Chagos Archipelago

Map of Chagos Archipelago

The Chagos Archipelago (/ˈtʃɑːɡoʊs/ or /ˈtʃɑːɡəs/) or Chagos Islands (formerly the Bassas de Chagas,^[1] and later the Oil Islands) is a group of seven atolls in the Indian Ocean. The atolls are made up of more than 60 individual islands. The islands are located about 500 kilometres (310 mi) south of Maldives. The International community has a strong consensus that the islands are part of Mauritius, but nevertheless, they remain illegally occupied by the United Kingdom, which rents out the islands to the US for a military base.

On 25 February 2019, in an advisory opinion, the International Court of Justice found that the United Kingdom illegally separated the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius after its independence in 1968.

The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on May 22, 2019, commanding Great Britain to return the Chagos Archipelago to the Republic of Mauritius within six months, which would allow Chagossians to recover their land, but Great Britain refused to comply.

On 3 October 2024, the UK Government made a joint statement with the Mauritian government that they had negotiated for the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands following two years of negotiation whilst still enabling the running of the American military base in occupied Diego Garcia.^[2] Chagossians weren’t directly involved in the negotiations.^[3]

Chagos Archipelago Media

The Chagos Archipelago.(Atolls with areas of dry land are named in green)
Salomon Atoll is one of the many above water features of the Chagos Archipelago
The Chagos Archipelago is a hotspot of biodiversity in the Indian Ocean
The Chagos as Bassas de Chagas at the top right corner on a 1794 map by Samuel Dunn
Nautical chart of the Chagos Archipelago from Moresby's survey of 1837
Abandoned church at Boddam Island, Salomon Atoll
B-2 bomber take off, B-52 bombers on tarmac on Diego Garcia in 2003
The brain coral Ctenella chagius is endemic to the reefs of the Chagos