Editing Diego Garcia (section)

==Inhabitants==
Diego Garcia had no permanent inhabitants when discovered by the Spanish explorer Diego García de Moguer in the 16th century, then in the service of Portugal, and this remained the case until it was settled as a French colony in 1793.<ref name="Stoddart_209_218"/>

===French settlement===
{{main|Chagossians}}

Most inhabitants of Diego Garcia through the period 1793–1971 were plantation workers, but also included Franco-Mauritian managers, Indo-Mauritian administrators, Mauritian and Seychellois contract employees, and in the late 19th century, Chinese and Somali employees.

A distinct Creole culture called the [[Îlois]], which means "islanders" in [[French-based creole languages|French Creole]], evolved from these workers. The Îlois, now called Chagos Islanders or Chagossians since the late-1990s, were descended primarily from [[slaves]] brought to the island from [[Madagascar]] by the French between 1793 and 1810, and [[Malay race|Malay]] slaves from the slave market on [[Nias Island|Pulo Nyas]], an island off the northwest coast of [[Sumatra]], from around 1820 until the slave trade ended following the [[Slavery Abolition Act 1833]].<ref name="reefnewmedia.co.uk">{{cite web|url=http://www.reefnewmedia.co.uk/cmt_chagos/uploads/PDF/Newsletters/ChagosNews14.pdf |title=Slavery in the Chagos Archipelago |access-date=21 June 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119043547/http://www.reefnewmedia.co.uk/cmt_chagos/uploads/PDF/Newsletters/ChagosNews14.pdf |archive-date=19 January 2012 }}</ref> The Îlois also evolved a French-based [[Mauritian Creole|Creole dialect]] now called [[Chagossian Creole]].

Throughout their recorded history, the plantations of the Chagos Archipelago had a population of approximately 1,000 individuals, about two-thirds of whom lived on Diego Garcia. A peak population of 1,142 on all islands was recorded in 1953.<ref name="Health_and_Mortality_papers"/>

The primary industry throughout the island's colonial period consisted of coconut [[plantations]] producing [[copra]] and/or [[coconut oil]],<ref name="Stoddart_209_218"/> until closure of the plantations and forced relocation of the inhabitants in October 1971. For a brief period in the 1880s, it served as a [[coaling station]] for steamships transiting the Indian Ocean from the [[Suez Canal]] to Australia.<ref>[[#Edis|Edis (2004)]], pp. 49–54.</ref>

