Mauritius

Mauritius is situated in the southern hemisphere, in the south west of the indian Ocean, north of the Tropic of Capricorn, 20 degrees south and 57 degrees east. Mauritius is part of Western Africa.

Mauritius island in itself represents 91% of the total surface area of the republic , representing 1865 square kilometers. The total surface area of the Mauritian Republic is 2050 square kilometers. This total area accounts to many islets and other outer island, including Rodrigues, St Brandon and Agalega. Mauritius island has about 330 km of coastline and is circled with pristine lagoon protected with coral reefs virtually everywhere around the island.

Capital City, Cities and Villages

The capital, Port-Louis, was founded by french governor, Mahé de Labourdonnais. He was the first one to develop the port of Port-Louis to facilitate commerce as the port is protected from strong winds by a mountain range. Port-Louis is also home to the government house and all principal financial and governmental institutions of the island. It is also the biggest city and the largest number of inhabitants.

However, there are also other major cities such as Curepipe, Quatre-Bornes, Rose-Hill, Beau-Bassin and Vacoas-Phoenix.

Languages

Mauritians speak many languages. The main language on the island is Creole but the official language is English. Subjects taught at school, administrative documents, etc… are all in English. Hindi, Bhojpuri, Urdu, Tamul, Mandarin, Arabic, Marathi are also taught in school.

Creole is the most widely spoken language, the second one being french, english and then Bhojpuri.

Climate

Being Situated above the tropics, Mauritius has only two seasons: Winter and Summer.

Currency