Chagos Archipelago
The Chagos Archipelago is a scatter of seven atolls and more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean, about 500 kilometres south of the Maldives. Add up all of its dry land and you get just 56.1 square kilometres. Count the lagoons and reefs around that land, and the total passes 15,000 square kilometres. Almost everything here is water and coral.
Yet this tiny speck of land has occupied governments, courts and international tribunals for decades. Who first charted these islands, and who worked them? Why did the people who lived there leave, and why have they not been allowed home? And who does the archipelago belong to today?
The Great Chagos Bank covers 12,642 square kilometres, which makes it the largest acknowledged atoll structure in the world. A completely submerged formation called Saya de Malha Bank is larger, but nobody is certain it counts as an atoll. The Great Chagos Bank alone supports half of all the good quality reef in the Indian Ocean.
Beneath the surface, a submarine ridge runs south across the middle of the Indian Ocean. Volcanoes above the Réunion hotspot built it, and coral structures now crown it. The Chagos form the southernmost archipelago on the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge. Unlike the neighbouring Maldives, the atolls follow no clear pattern, and the whole group looks somewhat chaotic on a map.
Counting the atolls is surprisingly contested. Most sources give four or five, plus two island groups and two single islands. They do this because they do not recognise the Great Chagos Bank as one huge atoll containing those groups and singles. Blenheim Reef, whose islets and cays reach or just clear the high-water mark, is also often left out. Alongside the seven atolls with dry land there are nine reefs and banks, most of them permanently submerged atoll structures.
In the north lie the Salomon Islands, Nelsons Island and Peros Banhos. Toward the south-west sit the Three Brothers, the Eagle Islands, the Egmont Islands and Danger Island. Southeast of those is Diego Garcia, by far the biggest island at 32.5 square kilometres. Nearly everything else is a low coral atoll set around a lagoon.
Isolation defines the setting. The Seychelles lie 1,880 kilometres to the west. Rodrigues Island, which belongs to Mauritius, is 1,680 kilometres to the south-west. The Cocos (Keeling) Islands are 2,700 kilometres away to the east, and Amsterdam Island is 3,400 kilometres to the south.
Rainfall averages 2,600 millimetres a year, ranging from 105 millimetres in August to 350 millimetres in January. The climate is tropical oceanic, hot and humid but softened by trade winds. December to February brings the summer monsoon, with light west-northwesterly winds, warmer temperatures and more rain. June to September is drier and slightly cooler, with moderate south-easterly winds.
Long-distance yachtsmen sailing from Southeast Asia toward the Red Sea or the African coast still anchor at uninhabited islands in the Salomon atoll. They need a permit to visit any of the outer islands.
Southern Maldivian oral tradition remembers the Chagos as a place where traders and fishermen were stranded after being lost at sea. Eventually they were rescued and brought home. The islands were judged too far from the Maldives to settle permanently, so for many centuries the Chagos were ignored by their northern neighbours.
Portuguese explorers were the first Europeans to learn of the group. Pedro de Mascarenhas, who lived from 1470 until the 23rd of June 1555, is credited with encountering the islands on a voyage of 1512-13. Evidence for that is thin, and cartographic analysis points to 1532 or later.
Portuguese seafarers called the group Bassas de Chagas, with Chagas referring to the Holy Wounds of the crucifixion of Jesus. They also named individual atolls, including Diego Garcia and Peros Banhos. Afonso de Albuquerque mentioned Peros Banhos as Pedro dos Banhos in 1513. The islands were lonely and of little economic or political interest, so Portugal never made them part of its empire.
The earliest description of the Chagos came from a castaway. Manoel Rangel was aboard the Portuguese ship Conceição when it ran aground on the Peros Banhos reefs in 1556. The oldest known written document claiming the islands is attributed to King Hassan IX of the Maldives, in the year 1561.
The first European colonial power to lay claim to the archipelago would be France, after it settled Île Bourbon, now Réunion, in 1665.
France settled Isle de France, now Mauritius, in 1715, and from then until 1810 the Chagos counted among its Indian Ocean possessions. In the 1770s the French began issuing permits to companies that wanted to run coconut oil plantations on the islands. The group was later known as the Oil Islands.
On the 27th of April 1786, the Chagos and Diego Garcia were claimed for Great Britain. A treaty confirmed the transfer only after Napoleon's defeat. By then Mauritius was a British colony too, and the Chagos were governed from there.
In 1793 the first successful colony was founded on Diego Garcia, and coconut plantations spread across many of the atolls and isolated islands. The British enslaved the workers, who were not freed until 1840. Many later workers descended from them, and together they formed an inter-island culture called Ilois, a French Creole word.
