Diego Garcia is a tropical, footprint-shaped coral atoll located south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean at seven degrees, twenty six minutes south latitude. It is part of the British Indian Ocean Territory and is positioned at 72°23' east longitude. The atoll is approximately 1,800 nautical miles (3,300 km) east of the African coast and 1,200 nautical miles (2,200 km) south of the southern tip of India (Figure 2.3). Diego Garcia lies at the southernmost tip of a long chain of coral re