Chagos - Diego Garcia

Diego Garcia is a militarised atoll of the British Indian Ocean Territory, just south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean - the largest of 60 small islands comprising the Chagos Archipelago. The islands were first found by the Portuguese, subsequently settled by the French in the 1790s and transferred to British rule after the Napoleonic Wars. A joint USA/UK military base was established on the island in the late 1960s; it has been subject to some criticism.

[Posted 13 January 2001]

Chagos - Diego Garcia