Chagos Archipelago

Chagos Archipelago

Disputed islands
Map of the Chagos Archipelago
Location of the Chagos Archipelago (circled)
Geography
Location	Indian Ocean
Coordinates	6°00′S 71°30′E / 6.000°S 71.500°E / -6.000; 71.500
Major islands	Diego Garcia, Peros Banhos, Salomon Islands, Egmont Islands
Area	56.13 km2 (21.67 sq mi)
Administration
United Kingdom
Territory	British Indian Ocean Territory
Claimed by
Mauritius (per international law)[1][failed verification]
Outer Islands	Chagos Archipelago
Demographics
Demonym	Chagossian Chagos Islander
Population	≈3,000 (Eclipse Point Town) (2014)
Ethnic groups	95.88% British / American 4.12% others (native population exiled)

The Chagos Archipelago (/ˈtʃɑːɡəs, -ɡoʊs/) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Bassas de Chagas,^[2] 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 in the Indian Ocean.^[3] In its north are the Salomon Islands, Nelsons Island and Peros Banhos; towards its south-west 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 Chagos Islands had been home to the Chagossians, a Bourbonnais Creole-speaking people, until the United Kingdom expelled them from the archipelago at the request of the United States between 1967 and 1973 to allow the United States to build Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia, a military base on Diego Garcia, on land leased from the UK military in the British Indian Ocean Territories. Since 1971, only the atoll of Diego Garcia has been inhabited, and only by employees of the US military, including American civilian contracted personnel. Since being expelled, Chagossians, like all others not permitted by the UK or US governments, have been prevented from entering the islands.

When Mauritius was a French colony, the islands were a dependency of the French administration in Mauritius (Île Maurice). By the Treaty of Paris of 1814, France ceded Mauritius and its dependencies to the United Kingdom.

In 1965, while planning for Mauritian independence, the UK constituted the Chagos as the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).^[4][5] Mauritius gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1968, and has since claimed the Chagos Archipelago as Mauritian territory.

In 2019, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a non-binding advisory opinion stating that the UK "has an obligation to bring to an end its administration of the Chagos Archipelago as rapidly as possible, and that all Member States must co-operate with the United Nations to complete the decolonization of Mauritius".^[6] In December of that year, the Sega tambour Chagos music genre was recognized as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage from Mauritius.^[7] In January 2021, the United Nations General Assembly approved a resolution proclaiming this.^[8] In 2021, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea confirmed for its jurisdiction that the UK has "no sovereignty over the Chagos Islands", and thus the islands should be handed back to Mauritius.^[8][9]

In August 2021, the Universal Postal Union banned BIOT stamps from being used in the BIOT, a move Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth called a "big step in favour of the recognition of the sovereignty of Mauritius over the Chago".^[10] In the same year, Mauritius amended its Criminal Code to outlaw "misrepresenting the sovereignty of Mauritius over any part of its territory", with the penalty of a fine or jail term up to 10 years.^[11] As the act is extraterritorial, it restricts the abilities of Chagossians both in Mauritius and around the world to voice their opinions on the legal status of the Chagos Islands.^[12]

In October 2024, the British government announced it would hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius subject to finalisation of a treaty.^[13] Some Chagossians have criticised the deal for not having included the Chagossian community in the decision-making process.^[14] On the same day former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed commented that the decision to transfer the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, despite the Maldives' claims, was unacceptable.^[15]