British overseas territories Totally Explained

Everything about Crown Colony totally explained

The British Overseas Territories are fourteen territories which the United Kingdom has under its sovereignty, but not as part of the United Kingdom itself.
The name "British Overseas Territory" was introduced by the British Overseas Territories Act 2002, and replaced the name British dependent territory which was introduced by the British Nationality Act 1981. Before that, the territories were known as colonies or Crown colonies. The British Overseas Territories are also referred to as overseas territories of the United Kingdom, UK overseas territories, or when the context is clear, simply the Overseas Territories, and the British Overseas Territories still extend to every continent of the World, with the Caribbean Overseas Territories in North America, The Falklands in South America, Saint Helena and Dependencies in Africa, Pitcairn in Oceania, Gibraltar in Europe, British Indian Ocean Territory in Asia, and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in Antarctica.

Current Overseas Territories

Territory	Location	Motto	Area	Population	Capital
Anguilla	Caribbean	Strength and Endurance		12,800	The Valley
Bermuda	North Atlantic Ocean	Quo fata ferunt (Latin: "Whither the Fates carry [us]")		64,482	Hamilton
British Antarctic Territory	Antarctica	Research and discovery		200 staff	Rothera (main base)
British Indian Ocean Territory	Indian Ocean	In tutela nostra Limuria (Latin: "Limuria is in our charge")		3,200 military and staff	Diego Garcia (base)
British Virgin Islands	Caribbean	Vigilate (Latin: "Be watchful")		21,730	Road Town
Cayman Islands	Caribbean	He hath founded it upon the seas		46,600	George Town
Falkland Islands	South Atlantic Ocean	Desire the right		2,967	Stanley
Gibraltar	Iberian Peninsula	Nulli expugnabilis hosti (Latin: "No enemy shall expel us")		27,776	Gibraltar
Montserrat	Caribbean			9,000	Plymouth (abandoned due to volcano—de facto capital is Brades)
Pitcairn Islands	Pacific Ocean	None	(all islands)	67	Adamstown
Saint Helena (including Ascension, Tristan da Cunha)	South Atlantic Ocean	Loyal and unshakeable	(all islands)	6,563	Jamestown
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	South Atlantic Ocean	Leo terram propriam protegat (Latin: "Let the lion protect his own land")		11-26 staff	King Edward Point/Grytviken
Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia	Mediterranean (Cyprus)	Dieu et mon droit (French: "God and my right")		15,000 (almost half British military and staff)	Episkopi Cantonment
Turks and Caicos Islands	Caribbean			21,500	Cockburn Town

Government

Head of State

The head of state in the Overseas Territories is the British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen's role in the territories is in her role as Queen of the United Kingdom, and not in right of each territory. The Queen appoints a representative in each territory to exercise her executive power. In territories with a permanent population, a Governor is appointed by the Queen on the advice of the British Government, usually a retired senior military officer, or a senior civil servant. In territories without a permanent population, a Commissioner is usually appointed to represent the Queen. For Overseas Territories with dependencies, the Governor may appoint an Administrator to represent him or her in that dependency.
The role of the Governor is to act as the de facto head of state, and they're usually responsible for appointing the head of government, and senior political positions in the territory. The Governor is also responsible for liaising with the UK Government, and carrying out any ceremonial duties. A Commissioner has the same powers as a Governor, but also acts as the head of government.

Government

All the Overseas Territories have their own system of government, and localised laws. The structure of the government appears to be closely correlated to the size and political development of the territory.

Territories	overnment
British Antarctic Territory South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
British Indian Ocean Territory
Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia
Pitcairn Islands
Falkland Islands Saint Helena
Anguilla British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Montserrat
Gibraltar
Bermuda Turks and Caicos Islands	The Turks and Caicos Islands adopted a new constitution effective 9 August 2006; their head of government now also has the title Premier, and their autonomy has been greatly increased.

Legal system

Each Overseas Territory has its own legal system independent of the United Kingdom. The legal system is generally based on English common law, with some distinctions for local circumstances. Each territory has its own Attorney General, and court system. For the smaller territories, the UK may appoint a UK-based lawyer or judge to work on legal cases. This is particularly important for cases involving serious crimes and where it's impossible to find a jury who won't know the defendant in a small population island.
The Pitcairn rape trial of 2004 is an example of how the UK may choose to provide the legal framework for particular cases where the territory can't do so alone.

Relations with the UK

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has the responsibility of looking after the interests of all Overseas Territories except one. The Overseas Territory Department is headed by the Foreign Office Minister for the Overseas Territories, currently the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Meg Munn. The exception is the Sovereign Base Areas territory, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defence.
In 1999, the FCO published the Partnership for Progress and Prosperity: Britain and the Overseas Territories

report which set out the UK's policy for the Overseas Territories, covering four main areas:

Self-determination

Responsibilities of the UK and the territories

Democratic autonomy

Provision for help and assistance The UK and the Overseas Territories don't have diplomatic representations, although the governments of the Overseas Territories with indigenous populations (except Bermuda) all retain a representative office in London. The United Kingdom Overseas Territories Association (UKOTA)

also represents the interests of the territories in London.
The UK provides financial assistance to the Overseas Territories via the Department of International Development. Currently only Montserrat and Saint Helena receive budgetary aid (ie financial contribution to recurrent funding). Several specialist funds are made available by the UK, including:

The Good Government Fund

which provides assistance on government administration;

