HC Deb 21 January 1976 vol 903 c482W
Mr. David Price

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will list the remaining British colonies with their respective populations; and what plans, if any, he has for any change in their constitutional relations with Her Majesty's Government and with Parliament.

Mr. Rowlands

The remaining Dependent Territories—populations in brackets—are: Belize (120,000); Bermuda (53,000); British Antarctic Territory (no permanent population); British Indian Ocean Territory (no permanent population); British Virgin Islands (10,500); Cayman Islands (13,000); Falkland Islands and Dependencies (1,857); Gibraltar (29,927); Gilbert Islands (54,000); Hong Kong (4,345,200); Montserrat (12,302); New Hebrides (Anglo-French Condominium) (92,000); Pitcairn Islands Group (61); St. Helena and Dependencies (5,000); Seychelles (56,000); Solomon Islands (184,000); Turks and Caicos Islands (5,680) and Tuvalu (6,000).

It has been the policy of successive British Governments since the end of the Second World War to promote self-government and independence in the Dependent Territories, in accordance with the wishes of the inhabitants and the provisions of the United Nations Charter. Proposals for constitutional advance are under discussion in a number of these territories.