Location & Geography
Mauritius, an independent state, is situated at 890 KM east of Madagascar (as shown in the map below), between 19°50' and 20°32' of south latitude and 57°18' and 57°46' of East Longitude. Reunion, french island, is 200 km south west and Rodrigues, a dependence of Mauritius is 600 km to the East North East.
Of volcanic origin, these islands separated by sea pits of 4000 meters depth, have emerged from the abysses as a result of gigantic underwater volcanic eruptions that happened thousands of kilometers to the east of the continental block made up by Africa and Madagascar.
Regarding the age of these different islands, it is known that Mauritius has started to emerge some 8 million years ago whereas Reunion emerged some 5 million years later. Even if the plateau under the lagoon of wide area surrounding Rodrigues may be much more ancient than the island, the island is only 1.5 million years old. Click here to find out more about its early history.
Regarding the topography of Mauritius, it has an area of 1860 Km2 and is made up of a central plateau gradually rising towards the south west where it reaches its highest point at 800 meters with the Piton de la Rivière Noire. This plateau is still surrounded with what is remaining from the primary crater in the form of a chain of mountains that are not very high (Moka, Corps de Garde, Pieter Both) and some isolated peaks (Piton du Milieu, Motte à Thérèse). Click here to find out Mauritius Cities and Towns
In 1598 the Dutch came into the scene when Vice Admiral Vybrant Van Warwick claimed the island for the Netherlands and named it Mauritius in honour of his ruler, Prince Maurice of Nassau (Pictured on the left). However it was not until 1636 that the Dutch established the first settlement on the southeast coast of the island where they built the first harbour. Today that location is part of one of the major flourishing towns of the country, called Mahébourg.