Chagos High Sea

The open Indian Ocean west of Chagos borders an archipelago of low coral islands, reefs and banks. Peros Banhos and the Salomon Islands lie among its northern atolls; to the south is Diego Garcia. Portuguese charts recorded the islands in the sixteenth century. In the late eighteenth century French settlers came from Mauritius to establish coconut plantations, bringing enslaved workers from Madagascar and the African coast.