Above: Welcome To Paradise | Mauritius Island.
Mauritius, formerly the Isle of France and Île Maurice in French, is the main island of the nation of Mauritius. It is located in the southwest of the Indian Ocean, in the heart of the Mascarene Islands, between Réunion to the west and Rodrigues to the east. The population is approximately 1.2 million inhabitants and is divided into several communities. The majority of Mauritians are crossbred with Indian (65.8%), Creole, or mestizo origins.
The capital of Mauritius is Port Louis, located in the northwest of the island. Mauritian Creole is spoken on the island, as well as French and English.
Mauritius is some 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) off the southeast coast of Africa. Mauritius is 65 kilometers (40 miles) long and 45 kilometers (30 miles) wide. The island is surrounded by more than 150 kilometers (100 miles) of beautiful white sandy beaches, and the lagoons are protected from the open sea by the world’s third largest coral reef, which surrounds the island. Just off the Mauritian coast lie some 49 uninhabited islands and islets, several used as natural reserves for endangered species.
The island of Mauritius is relatively young geologically, having been created by volcanic activity some 8 million years ago. Together with Saint Brandon, Réunion, and Rodrigues, the island is part of the Mascarene Islands. These islands have emerged as a result of gigantic underwater volcanic eruptions that happened thousands of kilometers to the east of the continental block made up of Africa and Madagascar. They are no longer volcanically active and the hotspot now rests under Réunion Island. Mauritius is encircled by a broken ring of mountain ranges, varying in height from 300 to 800 meters (1,000 to 2,600 feet) above sea level.