You’re forgiven if you’ve never heard of the Chagos Islands. They’re a small archipelago in the middle of the Indian Ocean that has been under British control since 1814. Mauritius has long claimed them as its own, but Britain has been reluctant to hand them back for strategic defense reasons.
The debate over their sovereignty raged on for years, but finally on 22 May 2025, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed a formal agreement transferring them to Mauritius, with an agreement that a joint UK/US military base remain there undisturbed for 99 years, with the option of a further 40-year extension when that expires.
