The Republic of Mauritius is an island nation located in the Indian Ocean, about 560 miles (900 km) east of Madagascar. The island of Mauritius is part of the Mascarene Islands archipelago. Other nearby islands, St. Brandon, Rodrigues, and the Agalega Islands, are dependencies of the Republic of Mauritius. In addition,Mauritius owns a number of underwater banks and claims a fewislands in the possession of other countries.
There is no native population of Mauritius. Arab and Malay sailors may have known of the island’s existence in the Middle Ages, but its first appearance in recorded history is on a 1502 Italian map. Portuguese traders began using the island as a visiting base in 1505, though they did not form any settlements.
The first settlers on the island were Dutch, and they namedMauritius after the Dutch Stadtholder, Maurice of Nassau. The Dutch tried to establish a local economy based on the export ofebony wood, harvested by slave labor. The first Dutch settlement inMauritius was established in 1638 and lasted only twenty years. The Dutch tried again in 1666, but political instability and a hostile environment caused them to eventually abandon the island in 1710.
Mauritius came under European control again in 1715, when France took possession and renamed the territory Ile de France. The French developed sugar production on the island, but lost the territory to Great Britain during the Napoleonic Wars, in 1810. Mauritius gained independence in 1968 and became a member of theCommonwealth of Nations in 1992.
The Republic of Mauritius is an island nation located in the Indian Ocean, about 560 miles (900 km) east of Madagascar. The island of Mauritius is part of the Mascarene Islands archipelago. Other nearby islands, St. Brandon, Rodrigues, and the Agalega Islands, are dependencies of the Republic of Mauritius. In addition,Mauritius owns a number of underwater banks and claims a fewislands in the possession of other countries.There is no native population of Mauritius. Arab and Malay sailors may have known of the island’s existence in the Middle Ages, but its first appearance in recorded history is on a 1502 Italian map. Portuguese traders began using the island as a visiting base in 1505, though they did not form any settlements.
The first settlers on the island were Dutch, and they namedMauritius after the Dutch Stadtholder, Maurice of Nassau. The Dutch tried to establish a local economy based on the export ofebony wood, harvested by slave labor. The first Dutch settlement inMauritius was established in 1638 and lasted only twenty years. The Dutch tried again in 1666, but political instability and a hostile environment caused them to eventually abandon the island in 1710.Mauritius came under European control again in 1715, when France took possession and renamed the territory Ile de France. The French developed sugar production on the island, but lost the territory to Great Britain during the Napoleonic Wars, in 1810. Mauritius gained independence in 1968 and became a member of theCommonwealth of Nations in 1992.
