 Mauritius has long sought sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago, located to the north-east.Chagos was administratively part of Mauritius from the 18th century when the French first settled the islands.All of the islands forming part of the French colonial territory of Isle de France (as Mauritius was then known) were ceded to the British in 1810 under the Act of Capitulation signed between the two powers.