Robert Moresby surveyed the Chagos for the British Admiralty in 1837-1838. He was a captain in the East India Company's Bombay Marine, also called the Indian Navy, and he was known as a hydrographer, maritime surveyor and draughtsman. Just before, in 1834-1836, he had drawn the first accurate charts of the Maldives with Lieutenants Christopher and Young. Once Moresby had measured most of the atolls and reefs, the Chagos were charted with relative precision for the first time. On Diego Garcia he planted 30 breadfruit trees, and he reported that cats and chickens already lived there.
The Ilois numbered about 1,000 people. Their ancestry was mixed African, South Indian, Portuguese, English, French and Malay. They lived simple, spartan lives, working on coconut and sugar plantations, in fishing, or in small textile industries. They spoke Chagossian Creole, also called Ilois Creole, a French Creole that linguists have never properly researched. The island names reflect the mix, drawing on Dutch, French, English and Ilois Creole. Few remains of their culture survive, though some descendants in Mauritius still speak the language.
The plantations were consistently unprofitable, because new oils and lubricants entered international markets and vast coconut estates were established in the East Indies and the Philippines.
On the 31st of August 1903, the Chagos were separated administratively from the Seychelles and attached to Mauritius. In 1965, with Mauritian independence being planned, the United Kingdom split the archipelago away again to form the British Indian Ocean Territory. The aim was to give the United States, Britain's main creditor after the turmoil of the Second World War, an uninhabited island base. The islands were formally established as an overseas territory on the 8th of November 1965.
Mauritius received £3 million. Press articles have wrongly claimed that this bought the islands. In fact it was compensation tied to the detachment and to wider British commitments. Those commitments included returning the archipelago if it was no longer needed for defence, and keeping Mauritian access to navigational and meteorological facilities and to fishing rights. Any benefits from minerals or oil found in or near the islands were to go to Mauritius. The money was meant to fund development and help resettle displaced Chagossians, though its adequacy and distribution remain controversial.
On the 25th of May 1967, Prime Minister Harold Wilson attended a Cabinet committee meeting that exposed how the money was handled. The Commonwealth Secretary noted that in 1965 Mauritian ministers had been unaware that Britain was negotiating with the United States for a financial contribution. Mauritius had been told that £3 million was the most Britain could afford. If Mauritius refused, the UK would not go ahead with arrangements for independence.
The Defence Secretary told the same meeting that compensation for Mauritius and the Seychelles together came to about £10 million. The United States agreed to cover up to half, with a ceiling of £5 million. To avoid embarrassment in the US Congress, Washington asked that its share stay secret. It was hidden by waiving certain payments that Britain owed the United States for the Polaris missile program.
On the 30th of December 1966, the two governments executed an Exchange of Notes. It allowed US armed forces to use any island of the territory for defence for 50 years, until December 2016. An optional 20-year extension to 2036 required agreement by both sides, to be settled by December 2014. Only the atoll of Diego Garcia has been turned into a military facility.
In 1967 the British government bought all the assets and real property of the Seychellois Chagos Agalega Company, which owned every island of the territory, for £660,000. It ran them as a government enterprise while it waited for American funding of the planned facilities.
Between 1967 and 1973 the population was forcibly removed to Mauritius and the Seychelles to make way for a joint US-UK base on Diego Garcia. In March 1971, American naval construction battalions, known as Seabees, arrived to build a communications station and an airfield. To meet the terms of the agreement for an uninhabited island, the Diego Garcia plantation closed in October of that year. The main forcible removal of the island's population took place in July and September 1971.
Plantation workers and their families were first deported to Peros Banhos and Salomon. Those who asked were sent on to the Seychelles or Mauritius. In 1972 the UK closed the remaining plantations and deported Ilois who would have faced economic hardship. Independent Mauritius refused to accept these further displaced islanders without payment. In 1973 Britain agreed and handed over another £650,000 in reparations. Some people felt they were rehoused and employed under worse conditions than other Mauritians, and the majority were effectively abandoned there.
Decades later, in 2002, the base on Diego Garcia was used twice for US rendition flights.
At least 371 species of coral grow on the Chagos reefs, including the endemic brain coral Ctenella chagius. A bleaching event in 1998 destroyed much of the coral. Recovery was remarkable, and coral cover rose every year up to 2014. High water temperatures in 2015 and 2016 then caused fresh bleaching, and more than two-thirds of the corals died.
