Destination Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is a Nations Online country profile of the small remote archipelago in the Indian Ocean in eastern Southern Africa. The island nation is situated about 900 km (560 mi) east of Madagascar and 180 km (110 mi) northeast of French Réunion.

The country includes several islands of volcanic origin. Besides the main island of Mauritius, there is Rodrigues Island 600 km away to the east and two outer islands, Agaléga, 1065 km to the north, and the uninhabited archipelago of the Cargados Carajos Shoals (Saint Brandon), 430 km to the northeast.

Mauritius, Rodrigues, and Réunion belong to the Mascarene Islands, with Mauritius being the largest. The island is about 61 km long and 45 km wide, with an area of 1,864 km²; in comparison, it is slightly smaller than Tenerife or about as big as Maui, Hawaii.

The archipelago has a population of 1.37 million people (in 2020). The island state is the country with the highest population density in Africa. Almost the entire population lives in Mauritius. The capital and largest city are Port Louis. Spoken languages are Morisien, English, and French. Morisien is a Creole language based on French and is used by almost the entire population in everyday life.
The sparsely populated and isolated 108 km² (42 sq mi) big island of Rodrigues is of volcanic origin and about 500 km from the main island in the Indian Ocean.

What is Mauritius famous for?

Mauritius is famous for the Dodo (an extinct flightless bird the size of a swan), a multicultural population, incredible expensive resorts (up to $600 a night and more) the island caters for the more wealthy customers, Mauritius rum, sugar and fruit jams, the Seven Coloured Earths, an underwater waterfall, the Giant water lilies in the Pamplemousses Botanical Garden, ravanne drum and Sega music, and nice golf courses.

Background:
Madagascar, the Red Island, the Rainbow Island, the Eighth Continent, there are many names for the world's 4th largest island. Madagascar is situated in the southwestern area of the Indian Ocean east of the coast of Africa about 400 km off the coast of Mozambique. The island is recognized as one of the world's top ten hotspots for biodiversity.

Madagascar is inhabited by various ethnic groups of Malayo-Indonesian, mixed African and Malayo-Indonesian, and Arab ancestry. Five centuries before the Europeans discovered the island Malayo-Indonesian seafarers arrived in roughly the first century A.D., the Arabs followed in the 6th century to establish trading posts.

Since the 16th century French and British influence left their mark.
In October 1958 the Malagasy Republic was proclaimed as an autonomous state within the French Community and gained full independence in June 1960.
Like many former colonial countries, Madagascar went through various political states like uprisings, provisional governments, single-party rule, socialist economic policies, and the threat of secession.

Today the country is on a slow and steady economical and political growth path from an extremely low level.