The North Island is home to the islands' airstrip and the capital of Vingt Cinq and village of La Fourche, while the South Island has the village of Sainte Rita.

The islands are known for their coconuts, the production of which is the main industry, and for the Agalega Island Day Gecko. At one time, no coinage circulated on the islands; all payment was by government-issued vouchers and debited directly from the inhabitants' salaries.

Like other Mascarene islands, it may be that it was known to Arab and Malay sailors, but no written records that confirm these claims have been found so far.

There are three different explanations for the name Agalega:

One hypothesis has it that the Portuguese explorer Don Pedro de Masceranhas named Agalega and the island of Sainte Marie (off the east coast of Madagascar) in honor of his two sailboats, the "Galega" and the "Santa Maria" in 1512, when he discovered Mauritius and Réunion Island.

Legends such as "White Horse carriage" and "Princess Malagasy" buried on the island or the coded language of "Madam langaz Seret" followed an oral tradition since the time of slaves. This language is a mixture of French and Mauritian Creole where every syllable is doubled with the first consonants replaced by the "g" (eg "French" becomes "frangrançaisgais"). The origin and purpose of this language remains unclear.

Today, the population is around 300 people (Agaléens) who speak Creole and Catholicism is dominant.