The reefs shelter at least 784 species of fish, including the endemic clownfish Amphiprion chagosensis. Large wrasse and grouper survive here that over-fishing has already removed from other reefs in the region. Sharks have declined sharply, targeted by illegal boats after their fins and caught accidentally in the two tuna fisheries that once operated seasonally.
Seventeen species of seabird breed in huge colonies on the islands, and BirdLife International has designated ten of the islands as Important Bird Areas. The coconut crab, the world's largest land arthropod, reaches more than a metre in leg span and 3.5-4 kilos in weight. Juveniles shelter in empty coconut shells like hermit crabs, while adults climb trees and crack coconuts with their claws. Chagos holds one of the most undisturbed populations anywhere, and its larvae travel long distances, helping to replenish over-exploited populations around the Indian Ocean.
Green and hawksbill turtles nest on the remote beaches. Both were heavily exploited for two centuries but are now recovering well. Dugongs, once common enough to give Sea Cow Island its name, are locally extinct. Donkeys left behind when the Ilois were relocated still roam free.
On the 1st of April 2010 the British government announced the Chagos Marine Protected Area, the world's largest marine reserve. At 640,000 square kilometres it is larger than both France and the US state of California, and it doubled the area of no-take zones worldwide. The Chagos Environment Network, a collaboration of nine conservation and scientific organisations, had led the campaign. The Bertarelli Foundation guaranteed funding for the first five years.
Diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks cast a different light on the reserve. A senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office official told the Americans that a marine park would not interfere with US military use of Diego Garcia. He also said that former inhabitants would find resettlement "difficult, if not impossible" if the whole archipelago became a reserve. Critics read the reserve as an attempt to block the islanders' return.
On the 18th of March 2015, the Permanent Court of Arbitration unanimously held that the reserve violated international law. Mauritian Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth pointed out that this was the first time any international court or tribunal had condemned British conduct over the archipelago. The tribunal rejected the UK argument that undertakings given at the Lancaster House talks in September 1965 had no status in international law. It held that they became a binding agreement when Mauritius gained independence, including the promise to return the islands once they were no longer needed for defence.
In 2018, over British objections, Mauritius asked the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion.
United Nations resolutions on self-determination discouraged carving up imperial territories before independence without local support. Mauritius argued that the 1965 detachment broke those resolutions. Britain replied that the islands would go to Mauritius once they were no longer needed for defence.
The General Assembly had voted 94 to 15 on the 23rd of June 2017 to refer the dispute to the court. On the 25th of February 2019 the International Court of Justice gave its opinion. It said the archipelago was an integral part of Mauritius when it was detached, and that the detachment "was not based on the free and genuine expression of the will of the people concerned". The court found the detachment unlawful, so the decolonisation of Mauritius was not lawfully completed at independence in 1968. Britain was obliged to end its administration "as rapidly as possible". The British government rejected the court's jurisdiction.
On the 22nd of May 2019 the General Assembly adopted a resolution affirming that the archipelago forms an integral part of Mauritius and demanding that the UK withdraw within six months. In the vote, 116 states were in favour, 56 abstained and five supported the United Kingdom. Anerood Jugnauth described the expulsion of Chagossians as "akin to a crime against humanity". The Maldives backed Britain, since inhabited islands would weaken its claim to an extended exclusive economic zone. China abstained.
On the 28th of January 2021, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea confirmed the court's ruling and ordered Britain to hand the archipelago to Mauritius. In August 2021 the Universal Postal Union banned British Indian Ocean Territory stamps from being used in the territory. Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth called this a "big step in favour of the recognition of the sovereignty of Mauritius over the Chagos".
On the 26th of November 2021, Mauritius amended its Criminal Code to add Section 76B. It punishes anyone acting for a foreign state who produces coins, stamps, maps or documents that misrepresent Mauritian sovereignty, with a fine or up to 10 years in prison. On the 14th of February 2022, a Mauritian delegation including the country's ambassador to the UN raised the national flag on Peros Banhos. The visit was part of a scientific survey of Blenheim Reef, but it was regarded as a formal challenge to British sovereignty.
On the 3rd of November 2022, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announced that the UK and Mauritius would negotiate over sovereignty while keeping the joint military base on Diego Garcia running. His successor David Cameron later ruled out a return of the islanders. On the 3rd of October 2024, after two years of talks, both governments issued a joint statement on the transfer of sovereignty. The arrangement rules out any right of return to Diego Garcia.
