British Indian Ocean Territory: landmarks, animals & facts for kids

The British Indian Ocean Territory is a group of coral islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean, roughly halfway between Africa and Indonesia, south of the Maldives. It is a British Overseas Territory made up of the Chagos Archipelago: seven atolls with dozens of named islands and many tiny islets. It has no towns for ordinary residents; the people there are mostly military staff and contractors at a joint UK–US base on the largest island, Diego Garcia.

On My Earth Toy you can find Diego Garcia as a place to discover. Its long, narrow ring of land, shaped a little like a footprint, wraps around a deep blue lagoon.

Islands, reefs and wildlife

The Chagos islands are low coral atolls, rings of sand and reef that rise only a few metres above the sea. Their land adds up to only around 50 to 60 square kilometres, but the surrounding ocean is huge and was made a large marine protected area. The reefs are some of the cleanest in the Indian Ocean, full of corals, reef fish, sharks, turtles and manta rays, and the islands are important nesting places for seabirds.

People and life on the islands

Usually about 2,000 people are on Diego Garcia, mostly British and American military personnel and civilian workers who run the base. Since the early 1970s, nobody else has been allowed to live on the islands without permission. Visitors need special permits. The Chagossians, the islands' former inhabitants, have their own Creole culture, music called sega, and strong ties to the islands, even though most now live in Mauritius, Seychelles and the UK.

History in a nutshell

The Chagos islands were uninhabited until the late 1700s, when the French set up coconut plantations worked by enslaved Africans. Britain took control in 1814, and the islands were run from Mauritius. In 1965 Britain separated them from Mauritius to form this territory, and between 1968 and 1973 the Chagossians were removed so a military base could be built. Mauritius claims the islands, and the two countries have negotiated over their future.