The British Indian Ocean Territory has been a British overseas territory since 1965. The crown colony consists of the Chagos Archipelago. Despite protests, Diego Garcia, which is the largest island, has been used as a US naval and military base since 1974. The entire native population was evacuated; however, the uninhabited islands are still of strategic importance.
The archipelago consists of some 2,300 mostly uninhabited small islands. It is located 6 ° 00 'South and 71 ° 30' East. The larger islands are Diego Garcia, Peros Banhos, the Solomon Islands, Nelson Island, Danger Island and the Egmont Islands.
The area is uninhabited except for a joint US / UK military base on the island of Diego Garcia. There are a total of 2300 islands covering an area of 54 400 square km. The total area of actual land is only about 60 square km.
Since 1965, the island group has been under British sovereignty. A year later, the British leased the entire archipelago to the USA for fifty years and the 1,200 native Chagossians "or" Ilois " were forced to leave their islands. A new home was found in Mauritius and the Seychelles. The Americans built a military base on the largest island, Diego Garcia, which was then declared a restricted area. Of the 2,300 islands in the archipelago, only one atoll can be visited today. These are the most northerly of the islands and are situated at 5.3 degrees south (latitude) and called Solomon. The atoll consists of ten small islands, Boddam, measuring 800 x 150 m is the largest. In 1965 some 400 natives lived here – today, the islands are completely uninhabited. The former residents of the island are still fighting in British courts for their right to compensation and to be able to return to their former homes.