Chagossians living in the UK criticised the deal for excluding their community from the decision-making. Many Chagossians, including those in Mauritius, support Mauritian sovereignty. Olivier Bancoult, leader of the Chagos Refugees Group, called the decision a significant step and an acknowledgment of past injustices. Former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed called the handover unacceptable. In December 2024, President Mohamed Muizzu sent the UK a letter asserting the Maldives' historical claim, though its text was not released.
The deal was then put on hold after the 2024 United States presidential election, to give the incoming American administration time to consider it.
On the 27th of February 2025, speaking in the Oval Office beside Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, President Donald Trump said he was willing to support the transfer. In April he signed off on it. Starmer signed the formal agreement on the 22nd of May 2025.
Under its terms, Diego Garcia and a surrounding buffer zone of 24 miles are leased back to the UK immediately. The joint base can keep operating there for 99 years, with a 40-year extension and a later right of first refusal. Mauritius is to receive £165 million a year for the first three years and £120 million a year for the next ten. After that, the £120 million is adjusted for inflation.
Opposition came from several directions. The Conservative Party tabled a motion of censure. Opinion polling in the UK has consistently shown more opposition to the deal than support. On the 10th of June 2025, UN experts called for the agreement to be suspended, warning that it appeared to contradict the Chagossian right of return. They also criticised the lack of provisions for access to cultural sites or the preservation of Chagossian heritage. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed "deep concern" at the terms.
On the 5th of January 2026, Conservative peers in the House of Lords forced an amendment requiring a self-determination referendum for Chagossians before the deal could proceed. On the 20th of January 2026, President Trump turned against the agreement and called it an "act of great stupidity". In February he wrote "Do not give away Diego Garcia" and spoke of the base possibly helping American airstrikes on Iran. That same month the Conservatives accused Defence Secretary John Healey of misleading Parliament about the legal threat to the base, pointing to the exemption for military activities in Article 298 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
On the 16th of February 2026, four British Chagossians landed on Île du Coin to establish a permanent settlement without government permission. They were the first Chagossians to live on the islands since the expulsion. Three days later, an injunction from the Chief Justice of the British Indian Ocean Territory prevented their immediate deportation. In March 2026, Justice James Lewis of the territory's court ruled that Chagossians have a right of abode on their ancestral islands. In April, reports said the UK had paused the deal, and the current parliamentary session left too little time to turn the treaty into law.
The idea of going home has been studied before. In 2014 consultants from KPMG produced a feasibility study for the UK government on resettlement. It proposed a large-scale scheme for 1,500 people, a medium-scale one for 500, and a pilot for 150. Diego Garcia was the preferred site because of its existing infrastructure, with Île du Coin and Boddam as provisional first candidates. Chagossians told the consultants they wanted permanent resettlement with modern living standards, not temporary visits. A separate independent study judged resettlement "costly and precarious".
The dispute has even reached the internet. The .io country-code domain, named for the Indian Ocean, has been commercially successful, especially among cryptocurrency companies. If the territory's ISO 3166-1 country code were removed after a handover, the domain could face retirement under ICANN policy, with a phase-out of at least five years.
Updated
Common questions
Where is the Chagos Archipelago located?
The Chagos Archipelago is a group of seven atolls with more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean, about 500 kilometres south of the Maldives. It lies 1,880 kilometres east of the Seychelles.
How big is the Chagos Archipelago and what is its largest island?
The Chagos Archipelago has 56.1 square kilometres of land, though its total area including lagoons exceeds 15,000 square kilometres. Diego Garcia is by far the largest island at 32.5 square kilometres.
Why were the Chagossians removed from the Chagos Archipelago?
Between 1967 and 1973 the Chagossians, known as the Ilois, were forcibly removed to Mauritius and the Seychelles to make way for a joint US-UK military base on Diego Garcia. The main removal from Diego Garcia took place in July and September 1971.
What did the International Court of Justice decide about the Chagos Archipelago?
On the 25th of February 2019, the International Court of Justice advised that the detachment of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius was unlawful. It said the United Kingdom must end its administration as rapidly as possible.
What are the terms of the Chagos Archipelago deal between the UK and Mauritius?
The agreement signed on the 22nd of May 2025 transfers sovereignty to Mauritius while leasing Diego Garcia back to the UK for 99 years, with a 40-year extension. Mauritius would receive £165 million a year for three years, then £120 million a year for ten years.
Is the Chagos Archipelago a marine protected area?
The British government announced the Chagos Marine Protected Area on the 1st of April 2010, covering 640,000 square kilometres. On the 18th of March 2015, the Permanent Court of Arbitration unanimously held that it violated international law.
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