The Economic Diversification Programme Budget

which aim to diversify and enhance the economic bases of the territories

Foreign Affairs

Foreign Affairs of the Overseas Territories are handled by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. However some territories maintain diplomatic officers in nearby countries for trade and immigration purposes. Several of the Caribbean territories maintain membership of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and the Caribbean Community. None of the territories is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, although they do take part in the Commonwealth Games. Gibraltar is the only Overseas Territory that's part of the European Union (EU), although it isn't part of the customs union and isn't a member in its own right. None of the other Overseas Territories are members of the EU, and the main body of EU law doesn't apply and, although certain slices of EU law are applied to those territories as part of the EU's Association of Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT Association), they're not commonly enforceable in local courts. The OCT Association also provides Overseas Territories with structural funding for regeneration projects.
Since the return of full British citizenship to most 'belongers' of Overseas Territories (mainly since the British Overseas Territories Act 2002), the citizens of those territories hold concurrent European Union citizenship, giving them rights of free movement across all EU member states.
Several nations dispute the UK's sovereignty in the following Overseas Territories:

British Antarctic Territory -- Territory overlaps Antarctic claims made by Chile and Argentina

British Indian Ocean Territory -- claimed by Mauritius and Seychelles

Falkland Islands -- claimed by Argentina

Gibraltar -- claimed by Spain

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands -- claimed by Argentina

Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia -- claimed by Cyprus

Citizenship

None of the Overseas Territories have their own nationality status, and all citizens are classed as British Overseas Territories citizens (BOTC). They do however, have legislative independence over immigration, and holding the status of a BOTC doesn't automatically give a person a right to abode in any of the territories, as it depends on the territory's immigration laws. A territory may issue Belonger status to allow a person classed as a BOTC to reside in the territory that they've close links with. Non-BOTC citizens may acquire Belonger status in order to reside in a particular territory (and may subsequently become naturalised BOTC if they wish).
Historically, most inhabitants of the former British Empire held the status of British subject, which was usually lost upon independence. From 1949, British subjects in the United Kingdom and the remaining crown colonies became citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies. However changes in British immigration and nationality law between 1962 and 1983 saw the creation of a separate British Dependent Territories citizenship with effect from January, 1983. Citizens in most territories were stripped of full British citizenship. This was mainly to prevent a mass exodus of the citizens of Hong Kong to the UK before the agreed handover to China in 1997. Exception was made for the Falkland Islands, which had been invaded the previous year by Argentina. Full British citizenship was soon returned to the people of Gibraltar due to their friction with Spain.
However, the British Overseas Territories Act 2002 replaced dependent territory citizenship with British Overseas Territories citizenship, and restored full British citizenship to all BOTCs except those from the Sovereign Base Areas of Cyprus. This restored to BOTCs the right to reside in the UK. British citizens do not, however, have an automatic right to reside in any of the Overseas Territories. Some territories prohibit immigration, and any visitors are required to seek the permission of the territory's government to live in the territory. As they're used primarily as military bases, Ascension Island and the British Indian Ocean Territory don't allow visitors to the territory unless on official business.

Military

Defence of the Overseas Territories is the responsibility of the UK. Many of the Overseas Territories are used as military bases by the UK and its allies.

Ascension Island (a dependency of Saint Helena) - the Base (formerly known as RAF Ascension Island) is used by both the Royal Air Force and the United States Air Force.

Bermuda - became the primary Royal Navy base in the Western Hemisphere, following US independence. The Naval establishment included an admiralty, a dockyard, and a naval squadron. A considerable military garrison was built up to protect it, and Bermuda, which the British Government came to see as a base, rather than as a colony, was known as the Gibraltar of the West (External Link

). Canada and the USA also established bases in Bermuda during the Second World War, which were maintained through the Cold War. Since 1995, the military force in Bermuda has been reduced to the local territorial battalion, the Bermuda Regiment.

British Indian Ocean Territory - the island of Diego Garcia is home to a large naval base and airbase leased to the United States by the United Kingdom until 2036 (unless renewed), but that either government can opt out of the agreement in 2016.

Falkland Islands - the British Forces Falkland Islands includes commitments from the British Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy.

Gibraltar - a Royal Navy dockyard, also used by NATO. RAF Gibraltar is used by the RAF and NATO. The local garrison is manned by the Royal Gibraltar Regiment.

The Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus - maintained as strategic British military bases in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Symbols and insignia

Each Overseas Territory has been granted its own flag and coat of arms by the British monarch. Traditionally, the flags follow the Blue Ensign design, with the Union Flag in the canton, and the territory's coat of arms in the fly. Exceptions to this are Bermuda which uses a Red Ensign; British Antarctic Territory which uses a White Ensign; British Indian Ocean Territory which uses a Blue Ensign with wavy lines to symbolise the sea; and Gibraltar which uses a banner of its coat of arms (the flag of the city of Gibraltar). Gibraltar's coat of arms is unique in that it's the only armorial insignia that dates from before the period of British colonial administration.
The Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia are the only British Overseas Territories without an official flag of their own. The Union Flag is used in this territory and is also used for Ascension Island.

Gallery of images

Image:Anguilla-sandy-ground-overlook.jpg|Sandy Ground, Anguilla. Image:Bermuda-Harbour and Town of St George.jpg|St. George's, Bermuda. Image:Diegogarcia.jpg|View of the military base at Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory. Image:Roadtown, Tortola.jpg|Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands. Image:Grand Cayman NASA.jpg|Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. Image:Upland.jpg|Upland, Falkland Islands. Image:Gib bay.jpg|Rock of Gibraltar, Gibraltar. Image:Soufriere Hills.jpg|Soufriere Hills volcano, Montserrat. Image:Adamstown.jpg|Adamstown, Pitcairn Islands. Image:St-Helena-Jamestown-from-above.jpg|Jamestown, Saint Helena. Image:Thatcher-Peninsula.jpg|Cumberland Bay, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Image:Garrison HQ, Dhekelia.jpg|Garrison HQ, Dhekelia Image:Cockburn Town.jpg|Cockburn Town, Turks and Caicos Islands. Further Information

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