Chagos Archipelago

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The Chagos Archipelago is a group of seven atolls with more than 60 individual tropical islands in the Indian Ocean, that lies about 500 km (300 miles) due south of the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, and 1600 km (1000 miles) southwest of India, halfway between Africa and Indonesia.

They are the most isolated group of islands in the world.

They are part of the British Indian Ocean Territory and were home to the Ilois until their forced expulsion in the 1960s by the UK and USA.

Contents 1 Geography 1.1 Resources 1.2 Climate 2 History 3 Politics 4 References 4.1 Footnotes 5 See also 6 External links

[edit] Geography

The entire land area of the islands is a mere 63.17 km², with the largest island, Diego García, having an area of 27.20 km². The total area, including lagoons within atolls, however, is about 15,000 km², of which 13,000 km² are accounted by the Great Chagos Bank, one of the largest atoll structures of the world. The shelf area is 20,607 km², and the Exclusive Economic Zone, which borders to the corresponding zone of the Maldive Islands in the north, has an area of 636,600 km² (including territorial waters). The archipelago consists of seven atoll formations of all sizes which have islands or cays permanently over water, including the largest atoll structure of the world, the Great Chagos bank with a total area (mostly water) of 13,000 km².

1. Diego García (including Diego Garcia and three smaller islets at the Northern end)
2. Egmont Islands or Six Iles (7 islets)
3. Peros Banhos (27 islets)
4. Salomon Islands (11 islets)
5. Great Chagos Bank (7 islets)
6. Blenheim Reef (3 islets)
7. Speakers Bank (1 islet)

The largest individual islands are Diego García (27.20 km²), Eagle (Great Chagos Bank, 2.45 km²), Ile Pierre (Peros Banhos, 1.50 km²), Eastern Egmont (Egmont Islands, 1.50 km²), Ile de Coin (Peros Banhos, 1.28 km²) and Ile Boddam (Salomon Islands, 1.08 km²).

The number of atolls in the Chagos Islands is given as four or five in most sources, plus two island groups and two single islands, mainly because it is not recognized that the Great Chagos Bank is a huge atoll structure (including those two island groups and two single islands), and because it is not recognized that Blenheim Reef and Speakers Bank have islets or cays above or just reaching the high water mark.

In addition to the seven atolls with dry land reaching at least the high water mark, there are about seven to nine banks, most of which can be considered permanently submerged atoll structures.

1. Colvocoresses Reef
2. Benares Shoals
3. Victory Bank
4. Cauvin Bank
5. Pitt Bank
6. Ganges Bank
7. Wight Bank
8. Centurion Bank
9. Owen Bank

	Atoll/Reef/Bank (alternate name)	type	land area (km²)	total area (km²)	Location
1	Diego Garcia	atoll	30	170
2	Salomon Islands	atoll	5	-
3	Peros Banhos	atoll	13	-
4	Egmont Islands	atoll	4	39
5a	Danger Island	parts of mega-atoll Great Chagos Bank	0.66	13000
5b	Eagle Islands		2.63
5c	Three Brothers (Trois Freres)		0.37
5d	Nelson Island		0.81
6	Blenheim Reef (Baxio Predassa)	unvegetated atoll	0.3	30
7	Speakers Bank	unvegetated atoll	>0	800	04°55′S 72°20′E
8	Colvocoresses Reef	submerged atoll	-	-
9	Victory Bank	submerged atoll	-	19
10	Benares Shoals	submerged reef	-	2
11	Cauvin Bank	submerged atoll	-	12
12	Ganges Bank	submerged atoll	-	-
13	Wight Bank	submerged atoll	-	-
14	Pitt Bank	submerged atoll	-	1100
15	Centurion Bank	submerged atoll	-	-
16	Owen Bank	submerged bank	-	-
	Chagos Archipelago	Archipelago	60	0

[edit] Resources

The main natural resources of the area are sugarcane, coconuts, and fish. However, these are only planned to be re-established as the main agriculture of the islands once the former islanders return.

The licensing of commercial fishing provides an annual income of about one million dollars for the British Indian Ocean Territory authorities. ^[1]

All economic activity is concentrated on the largest island of Diego Garcia, where joint UK-US defense facilities are located. Construction projects and various services needed to support the military installations are done by military and contract employees from the UK, Mauritius, the Philippines, and the US. There are no industrial or agricultural activities on the islands. When the Ilois return, they plan to reestablish sugarcane production and fishing.

