Editing Diego Garcia (section)

===European arrival===
The uninhabited islands were [[History of Portugal (1415–1578)#Chronology of the Portuguese discoveries|discovered]] by the Portuguese navigator, explorer, and diplomat [[Pedro Mascarenhas]] in 1512, first named as Dom Garcia, in honour of his patron, Dom [[Garcia de Noronha]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jmbd1945.blogspot.pt/2011_04_01_archive.html|title=PORTUGAL MARÍTIMO: Abril 2011|first=Josmael|last=Bardour|work=jmbd1945.blogspot.pt|access-date=16 March 2014|archive-date=16 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140316195930/http://jmbd1945.blogspot.pt/2011_04_01_archive.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/dgtest.html|title=The Diego Garcia Test Question|work=zianet.com|access-date=16 March 2014|archive-date=23 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023153117/http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/dgtest.html|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=July 2023}} when he was detached from the [[Portuguese India Armadas]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/realhistory.html|title=History of Diego Garcia Atoll, Indian Ocean|work=zianet.com|access-date=30 July 2010|archive-date=11 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611005507/http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/realhistory.html|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=July 2023}} during his voyage of 1512–1513. Another Portuguese expedition with a Spanish explorer of Andalusian origin, [[Diego García de Moguer]],<ref>{{cite book|first=Edith|last= Porchat|title=Informações históricas sobre São Paulo no século de sua fundação|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4FAezV2IKwUC&pg=PA61|year=1956|publisher=Editora Iluminuras Ltda|isbn=978-85-85219-75-8|page=61}}</ref> rediscovered the island in 1544 and named it after himself. Garcia de Moguer died the same year on the return trip to Portugal in the Indian Ocean, off the South African coast. The misnomer "Diego" could have been made unwittingly by the British ever since, as they copied the Portuguese maps. It is assumed{{by whom|date=December 2017}} that the island was named after one of its first two discoverers—the one by the name of Garcia, the other with name Diego. Also, a [[cacography]] of the saying ''Deo Gracias'' (literally 'Thank God') is eligible for the attribution of the [[atoll]]. Although the [[Cantino planisphere]] (1504) and the [[Early world maps#Ruysch World Map (1507)|Ruysch map (1507)]] clearly delineate the Maldive Islands, giving them the same names, they do not show any islands to the south which can be identified as the Chagos archipelago.

[[File:Diego garcian.jpg|thumb|upright|A [[Chagossians|Chagossian]] photographed by a [[US National Geodetic Survey]] team in 1969]]
The [[Sebastian Cabot (explorer)|Sebastian Cabot]] map ([[Antwerp]] 1544) shows a number of islands to the south which may be the [[Mascarene Islands]]. The first map which identifies and names "''Los Chagos''" (in about the right position) is that of [[Pierre Desceliers]] ([[Dieppe maps#Existing Dieppe maps|Dieppe 1550]]), although Diego Garcia is not named. An island called "Don Garcia" appears on the ''[[Theatrum Orbis Terrarum]]'' of [[Abraham Ortelius]] (Antwerp 1570), together with "Dos Compagnos", slightly to the north. It may be the case that "Don Garcia" was named after Garcia de Noronha, although no evidence exists to support this.{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}} The island is also labelled "Don Garcia" on [[Gerardus Mercator|Mercator]]'s ''[[Early world maps#Mercator world map (1569)|Nova et Aucta Orbis Terrae Descriptio ad Usum Navigatium Emendate]]'' (Duisburg 1569). However, on the ''Vera Totius Expeditionis Nauticae Description'' of Jodocus Hondius (London 1589), "Don Garcia" mysteriously changes its name to "I. de Dio Gratia", while the "I. de Chagues" appears close by.

The first map to delineate the island under its present name, Diego Garcia, is the ''World Map'' of [[Edward Wright (mathematician)|Edward Wright]] (London 1599), possibly as a result of misreading Dio (or simply "D.") as Diego, and Gratia as Garcia. The ''Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica'' of [[Hendrik Hondius II]] (Antwerp 1630) repeats Wright's use of the name, which is then proliferated on all subsequent Dutch maps of the period, and to the present day.