Why America Controls A Tiny Remote Island Nobody Can Visit

Zoom in on the middle of the Indian Ocean and you'll find something that you might not expect. There's a scattering of small islets along with a larger squiggly shaped island. And while these islands look like a forgotten and isolated part of the world, they're actually one of the most heavily fortified and heavily restricted places on the planet. Nobody can visit them without the express permission of the UK or US militaries. So if they're so restricted, Why do 2,000 people call them home today? And most importantly, who actually owns these islands? I'm Jeff and this is the complex and tragic geographic story of the Chagos Archipelago. Hey, I have a book coming out in 2027 called Badlands. Stick around to the end to learn more about it. The Chagos Archipelago sits almost smack in the middle of the Indian Ocean, leaving its islands as some of the most isolated in the world. The closest other land is in the Maldives, another archipelago more than 300 miles away, while the distance to the nearest continental landmass is more than double that. But for all its remoteness, this tiny cluster of meager atolls isn't completely isolated, at least not geographically speaking. The Chagos Archipelago sits at the tip of the Chagos Laccadive Ridge. An enormous undersea mountain chain stretching beneath much of the Indian Ocean. And while we don't notice it from above the water, these mountains tower thousands of feet above an abyssal plain, a vast flat area deep in the ocean. This would be like looking straight up at Mount Everest from sea level. This line of extinct volcanoes was carved by the Reunion Hotspot, a mantle plume that currently sits under the island of Reunion near Madagascar. 65 million years ago, this hotspot was actually under India, and as the Indian plate shifted north, the hotspot left a long scar on the floor of the Indian Ocean, a scar that became the foundation for archipelagos like the Maldives and the Chagos Islands. Speaking of the Chagos, they're not quite like normal islands. The Chagos archipelago consists of scattered reefs and atolls atop a bed of coralline rock nestled on top of this undersea ridge. The archipelago consists of four or five atolls, depending on how you count them, as well as two island groups, two single islands, and nine reefs and banks. All of these are fairly small. The archipelago as a whole has a total land area of just 21.7 square miles, and the largest Diego Garcia takes up over half of that at 12.5 square miles. At the heart of the archipelago is the Great Chagos Bank, the largest atoll structure in the world, topped with a series of small islands with sandy beaches and thick forests. Farther north are the former coconut plantations of Peros Banhos and the jungle-covered Solomon Islands, while to the south are the Egmont Islands as well as the crown jewel of the archipelago, Diego Garcia, a roughly V-shaped island with a very complex history. Small though they may be, the Chagos Islands are loaded with ecological and strategic value. The archipelago has a pleasant tropical oceanic climate and thanks to its location close to the equator, it faces minimal risks from tropical cyclones. The pleasant climate of the islands has nurtured a thriving ecosystem despite the archipelago's small footprint, leaving all but the smallest members of the archipelago covered by saltwater wetlands and dense jungles of palm and coconut trees. Coconut crabs and warrior crabs swarm here in vast numbers, while sea turtles nest on the beaches. The Chagos Islands are also an important nesting site for many seabird species, including lesser frigatebirds, bridled terns, red-footed boobies, brown noddies, and lesser noddies. And under the waves, the Chagos Archipelago is one of the Indian Ocean's most important biodiversity hotspots, hosting sprawling coral reefs, turtles, sharks, and many fish species. Including yellowfin tuna and skipjacks. Nearly half of all of the Indian Ocean's good quality reefs are part of the Chagos Bank alone. And the archipelago's reefs have also proven resistant to climate change. Unlike the coral reefs in many other corners of the world, most notably the Great Barrier Reef. All this is to say the Chagos Islands biodiversity is thriving, and there's a very good and very complicated reason for that. As it turns out, the Chagos Archipelago is actually one of the best protected marine reserves on Earth. Endangered species are abundant here, with the islands hosting thriving colonies of seabirds that are rapidly declining elsewhere in the Indian Ocean. Many species have greater population densities in the Chagos Archipelago than anywhere else, and many of the non-native species that once lived on the islands have since been eradicated, allowing native animals to thrive. In fact, as of today, Around 18 of the Chagos Islands are completely rat-free, though Diego Garcia, the largest and most populated island, remains very much infested. But while this might feel nice and good, we love saving endangered species and protecting the environment, the reality is that the Chagos Archipelago is a prime example of weaponized conservation. In 2010, the United Kingdom established a protected conservation area around the islands, banning fishing and any resource extraction. Which is great, but they did it not to actually save the environment, but to make it even more challenging for the island's original inhabitants to come back. So, while the current status of the Chagos archipelago has worked out pretty well for the environment, it's an entirely different story for the native Chagossians, the people that once called these islands home. The British Indian Ocean Territory may be tropical, warm, and sunny most of the year, but for most of us, it's fall. Which means it's time to upgrade your sweater weather gear and look good while doing it. And that's why I'm happy to be working with Quince, the sponsor of this video. Quince is a one-stop destination for high-quality essentials, everything from men's apparel and accessories to home goods. By working directly with top-tier manufacturers and completely cutting out the middlemen, they're able to deliver premium quality without the premium price tag. 