Mauritius —Profile
(1999 est. pop. 1.15 million). Mauritius, a tiny, pear-shaped volcanic island of barely 1,865 square kilometers, lies 900 kilometers northeast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Mauritius is 61 kilometers long and 47 kilometers wide, orabout the size of Connecticut plus Delaware or one-tenth the size of Wales. Mauritius is known for its vast white beaches, rugged volcanic mountains, and its large plateau at 550 to 730 meters above sea level.
The island lies 20 degrees south of the equator, just within the Tropic of Capricorn. Mauritius enjoys an equable maritime climate, tropical in summer and subtropical in winter, with an average summer temperature of 27°C and a winter temperature averaging 17°C.
The island's coastline runs over 200 kilometers and is surrounded by beautiful coral reefs, clean white sands, and clear lagoons full of tropical fish. The nearest Asian neighbor of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean is Sri Lanka: Colombo is 3,200 kilometers from Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius. Both Aden in Yemen and Cape Town in South Africa are 3,680 kilometers from Mauritius.
In addition to the island of Mauritius and the small island of Rodrigues, the state of Mauritius includes two tiny dependencies laying to the north—Agalega Islands (70 square kilometers) and the Carajoas Shoals (1.3 square kilometers), which are virtually unpopulated.
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