Islands Of The Indian Ocean Codexery

Diego Garcia

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The largest island within the Chagos Archipelago is Diego Garcia, which sits in the central Indian Ocean just south of the equator.[1][2] After the UK government expelled the Chagossians, a joint military facility operated by the UK and US has been located there starting in the 1970s.[3]

Geography and history

Diego Garcia lies 726 km south of the Maldives and 2112 km northeast of Mauritius Island.[2] The uninhabited islands were discovered by the Portuguese navigator Pedro Mascarenhas in 1512, first named as Dom Garcia.[4] In 1793, the French established a coconut plantation using slave labour.[5] In 1965, the UK purchased the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius for £3 million to create the British Indian Ocean Territory.[6]

According to Xavier Romero Frías, there is no physical proof of any human presence on Diego Garcia prior to European contact.[7] In 1544, a Spanish explorer in Portuguese service, Diego García de Moguer, came upon the island for a second time and gave it his own name.[8] Two coaling stations for steamships traveling across the Indian Ocean were situated on the atoll during the period from 1881 to 1888.[9] The forced relocation of the Chagossian population occurred between 1968 and 1973 to clear the area for a military installation.[10]

What the cited sources add

A 2024 BBC report stated that the UK announced it is giving up sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, including Diego Garcia.[11] The same report noted that the US-UK base will remain on Diego Garcia, a key factor enabling the deal.[11] The Guardian reported in January 2025 that the UK stalled the deal until the Trump administration could consider the future of the joint military base.[12] The Guardian also reported in 2019 that the UK retained possession of the Chagos archipelago after Mauritius gained independence in 1968, effectively paying Mauritius more than £4m for the islands.[13]

The same article noted that Diego Garcia has been used as a base for supporting humanitarian responses, such as after the 2004 tsunami.[13] According to a Guardian article from April 2025, Donald Trump gave his approval for the UK to transfer the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.[14]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Diego Garcia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Diego Garcia", HarperCollins (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Diego Garcia" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Diego Garcia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Atkinson, "UK signs deal to hand over Chagos Islands and lease back military base for £101m a year", BBC News; "UK warned of threat from China when Chagos deal expires", politico.eu; "Chagos Islands deal risks security and marine protection, insider says", The Times, 4 January 2026; "UN committee 'deeply concerned' by Chagos deal - and calls for ratification to be paused", Sky (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Diego Garcia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bardour, "Protugal Marítimo: Abril 2011", jmbd1945.blogspot.pt; "The Diego Garcia Test Question", zianet.com; "History of Diego Garcia Atoll, Indian Ocean", zianet.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Diego Garcia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Edis (2004), p. 29.; Edis (2004), p. 29.; Edis (2004), p. 32.; Edis (2004), p. 32.; Edis (2004), p. 33. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Diego Garcia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sand (2009), p. 3. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Diego Garcia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Xavier Romero Frías, "The Maldive Islanders, A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom", Nova Ethnographia Indica, 1999, p. 19 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Diego Garcia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Porchat, "Informações históricas sobre São Paulo no século de sua fundação", Editora Iluminuras Ltda, 1956, p. 61 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Diego Garcia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: D. R. Stoddart (1971): "Settlement and development of Diego Garcia". In: Stoddart & Taylor (1971), pp. 209–218. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Diego Garcia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Boffey, "What are the Chagos Islands – and why is the UK returning them to Mauritius?", The Guardian, 2026-01-20; Bowcott, "UK suffers crushing defeat in UN vote on Chagos Islands", The Guardian, 2019-05-22 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Harding, "UK will give sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius", BBC News, 2024-10-03. facts only, no text reused. bbc.co.uk
  12. Crerar, "UK stalls Chagos Islands deal until Trump administration can 'consider detail'", The Guardian, 2025-01-15. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
  13. Bowcott, "UK suffers crushing defeat in UN vote on Chagos Islands", The Guardian, 2019-05-22. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
  14. Courea, "Donald Trump signs off UK's handover of Chagos Islands to Mauritius", the Guardian, April 1, 2025. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Diego Garcia (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

More in Islands Of The Indian Ocean

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Related in Islands Of The Indian Ocean

British Indian Ocean Territory

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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