Mauritius in 20 minutes

 

Located in the Indian Ocean 1200 miles off the coast of the African continent, Mauritius is renowned for its luxuriant tropical vegetation, sugar cane plantations, picturesque mountains, sugar-white beaches, turquoise lagoons and a melange of Indian, African, British, French and Chinese cultural influence. It includes the island of Mauritius, Rodrigues and the outer Islands. Mauritius gained her independence in 1968.

Port Louis is the capital and largest city of Mauritius. It is a home to some popular beaches such as Pereybere, Tamarin, Blue Bay, La Morne, Belle Mare, Flic en Flac, to mention but a few. The Portuguese navigator, Diogo Fernandes Pereira was the first European to land in Mauritius. He named the island ‘Ilha do Cirne’. The Dutch established a small colony on the island in 1683 but abandoned it in 1710. The currency of Mauritius is Mauritian Rupee (MUR). The Lingua-franca or official languages of Mauritius are English and French. It is the only African country with a Hindu majority.

Mauritius’ economy is based on sugar, tourism, textiles and apparel, fishing processing, information technology, hospitality and property development. Seafood is a staple diet in Mauritius and the dodo bird which settled on the Island about 4 million years ago is featured on the Mauritius national Coat of Arms. Lewis Carroll was inspired by the dodo bird to write his famous ‘Alice in Wonderland’ in 1865.