süd und 71° 30' Ost. Die größte Insel ist Diego Garcia im gleichnamigen Atoll. Die übrigen Atolle sind die Große Chagos-Bank, das größte Atoll der Erde (mit Nelsons Island und Danger Island), Peros Banhos, die Salomoninseln, die Egmont Inseln, sowie das Blenheim-Riff, das nur bei Niedrigwasserstand die Wasseroberfläche erreicht und keine Inseln aufweist.
 

CIA Background-Info Formerly administered as part of the British Crown Colony of Mauritius, the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) was established as an overseas territory of the UK in 1965. A number of the islands of the territory were later transferred to the Seychelles when it attained independence in 1976. Subsequently, BIOT has consisted only of the six main island groups comprising the Chagos Archipelago. The largest and most southerly of the islands, Diego Garcia, contains a joint UK-US naval support facility. All of the remaining islands are uninhabited. Between 1967 and 1973, former agricultural workers, earlier residents in the islands, were relocated primarily to Mauritius, but also to the Seychelles. Negotiations between 1971 and 1982 resulted in the establishment of a trust fund by the British Government as compensation for the displaced islanders, known as Chagossians. Beginning in 1998, the islanders pursued a series of lawsuits against the British Government seeking further compensation and the right to return to the territory. In 2006 and 2007, British court rulings invalidated the immigration policies contained in the 2004 BIOT Constitution Order that had excluded the islanders from the archipelago, but upheld the special military status of Diego Garcia. In 2008, the House of Lords, as the final court of appeal in the UK, ruled in favor of the British Government by overturning the lower court rulings and finding no right of return on the part of the Chagossians.