Chagos Archipelago

About Chagos Archipelago:

• It is an island group located in the central Indian Ocean and is about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) south of the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent.
• It is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom that was established on November 8, 1965.
• Its key islands include the Diego Garcia atoll, Danger Island, Egmont Islands, Eagle Islands, Nelsons Island, Peros Banhos atoll. (Diego Garcia island, which houses a strategic US military base). 
• Climate: It experiences a tropical marine climate with high temperatures and elevated humidity levels. The island’s climate is heavily moderated by the trade winds which blow over the islands.

Chagos Island Dispute

• The Chagos dispute centres around the archipelago in the Indian Ocean, which Britain claimed along with Mauritius in 1814.
• In 1966, Britain leased Diego Garcia, the largest of the Chagos Islands, to the United States, which was seeking a military base in the region.
• The Chagossians, who are mostly descendants of African slaves brought to the islands in the 18th century, have since been engaged in a prolonged legal battle for the right to return to their homeland.
• Mauritius, which gained independence from Britain in 1968, has consistently maintained its claim over the Chagos Islands.
• In 2019, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) dismissed the UK's right to govern the Chagos Islands and called on its government to withdraw from the archipelago.