Diego Garcia

Diego Garcia

Subject :  Geography

Section : Mapping

Concept :

• A total of 16 Indian fishermen — seven from Kerala, six from Tamil Nadu and three from West Bengal — have been apprehended by authorities in Diego Garcia of British Indian Ocean Territory, when they were fishing in the deep sea.

About Diego Garcia

• Diego Garcia, coral atoll, largest and southernmost member of the Chagos Archipelago, in the central Indian Ocean, part of the British Indian Ocean Territory.
• Occupying an area of 17 square miles (44 square km), it consists of a V-shaped sand-fringed cay about 15 miles (24 km) in length with a maximum width of about 7 miles (11 km); its lagoon is open at the north end.
• Discovered by the Portuguese in the early 16th century, it was for most of its history a dependency of Mauritius.
• In 1965 it was separated from Mauritius as part of the newly created British Indian Ocean Territory.
• After that, the residents of the Chagos Archipelago were forcibly removed and the Chagos Archipelago was handed over to the US.
• The US established its strategic Indian Ocean military base at the Chagos Archipelago.