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.