[edit] Climate

Tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds. Climate is characterised by plenty of sunshine, warm temperatures, showers and light breezes. December through February is considered the rainy season (summer monsoon); typical weather conditions include light west-northwesterly winds and warmer temperatures with more rainfall. June through September is considered the drier season (winter), characterised by moderate south-easterly winds, slightly cooler temperatures and less rainfall. The annual mean rainfall is 2600 mm (100 inches), varying from 105 mm (4 inches) during August to 350 mm (14 inches) during January.

[edit] History

The islands were discovered by Vasco da Gama in the early 16th century, then claimed in the 18th century by France as a possession of Mauritius. On 27 April 1786 the Chagos Isands and Diego Garcia were claimed for Britain. The territory was ceded to the United Kingdom by treaty in 1814 and on 31 August 1903 the Chagos Archipelago was administratively separated from the Seychelles and attached to Mauritius.

The islands were retained as part of the British Indian Ocean Territory when Mauritius gained independence. Since 1976, the archipelago has been coterminous with the British Indian Ocean Territory, but it is also claimed by Mauritius and Seychelles^[2].

The archipelago's first inhabitants arrived in the late 18th century. By the mid-20th century they numbered almost 2,000, of mixed African and South Asian descent. The entire population, known as the Ilois (French for islanders), was expelled from the islands and sent to Mauritius by the British Government between 1967 and 1971 to make way for a joint US-UK military base on Diego Garcia.

Currently, the only habitation is a joint US-UK defence and naval support facility on Diego Garcia. Other uninhabited islands, especially in the Salomon group, are common stopping points for long-distance sailors travelling from Southeast Asia to the Red Sea or the coast of Africa.

For more information on the expulsion of the islanders and the court case, please read the article on Diego Garcia.

[edit] Politics

The most high profile aspect of Chagos Island politics relates to the continued future of the former inhabitants of the islands who were evicted in the 1960s and 1970s as part of an arrangement between the United Kingdom and the United States to establish a defence establishment on the island of Diego Garcia. The islanders' plight has been well documented, including a documentary produced by investigative journalist John Pilger, entitled "Stealing a Nation", which won the British Royal Television Society Best Documentary Award in 2004.

In 2000, the English High Court ruled that a local Ordinance made by the Commissioner of the British Indian Ocean Territory exiling the islanders was unlawful, a decision which was accepted by the British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook. Subsequent to this decision, the British Government attempted to achieve the same objective through use of the royal prerogative; a strategy which was also found to be unlawful by the High Court. The UK government has launched an appeal at the Court of Appeal against this ruling.

Thus, although these court rulings make it legal for these people to return to all islands other than Diego Garcia - which is currently the only island in the group which by treaty is required by the United States for defence purposes - it seems unlikely that resettlement of the islands will commence until legal proceedings have been concluded.

If these court rulings are upheld, the long term future of the archipaelago appears uncertain. In the medium term the US lease of Diego Garcia is by treaty currently set to expire in 2016, although both Governments have the option of extending the lease for another 20 years if considered necessary.

Beyond this date, it appears from statements made by Mauritius to the United Nations Human Rights Committee that the United Kingdom has undertaken to cede the islands to Mauritius once they are no longer required by the United States.

However, this undertaking appears to have been made on the predication that the islands continue to remain uninhabited; if the Ilois are able to resume settlement the United Kingdom may decide to treat the islands in accordance with general principles of self-determination, potentially rendering the geopolitical future of the islands in the hands of its displaced people.

[edit] References

• Pilger, J. Freedom Next Time, Bantam Press 2006.

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] See also

• List of Islands in Chagos Archipelago
• Postal Orders of Diego Garcia (numismatic history)
• Indian Ocean states

[edit] External links

• WorldStatesmen- British Indian Ocean Territory
• Indian Ocean Pilot (download PDF)
• Chagos Conservation Management Plan (PDF)
• Coral Reef Degradation in the Indian Ocean
• The US military presence on the Chagos Archipelago
• Article about the real history and life of the Chagossians
• Chagos: A Documentary Film
• Stealing Diego Garcia By JOHN PILGER
• The UK Chagos Support Association
• Texas University E Indian Ocean map
• CIA Factbook - British Indian Ocean Territory
• Stealing a Nation (tv documentary, 2004), a Special Report by John Pilger.

edit	Atolls of the Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory)
Atolls with land area: Diego García | Egmont Islands | Peros Banhos | Salomon Islands | Great Chagos Bank | Blenheim Reef | Speakers Bank
Totally submerged atolls: Colvocoresses Reef | Benares Shoals | Victory Bank | Cauvin Bank | Pitt Bank | Ganges Bank | Wight Bank | Centurion Bank | Owen Bank