Diego Garcia is the largest island located on the Chagos archipelago in the Indian Ocean. It is located between Hindustan and the Maldives, at a distance of 1600 km and 500 km, respectively. This is the only inhabited island in the entire archipelago.
Its area is just over 25 km 2 . And together with the three small islands that make up Diego Garcia, it is an atoll. Its formation is due to the fact that corals in large quantities began to appear around the ridge (by the way, it is of volcanic origin).
a brief description of
Due to its size, Chagos is one of the largest archipelagos in the world. The land area is 63.2 km², of which more than a third of the territory belongs to the island of Garcia, or rather, 27 km².
The Chagos Archipelago consists of 7 atolls, including more than 60 tropical islands. Administratively, Diego Garcia belongs to British territory, but this fact today disputes the state of Mauritius. In the opinion of the latter, the archipelago and its described part refers to its external territories.
Garcia was discovered at the beginning of the 16th century, in 1512. According to one version, Vasco da Gama owes its name to the archipelago. He named his discovery in honor of the helper serving on the ship.
Diego Garcia is a lagoon surrounded by a strip of surface coral reefs. The island is a plain. The highest point of the relief is 7 m. The length of the outer coastline reaches almost 70 km in length. And the width indicator varies from 400 m to 3000 m. Coral reefs and three islands surround the lagoon on the north side.
Population
The first to claim the island was Portugal. Initially, the entire archipelago, including Diego Garcia (island), belonged to France, and later to Great Britain. The indigenous inhabitants of the described territory were immigrants. These people came from black slaves brought from Africa, and Indians who came for wage labor. Before eviction, about 5 thousand people lived on the archipelago, mostly on the Diego Garcia Atoll. The island is still forbidden to visit for a long period. Only 30 years later, the Supreme Court of Great Britain confirmed the illegality of the eviction of the indigenous population. But the residents could not return to their historic homeland, and it is unlikely that they will ever be able to because of the deployment of US naval bases and military units on the atoll. They are here by arrangement between Britain and America. Recently it was allowed to visit the island for a short while to visit the ancestors. In 2016, the contract expires between the countries. Therefore, the indigenous people believe that they will finally be able to return to their native lands. Thus, the British territory in the Indian Ocean in some territories also belongs to America.
It is noteworthy, but on this archipelago you can not meet permanent residents. All of them were forcibly deported, and British and American military settled on the islands, the total number of which is about 3000 people.
The administrative center is a military village. The main area of activity of the population is military service and maintenance of strategic facilities.
Structure
British Indian Ocean Territory is divided into many islands. The described atoll also has territorial units. It consists of 4 islands (including the main). Garcia is the largest among them. In addition to it, the atoll contains islands such as the Western (occupies an area of 3.4 hectares), the Middle (with an area of 60 thousand square meters) and the Eastern. The latter takes second place in size (120 thousand sq. M.).
Climate
Atoll Diego Garcia is located in such a way that it has a humid tropical and marine climate. Therefore, the weather here is humid and hot, although winds blow it from all sides. This type of climate is found on the east coast of the continents, mainly the northern part of India, the southeastern United States, and the southern part of South America. What is characteristic, cyclones do not form in this place.
Diego Garcia is located in the tropical monsoon area. The annual average rainfall is 2600 mm. In the summer months, for example, in August - 105 mm, and in January - up to 350 mm. This, together with the territorial location of the island, explains the average annual level of air humidity (about 80%). The average monthly temperature on the atoll is from + 26 ° ... + 28 ° C. Daytime exceeds the mark of + 30 ° C.
Flora
Despite the tropical climate, the flora and fauna in these places is not diverse. The nature of the atoll resembles that characteristic of the Maldives.
A huge number of coconut trees, previously cultivated on an industrial scale, and now wild-growing, and sugarcane grow on the local territory. The location on the islands of military bases led to such results.
Fauna
Where the Chagos archipelago is located explains why coastal waters are surrounded by coral reefs. The waters are home to many species of tropical fish, such as lionfish and zebrasomes. Among the other representatives here you can find quite large chordate animals: barracudas, several species of stingrays and small sharks (tiger, cat, etc.), swimming in reefs in search of food. Also in these places there are many mollusks and arthropods. The waters of the archipelago are rich in various species of sea turtles.
Particular attention should be paid to birds nesting on the island. Scientists have about 20 species of birds that live on the atoll. We can say that tropical birds are the most colorful representatives of the fauna of this island.
The Diego Garcia Atoll is the habitat of a special type of endemic coral ctenellachagius. This is a type of brain coral. And also scientists have found here the Chagos anemone.