page_title: Chagossians
hierarchical_section_title: Chagossians
caption_attribution_description: English: An unnamed Diego Garcian at the time of the US encampment, 1971. Location: Chagos, Diego Garcia Island (Image ID: geod0341, Geodesy Collection)
context_page_description: The Chagossians are a Creole ethnic group native to the Chagos Islands, specifically Diego Garcia, Peros Banhos, and the Salomon island chain, as well as other parts of the Chagos Archipelago, from the late 18th century until the middle of 20th century. Most Chagossians now live in Mauritius and the United Kingdom after being evicted by the British government in the late 1960s and early 1970s so that Diego Garcia, the island where most Chagossians lived, could serve as the location for a United States military base. Today, no Chagossians live on the island of Diego Garcia, as it is now the site of the military base Camp Justice.
  The Chagossian people's ancestry is mostly African, particularly from Madagascar, Mozambique and other African nations including Mauritius. There is also a significant proportion of Indian and Malay ancestry. The French brought some to the Chagos islands as slaves from Mauritius in 1786. Others arrived as fishermen, farmers, and coconut plantation workers during the 19th century.
context_section_description: The Chagossians (also Îlois or Chagos Islanders) are a Creole ethnic group native to the Chagos Islands, specifically Diego Garcia, Peros Banhos, and the Salomon island chain, as well as other parts of the Chagos Archipelago, from the late 18th century until the middle of 20th century. Most Chagossians now live in Mauritius and the United Kingdom after being evicted by the British government in the late 1960s and early 1970s so that Diego Garcia, the island where most Chagossians lived, could serve as the location for a United States military base. Today, no Chagossians live on the island of Diego Garcia, as it is now the site of the military base Camp Justice.
  The Chagossian people's ancestry is mostly African, particularly from Madagascar, Mozambique and other African nations including Mauritius.  There is also a significant proportion of Indian and Malay ancestry.  The French brought some to the Chagos islands as slaves from Mauritius in 1786. Others arrived as fishermen, farmers, and coconut plantation workers during the 19th century.
  The Chagossians speak Chagossian Creole, a French-based creole language whose vocabulary also incorporates words originating in various African and Asian languages and is part of the Bourbonnais Creole family.  Chagossian Creole is still spoken by some of their descendants in Mauritius and the Seychelles. Chagossian people living in the UK speak English.  Many settled in the town of Crawley in West Sussex, and the Chagossian community there numbered approximately 3,000 in 2016.
  In 2016, the British government denied the right of the Chagossians to return to the islands after a 45-year legal dispute.
caption: Chagossian man harvesting coconuts, photographed shortly before the first United States encampment, 1971.
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