Chagos Archipelago
The Chagos Archipelago (formerly called the Oil Islands) is a cluster of islands in the central Indian Ocean, administered by the United Kingdom, and having a total land area of 197square kilometers. They are actually a group of atolls arranged in a circle around the Chagos Bank and lie 500 kilometers due south of the most southerly island in the Maldive Republic.
The only product is coconut oil.
In 1971 the Chagos inhabitants, who are mainly French Creole in origin, were ordered to leave by the British government and most were resettled in Mauritius, where the archipelago had been administered. This move was mandated so that the large island of Diego Garcia, where most of the people lived, could be leased to the United States as an intercontinental air base. However, in 2000 the British High Court ruled that the inhabitants had been illegally evicted, and ordered that those who wanted to return there from Mauritius be allowed to do so. Most of the returnees would resettle Peros Banhos or Salomon, but not Diego Garcia 150 kilometers to the south of those islands.
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