[3] The climate of the island is tropical and equatorial, with warm temperatures that stay relatively constant throughout the year.

Areas with infertile soil are generally covered with sedges and shrubs that can tolerate drought and salt spray.

Most of the original forests have been cleared for coconut plantations and other crops, but small areas of native vegetation remain, some disturbed and others relatively intact.

Plant communities on the islands include:[1][4] Freshwater marshes are found where the water table is high, and saltwater wetlands and mangrove forests grow in sheltered shoreline areas.

The ancient origins of the islands' plant species include Sri Lanka (44%), Africa (28%), and Malesia (25%).

[1] Two native amphibians have been found on the islands, the Indian burrowing frog (Sphaerotheca breviceps) and Asian common toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus).

The people of the Laccadives speak a dialect of Malayalam, the predominant language in the adjacent Indian state of Kerala.

The people of the Maldives and Minicoy in Lakshadweep speak Maldivian, also known as Dhivehi, an Indo-Aryan language most closely related to Sinhala spoken in nearby Sri Lanka.

Important island crops currently include bananas, coconuts, sweet potatoes, mangoes (Mangifera indica), chico (Pouteria sapota), yams, taro, millet, watermelons, citrus, and pineapples.

The UK split administration of the Chagos Archipelago from that of Mauritius in 1965, three years prior to Mauritian independence.

In the late 1960s, the UK government leased Diego Garcia to the United States, which turned it into a naval base.