The United Kingdom has announced it will relinquish sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, a remote but strategically significant archipelago in the Indian Ocean, after more than 50 years of control. The historic decision was reached following years of negotiations and will see the UK hand over the islands to Mauritius,

The British government has announced it will cede sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, in an agreement that ends decades of dispute over Britain’s last African colony while maintaining a key US-British military base in the archipelago.

The U.K. says it has reached a "historic" deal to cede the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean to the Republic of Mauritius, thus surrendering the final colony of Britain's once-sprawling African empire.