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Use the link in my description or scan this QR code to download the Quince app for exclusive offers. You get free shipping on your order and an incredible 365-day return policy. And great news for my international viewers, Quince is now officially shipping to the UK and Canada too. Thanks again to Quince for supporting the channel. Now let's get back to this bizarre island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Owing to its remoteness, the Chagos archipelago was uninhabited until the late 1700s, although it was known to the people of the Maldives long before. But it would actually be the French who would establish the first settlements on the island in 1793, creating vast coconut plantations and bringing their brutal colonial system of enslaved labor to the islands. But the French wouldn't last too long on the islands as they were soon driven out by the British Empire. which became the legal rulers of the territory in 1815 after the defeat of Napoleon. The British continued developing the islands as coconut plantations however, and the use of enslaved peoples, and then indentured servants after the British Empire abolished slavery in 1833, continued all the way until 1840, when the laborers on the Chagos Islands were finally granted their full freedom. Even then, most of the Chagossians were still contract employees of the Mauritius-based companies that owned the plantations, which dictated labor conditions and effectively served as the de facto government of the islands. But for the Chagossians, the Chagos Islands became their home. This is where it gets complicated, because while there were no native peoples of the Chagos Islands, the descendants of the Chagossian laborers continued to claim the islands as their ancestral home. You see, the Chagossians were descended from enslaved East Africans, Malagasy peoples from Madagascar, indentured laborers from India, and workers from the Seychelles and Mauritius. But over the course of generations, they blended together to form a shared culture, community, and way of life. They developed their own French-based creole, traditional dances, and foods. And while the Chagossians were never very numerous, with the total Chagossian The Chagossian population, having only been about a thousand at the time of their removal, They still maintained a cohesive and culturally distinct society. Make no mistake, the Chagossians, for lack of anything else, did become the indigenous peoples of the Chagos Islands. The Chagos Islands' isolation meant that, until the mid-20th century, world history largely ignored the archipelago. The British Empire never appointed a governor or any other official to oversee it, instead allowing the plantation owners to effectively govern the islands. The Chagos Archipelago never grew beyond a string of minor coconut plantations that occasionally served as a way station for passing ships. But at the height of the Cold War, global geopolitics upended life on the Chagos Islands, ending the archipelago's obscurity for good. In the 1960s, with decolonization in full swing, and the United Kingdom rapidly scaling down its military presence in the Indian Ocean, the United States moved in to establish a naval base in the region. Hoping to avoid difficulties with newly independent countries, the US requested that the UK provide an unpopulated island for the job. And the two countries quickly realized that the Chagos Archipelago contained the absolute perfect location for a naval base. In fact, Diego Garcia couldn't really make for a better naval base if it were purposely created to be one. The island's deep lagoon acts as a natural harbor, while the island's flat, level terrain is ideal for the construction of airstrips and military facilities. The island is at minimal threat for cyclones or other natural disasters, but most importantly, its location is extremely useful for projecting power across a large swath of the Indian Ocean region. The island works as a backdoor for East Africa, including the volatile Horn of Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, allowing the US to stage military operations against countries in those regions with relative impunity. Diego Garcia is not only useful as a staging ground for fleets and aircrafts, but also a key node in U.S. supply lines, keeping forces involved in those regions supplied from well out of harm's way. Diego Garcia is also conveniently close to the Indian Ocean's shipping lanes, making it even more vital as a naval outpost. Diego Garcia came to host a naval communications station, fleet anchorages, large airfields, aircraft facilities, barracks, and even port facilities large enough to host aircraft carriers. But before any of that could be built, the US and the UK had to secure control of the islands and displace the people already living there. At the time, the Chagos Archipelago was governed as part of Mauritius, which was working towards independence from the British Empire. To keep Diego Garcia in British hands, the British government split the Chagos Archipelago off into their own separate territory, the British Indian Ocean Territory. And told Mauritius that, if it wanted independence, it would have to agree to let the UK keep the islands. In exchange, Mauritius was paid £3 million for the islands, and promised that they would be returned when the UK no longer needed them for defence purposes. Once that was settled, the UK bought out the Chagos Islands' absentee landowners. And in 1967, it got to work expelling the Chagossians from the archipelago. From 1967 to 1973, the entire Chagossian population was forcibly relocated. The British began by encouraging the Chagossians to leave on their own, ending supply shipments to the islands and forbidding any Chagossian who left from ever returning home. Those Chagossians who remained were forcibly evicted in the early 1970s, and they were effectively dumped in Mauritius and the Seychelles. They were severed from their long-standing home and their relatively new but very important way of life. And they were left with nothing, no homes, no jobs, and no support from the government that had just taken everything from them. With the Chagossians removed, the Chagos Archipelago became little more than a military outpost. Although the UK retains ownership of the islands, it only has a token presence on Diego Garcia, the only inhabited island. And the United States owns and operates most of Diego Garcia's military