|RConstitution:|N Independent country, recognizing the British sovereign as head of state.
|RNational holiday:|N Independence Day, March 12.
|RNature and climate:|N Consists of the main island Mauritius, 500 km east of Madagascar, Rodrigues, 560 km east of Mauritius and the dependencies Agalega and the Saint Brandon group. Saint Brandon is uninhabited.
Mauritius is a volcanic island surrounded by coral reefs. The central plateau is surrounded by mountain peaks. Highest peak, Piton de la Rivière Noire, reaches 826 m.a.s.l.
The climate is sub-tropical with an average temperature of 23°C in January and 27°C in July.
Percipitation varies from 1000 mm by the coast to 5000 mm in the interior.
Mauritius is located in the cyclone belt but is seldom affected by intense storms.
|REconomy:|N Huge sugarplantations and sugarrefining are traditionally the main industries. In the early 1970:s an industrial free-zone was created for export aimed manufacturing. Development in the zone has been rapid and in the mid 1980:s products from the zone accounted for 40% of the export revenues while sugar still accounted for 60% of the revenues.
Manufacturing of textiles, toys and electronics dominate in the zone.
Tourism is the third biggest source of foreign revenues.
|RHistory:|N Arab sailors visited the island in the 10th century and Malay sailors in the 15th century and Portuguese sailors about 1510.
Dutch settlers arrived 1598 and Mauritius was a Dutch colony until 1710 when it was abandoned and became e refuge and resort for pirates.
It was occupied by France in 1721 and by Great Britain 1810.
The French brought African slaves for work on sugarplantations and the British brought workers from India.
