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.

The UK has agreed to give up sovereignty of a group of islands in the Indian Ocean to Mauritius in return for securing the future of a UK-US military base situated on Diego Garcia. The deal over the British Indian Ocean Territory,

UK agrees to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, to Mauritius.