Mauritius.
Information.
MAURITIUS (officially the Republic of Mauritius) is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about 870 kilometres (540 mi) east of Madagascar. In addition to the island of Mauritius, the Republic includes the islands of Cargados Carajos, Rodrigues, Tromelin and the Agalega Islands. Area - 2040 sq.km. Population - 1 240 827 (2005) Capital - Port Louis Mauritius was first named by Arab sailors during the Middle Ages who was also the first people to visit the island. In 1507 Portuguese sailors visited the uninhabited island. In 1598 a Dutch squadron under Admiral Wybrand Van Warwyck landed at Grand Port and named the island Mauritius, in honour of Prince Maurits van Nassau, stadtholder of the Dutch Republic. France, which already controlled neighbouring Ile Bourbon (now Reunion), took control of Mauritius in 1715 and later renamed it Ile de France. On 3 December 1810 the French formally surrendered after the Napoleonic wars. Under British rule, the island's name reverted to Mauritius. The United Kingdom took control of the islands in 1810, from France during the Napoleonic Wars, and Mauritius became independent from the UK in 1968. It is a parliamentary republic and is a member of the United Nations, Southern African Development Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the African Union, La Francophonie and the Commonwealth of Nations. Currency : Mauritian rupee (MUR) .