facilities. Basically, it's really a U.S. territory, even if it's not a legal one, and the U.S. considers it one of its most important military outposts. In fact, Diego Garcia has played an important supporting role in U.S. offenses against Iraq, Afghanistan, and now, most recently, Iran, as well as lesser operations all across the region. So, needless to say, the Chagos Archipelago has become a very important part of both the United Kingdom and the United States. But can both militaries really hold onto it forever? Today, the population of the Chagos Archipelago is somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 people. But don't let that number fool you. These are not permanent populations. There's not really a town. There's not really a sense of community. These are not Chagossians. The entire population that exists there are either part of the United Kingdom or United States military. But that hasn't stopped Chagossians from voicing their anger at the use of their previous home. Diego Garcia, the largest of the Chagos Islands, has never really been without controversy. And that controversy has only gotten more intense in recent years. Mauritius has claimed sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago since the 1980s, claiming that it only ever agreed to give up the islands under duress, since the UK would have denied it independence otherwise. And their claim has widespread support, to the point that the International Court of Justice ruled in 2019 that the United Kingdom has a legal obligation to return the islands to Mauritius. Which means there's a chance the Chagossians could get their home back, maybe. Over the past few years, the UK and Mauritius have conducted talks over the transfer of the islands. In 2025, the two governments reached an agreement, according to which sovereignty over the islands would be returned to Mauritius, but the UK would be allowed to lease Diego Garcia and the military facilities there would stay. But opposition from the US, which originally supported the deal, has now stalled the transfer, and now the bill that would have ratified the transfer treaty was set aside by the British Parliament, and how the matter will end up being settled is currently up in the air. To make matters even more complicated, there are other parties with interests in the Chagos Archipelago than just the UK, US, and Mauritius. The Maldives, which lie much closer to the archipelago than Mauritius, has its own claims on the Chagos Islands, citing historical ties and closer proximity. In September 2026, the Maldivian government criticized the UK for not including it in talks over the handover of the islands, asking for the UK to reopen the topic of the archipelago's sovereignty rather than just handing it off to Mauritius. And of course, there's still the Chagossians themselves. The Chagossian diaspora community, particularly in the has been protesting the theft of their homeland for decades. They've won many of their legal cases against the government. And some international human rights groups have even characterized their inability to return to the archipelago as a crime against humanity. But despite these legal victories, And despite Diego Garcia being the only island in the archipelago with any military installations, the Chagossians still haven't been allowed to return home. Since the early 2000s, the British government's position has been that while the deportation of the Chagossians was a crime, resettling them on the islands wouldn't be feasible. After all, the islands of the Chagos Archipelago are low-lying atolls, making them extremely vulnerable to sea level rise and other effects of climate change. The UK's 2025 agreement with Mauritius effectively kicked the ball into Mauritius' court, stating that Mauritius would be free to pursue a resettlement program if it wanted to, but the UK has no interest in pursuing one. That simply wasn't enough for the Chagossians. In February 2026, a group of four Chagossians landed on Île du Coin, one of the Peros Banhos islands. They claimed intent to establish a permanent settlement and publicly opposed the handover of the islands to Mauritius Until a referendum was held on the sovereignty of the Chagossians. And while it was claimed that this was nothing more than a publicity stunt by the UK and Mauritius governments, in March of 2026, a British Indian Ocean Territory judge ruled that the Chagossians could not be forcibly removed. As of September 2026, there are reportedly six Chagossians still living on the island. Regardless, the current reality of the Chagos Archipelago and Diego Garcia specifically, is one of an endless tug of war between four separate countries and one displaced cultural group. The United Kingdom seems, at last, willing to let the islands go, but to who remains unclear. Meanwhile, the United States seems very intent on keeping the islands as a military installation, one that is strictly off-limits to everyone else. And finally, there's the Chagossians. Estimated to only be around 10,000 in total population, Including descendants who have never actually lived on the Chagos Islands, they just want their homeland back, but actually getting it back seems like an impossible task. It's important to remember that these islands are so much more than a strategic location for military use. They're a vital ecological preserve and a distant homeland for thousands of people. It's easy to look at the geopolitics and military uses of the islands and focus on that story alone. But the real story of the Chagos Archipelago, as is always the case with everywhere, is about the people. This is my book Badlands, the geography of cities that shouldn't exist and why they do. It's all about cities like Phoenix, Tokyo, and more which are geographically in a tough spot. Whether it's water scarcity, seismic activity, sinking land, or huge volcanoes, this is the deep dive you've always wanted about the places that feel like they shouldn't exist at all. So let's go get a geography book on the New York Times bestseller list and pre-order it today. There's a link in the description below and of course, head over to my site, thebyte.co for even more details. I hope you enjoyed learning all about the Chagos Archipelago. If you did, be sure to check out this video all about Kenya's brutal geography. Thanks for watching. See you next time.