After years of negotiations and legal pressure, the UK and the Republic of Mauritius have agreed that Mauritius is sovereign over the Chagos Archipelago.
The Chagos Archipelago is a group of seven coral atolls which comprise more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean. In 1965, as part of negotiations leading to Mauritian independence, the UK government excised the Chagos Archipelago from colonial Mauritius. The UK kept the islands, which are in a globally strategic location, to make the island of Diego Garcia available to the US military for 50 years, later extended by 20 years.
