Agalega Islands
Topic: World Physical Features and Natural Regions · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Agalega Islands are two small islands that belong to Mauritius. They lie in the western Indian Ocean, about 1,100 km north of the main island of Mauritius. India helped build an airstrip and a jetty there, which opened in 2024. These help connect the remote islands to the rest of Mauritius. They also help with maritime surveillance, which means watching ships and activity at sea. For India, Agalega is part of its policy of working closely with Indian Ocean island countries.
Example
The India-built airstrip on Agalega, opened in 2024, lets patrol aircraft watch a wide area of the western Indian Ocean. This includes the sea route that runs past East Africa towards the Mozambique Channel.
Don't confuse with
- Chagos Archipelago: this is in the central Indian Ocean. Its ownership was disputed between Britain and Mauritius, and the US-UK base on Diego Garcia is there.