Diego Garcia

Diego Garcia is the largest island of the <a href="/facts/Chagos_Archipelago/MBIfeVav">Chagos Archipelago</a>. It has been used as a joint UK–U.S. military base since the 1970s, following the <a href="/facts/Expulsion_of_the_Chagossians/UzEh849M">expulsion of the Chagossians</a> by the UK government. The Chagos Islands is a <a href="/facts/British_Overseas_Territories/fUjVAy3E">British overseas territory</a>, though a treaty to transfer sovereignty from the UK to <a href="/facts/Mauritius/lVUARna5">Mauritius</a> was signed on 22 May 2025, with a provision that the military base at the island would remain under British control for at least 99 years.
Located just south of the equator in the central <a href="/facts/Indian_Ocean/Kv0crwKG">Indian Ocean</a>, Diego Garcia lies 3,535 km (2,197 mi) east of <a href="/facts/Tanzania/MJueJ7E4">Tanzania</a>, 2,984 km (1,854 mi) east-southeast of <a href="/facts/Somalia/3wQYwIdS">Somalia</a>, 726 km (451 mi) south of the <a href="/facts/Maldives/sC2HeXby">Maldives</a>, 1,796 km (1,116 mi) southwest of <a href="/facts/India/QW4TV4sy">India</a>, 2,877 km (1,788 mi) west-southwest of <a href="/facts/Sumatra/Fo192kJb">Sumatra</a>, 4,723 km (2,935 mi) northwest of <a href="/facts/Australia/qLHpbppq">Australia</a>, and 2,112 km (1,312 mi) northeast of <a href="/facts/Mauritius/lVUARna5">Mauritius Island</a>. Diego Garcia is part of the <a href="/facts/Chagos%25E2%2580%2593Laccadive_Ridge/l7mofs1D">Chagos-Laccadive Ridge</a>, an underwater mountain range that includes the <a href="/facts/Lakshadweep/fjpHspgw">Lakshadweep</a>, the <a href="/facts/Maldives/sC2HeXby">Maldives</a>, and the other 60 small islands of the Chagos Archipelago. The island observes <a href="/facts/UTC%252B06%3a00/MB4lnDnq">UTC+6</a> year-round.
Diego Garcia was discovered by Portuguese sailors in 1512 and remained uninhabited until the French began using it as a <a href="/facts/Leper_colony/0YvbhUgz">leper colony</a> and for <a href="/facts/Coconut/RUYNhNo2">coconut plantations</a> in the late 18th century. After the <a href="/facts/Napoleonic_Wars/jo0MdaTD">Napoleonic Wars</a>, the island was transferred to British control. It remained part of Mauritius until 1965, when it became part of the newly formed <a href="/facts/British_Indian_Ocean_Territory/jD0nq0Ht">British Indian Ocean Territory</a>.
In 1966, Diego Garcia had a population of 924, mostly contract workers employed in <a href="/facts/Copra/mcGKbQ0R">coconut plantations</a>. However, between 1968 and 1973, the Chagossian inhabitants were forcibly removed to make way for the military base. In 2019, the <a href="/facts/International_Court_of_Justice/7q8I7oSs">International Court of Justice</a> ruled that the UK's administration of the Chagos Archipelago was illegal, a decision supported by the <a href="/facts/United_Nations_General_Assembly/pNDmCu8X">United Nations</a>, though the UK has dismissed the ruling as non-binding.
Diego Garcia remains the only inhabited island of the BIOT, with its population consisting of military personnel and contractors. It is one of two critical U.S. <a href="/facts/Bomber/YKEYbswu">bomber</a> bases in the <a href="/facts/Indo-Pacific/pVfP1gxV">Indo-Pacific region</a>, alongside <a href="/facts/Andersen_Air_Force_Base/tBhX08rx">Andersen Air Force Base</a> in <a href="/facts/Guam/YIxcmN6A">Guam</a>. It is nicknamed the "Footprint of Freedom" by the <a href="/facts/United_States_Navy/xYK0fUou">US Navy</a> due to its shape and strategic location in the Indian Ocean.

Diego Garcia open-in-new

Diego Garcia