===Expulsion of 1971===
{{main|Expulsion of the Chagossians}}

All the inhabitants of Diego Garcia were forcibly resettled to other islands in the Chagos Archipelago, Mauritius or Seychelles by 1971 to satisfy the requirements of a UK/United States Exchange of Notes signed in 1966 to depopulate the island when the United States constructed a base upon it.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/judgmentsfiles/j1970/chagos.htm |title=England and Wales High Court of Justice, Queens Bench Division Appendix, Paragraph 396 |publisher=Hmcourts-service.gov.uk |date=1 April 2011 |access-date=21 June 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100604072841/http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/judgmentsfiles/j1970/chagos.htm |archive-date=4 June 2010 }}</ref> No current agreement exists on how many of the evacuees met the criteria to be an Îlois, and thus be an indigenous person at the time of their removal, but the UK and Mauritian governments agreed in 1972 that 426 families,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/judgmentsfiles/j1970/chagos.htm |title=England and Wales High Court of Justice, Queens Bench Division Appendix, Paragraph 417 |publisher=Hmcourts-service.gov.uk |date=1 April 2011 |access-date=21 June 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100604072841/http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/judgmentsfiles/j1970/chagos.htm |archive-date=4 June 2010 }}</ref> numbering 1,151 individuals,<ref name="Sand_25"/> were due compensation payments as exiled Îlois. The total number of people certified as Îlois by the Mauritian Government's Îlois Trust Fund Board in 1982 was 1,579.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uniset.ca/naty/2003EWHC2222.htm |title=Paragraph 629 |publisher=Uniset.ca |access-date=21 June 2012 |archive-date=16 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160716081343/http://www.uniset.ca/naty/2003EWHC2222.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Fifteen years after the last expulsion, the Chagossians received compensation from the British, totalling $6,000 per person; some Chagossians received nothing. The British expulsion action remains in litigation {{As of|2016|lc=y}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eeas.europa.eu/british_indian_ocean_territory/index_en.htm |title=European Union – EEAS (European External Action Service) |work=europa.eu |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101225061830/http://eeas.europa.eu/british_indian_ocean_territory/index_en.htm |archive-date=25 December 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/sep/27/chagos-islands-maldives-seabed-claim?intcmp=239 |title=Chagos Islands exiles amazed by speed of Foreign Office's opposition to seabed claim by Maldives |first=Owen|last= Bowcott |date=27 September 2010 |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=27 September 2011}}</ref> Today, Chagossians remain highly impoverished and are living as "marginalised" outsiders on the island of Mauritius and the Seychelles.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Chagossians-the original inhabitants of Diego Garcia face U.S. government in the court|url=http://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/chagossians-original-inhabitants-diego-garcia-face-us-government-court|access-date=2 February 2022|website=www.culturalsurvival.org|date=8 February 2002|language=en|archive-date=28 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220328163052/https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/chagossians-original-inhabitants-diego-garcia-face-us-government-court|url-status=live}}</ref>

===After 1971===
Between 1971 and 2001, the only residents on Diego Garcia were UK and US military personnel and civilian employees of those countries. These included contract employees from the Philippines and Mauritius, including some [[Chagossians|Îlois]].<ref>{{cite web| first=Ted A.|last= Morris Jr. |url=http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/bancoult-and-tigar-vs-USA-02.html |title=See email claims from John Bridiane |publisher=Zianet.com |access-date=21 June 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924081644/http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/bancoult-and-tigar-vs-USA-02.html |archive-date=24 September 2012 }}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=July 2023}} During combat operations from the atoll [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|against Afghanistan]] (2001–2006) and [[Iraq War|Iraq]] (2003–2006), a number of allied militaries were based on the island including Australian,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gc.nautilus.org/Nautilus/australia/afghanistan/adf-in-afghanistan-history |title=ADF in Afghanistan – history — Global Collaborative |website=gc.nautilus.org |access-date=13 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106010223/http://gc.nautilus.org/Nautilus/australia/afghanistan/adf-in-afghanistan-history |archive-date=6 January 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Japanese, and the Republic of Korea.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} According to David Vine, "Today, at any given time, 3,000 to 5,000 US troops and civilian support staff live on the island."<ref>David Vine, (2009) ''Island of Shame: The Secret History of the U.S. Military Base on Diego Garcia'', Princeton: Princeton University Press. p. 6.</ref> The inhabitants today do not rely on the island and the surrounding waters for sustenance. Although some recreational fishing for consumption is permitted, all other food is shipped in by sea or air.<ref>[[#Sheppard Spalding|Sheppard & Spalding (2003)]], p. 28.</ref>

In 2004, US Navy recruitment literature described Diego Garcia as being one of the world's best-kept secrets, boasting great recreational facilities, exquisite natural beauty, and outstanding living conditions.<ref>[http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2003-04/1680 Early day motion 1680] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160605063326/http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2003-04/1680 |date=5 June 2016 }} UK Parliament, 16 September 2004</ref>

Since October 2021 there have been [[British Indian Ocean Territory#Marooned asylum seekers|asylum seekers on Diego Garcia]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cuddy |first=Alice |date=29 September 2024 |title=What I found on the secretive tropical island they don't want you to see |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckdg7jjlx2go |access-date=2024-10-04 |website=[[BBC News]] |language=en-GB |archive-date=30 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240930122242/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckdg7jjlx2go |url-status=live }}</ref>