<P> Diego Garcia is an atoll just south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean , and the largest of 60 small islands comprising the Chagos Archipelago . It was settled by the French in the 1790s and was transferred to British rule after the Napoleonic Wars . It was one of the `` Dependencies '' of the British Colony of Mauritius until it was detached for inclusion in the newly created British Indian Ocean Territory ( BIOT ) in 1965 . </P>
where is diego garcia located on the map
just south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean