Where we are in the world
In the middle of the Indian Ocean, about 1,000 miles away from India, 2,000 miles away from Tanzania, and 3,000 miles away from Australia, the atoll called Diego Garcia is one of the most isolated locations in the world. Because of this isolation, Diego Garcia has been the location of military installations for the UK and US since the late 1960s.
See the interactive Google Map at the bottom of the post!
Three key facts about this map
The UK claims Diego Garcia is as part of its overseas territories
Diego Garcia is classified as a “British Overseas Territories”, a classification given to other territories such as Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Gibraltar. In 1965, the UK split Diego Garcia and the surrounding islands, the Chagos Archipelago, from Mauritius for the purpose of building a military base to support UK and US operations in the Indian Ocean region. Mauritius still claims the islands as its own territory.
The local population of Diego Garcia was forcibly removed from their homes by the UK & US military
In 1965 upon the creation of the “British Indian Ocean Territory” (as the surrounding Chagos Archipelago was named), the British government started a depopulation campaign of the residents. The local population was brought to neighboring island countries Seychelles and Mauritius without an option to return.
The US leveraged the base heavily in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars
Though it is UK territory, the US leased a substantial portion of the island for its own military installation. Throughout the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the US based a substantial number of troops on the island – reportedly more than 2,000 at points. It was also a location where prisoners from these wars were processed, held and subjected to a “torture program”.
Additional links and sources
- Article on depopulation efforts (link, published in 2019)
- Information about the US “torture program” on the island (link, published in 2014)
- Article on US presence in the Chagos Archipelago (link, published in 2021)
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