The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), are the 14 territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom, but do not form part of the United Kingdom itself, although parts of its sovereign territory. The permanently inhabited territories are delegated varying degrees of internal Self-governance, with the United Kingdom retaining responsibility for defence, foreign relations, and internal security, and ultimate responsibility for good governance. All of the territories are inhabited by civilians, except three that are chiefly or only inhabited by military or scientific personnel. All fourteen have the British monarch as head of state. These UK government responsibilities are assigned to various departments of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and are subject to change.
The commissioner for the British Antarctic Territory (BAT), is the head of government in the Antarctic Territory of the United Kingdom. As one of the British Overseas Territories, the commissioner is appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom on the advice of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
The British Overseas Territories Act 2002 (c.8) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which superseded parts of the British Nationality Act 1981. It makes legal provision for the renaming of the British Dependent Territories as British Overseas Territories, and the renaming of associated citizenship.
The British Indian Ocean Territory is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom. It is administered by a Commissioner, located at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. There is no Governor appointed to represent the King in the territory as there are no permanent inhabitants.
Howard John Stredder Pearce, CVO is an English diplomat who served as the Governor of the Falkland Islands and Civil Commissioner of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI) until July 2006. He assumed both positions on 3 December 2002. Before his appointment, Pearce was High Commissioner to Malta from 1999 to 2002. He joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1972.
The commissioner for South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is the representative of the British monarch in the United Kingdom's overseas territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The post is held in conjunction with the governorship of the Falkland Islands.
The Commissioner for the British Indian Ocean Territory is the head of government in the United Kingdom's overseas territory of the British Indian Ocean Territory. The Commissioner is appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Commissioner does not reside in the territory, as it has had no native population since the forced depopulation of the Chagossian people in the 1970s, and the only population is the military of the United States and the United Kingdom at the joint base at Diego Garcia.
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) is an 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 square kilometres, the site of a Joint Military Facility of the United Kingdom and the United States. Official administration is remote from London, though the local capital is often regarded as being on Diego Garcia.
Colin Roberts is a British diplomat and the former Governor of the Falkland Islands and former Commissioner of the South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
The British Overseas Territories maintain their own entry requirements different from the visa policy of the United Kingdom. As a general rule, British citizens do not have automatic right of abode in these territories.
Paul Candler is a British civil servant. Since 2021, he serves as the Commissioner for the British Antarctic Territory, Commissioner for the British Indian Ocean Territory, and Director, Overseas Territories at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
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