When we talk about distant and exotic destinations, the first destinations that comes in mind are Bali, Maldives, Caribbean … Mauritius is also an interesting destination which should be in anyone’s list if you want to travel to a distant or exotic place.
This island is located only 900 km from Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Mauritius is an island state, on 168 th place in the world with an area of only 1.860 square kilometers and just over a million inhabitants. It is one of the smallest countries in the world.
This island was discovered in 1505 by Portuguese, but it was uninhabited until the colonization of Dutch who settled in 1638, giving it the name after Prince Maurice of Nassau. In 1810, the island was ruled under the British and got independence in 1968 year when it became a Republic. An interesting fact is that Mauritius is one of the most developed countries of Africa.
Mauritius islands have been created thanks to an array volcanic eruption about 10 million years ago. Today, there are no volcanic activity. The climate on the island is tropical, with warm and dry winters, hot and wet summers. The island is often hit by cyclones during summers .
Capital and largest city is Port Louis, located in the northwest of the island. Other big cities are Curepipe, Vacoas Phoenix, Quatre Bornes and Beau-Bassin. Official languages are French and English. However total number of languages that are spoken is six. Tamil is spoken by 800,000 people.
Mauritius is known in world for many interesting things. One of them is the bird Dodo, which occurred in the distant 1681. Also, Mauritius is the fifth country in the world which has got a post stamp.
In short: a wonderful blue sea, rare animal species, palm trees and sandy beaches – are just some of the beauties that you expect of Mauritius, so its a must if you want a dream trip. Have a good trip!