Chagos Archipelago

The Chagos Archipelago (, also UK: ) or Chagos Islands (formerly Bassas de Chagas, and later the Oil Islands) is a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean about 500 kilometres (310 mi) south of the Maldives archipelago. This chain of islands is the southernmost archipelago of the Chagos–Laccadive Ridge, a long submarine mountain range. To the north are the Salomon Islands, Nelsons Island and Peros Banhos; to the southwest are the Three Brothers, Eagle Islands, Egmont Islands and Danger Island; southeast of these is Diego Garcia, by far the largest island. All are low-lying atolls, save for a few extremely small instances, set around lagoons. The islands were first permanently settled by Europeans. From 1715 to 1810, the Chagos Islands were part of France's Indian Ocean possessions, administered through Isle de France—which was a colony of France (later renamed Mauritius). Under the Treaty of Paris in 1814, France ceded Isle de France and the Chagos Islands to the United Kingdom. In 1965, the United Kingdom split its administration of the Chagos Archipelago away from Mauritius and into the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), to allow the United States to build Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia, which operates under a special agreement allowing significant US military presence. The islands were formally established as an overseas territory of the United Kingdom on 8 November 1965. The only permanent inhabitants are employees of the military, including civilian contracted personnel, on Diego Garcia. The Chagos Islands are the homeland of the Chagossians, a Bourbonnais Creole–speaking people, though since 1971 no Chagossians have been allowed to live there. The United Kingdom expelled the entire Chagossian population from the archipelago at the request of the United States between 1967 and 1973. The main forcible removal of Diego Garcia's population...