Mauritius — paradise, an island in the Indian Ocean, replete with clean beaches and green palm trees. Rest here does not belong to the budget category, but guests of the country get a lot for their money. In addition to cleanliness and beautiful nature, Mauritius boasts a favorable and safe environment, as well as amazingly delicious local cuisine.
Interesting facts about Mauritius
- Full country name — The Republic of Mauritius, because in addition to the island of the same name, it includes many islands and smaller islets.
- The total land area of the republic is only slightly more than two thousand square kilometers.
- The basis of agriculture in Mauritius — sugar cane, plantations of which occupy about 45% of its area.
- Because of the tropical rains, floods are not uncommon here, and almost every year tropical hurricanes hit Mauritius, the speed of which exceeds 200 kilometers per hour (interesting facts about hurricanes).
- The original forests in Mauritius were cut down to the root. Nearly all the plants now growing on the island were once brought here by colonists.
- Local currency — Mauritian rupee, but most places will also accept American dollars.
- Unlike many other island nations, Mauritius is replete with rivers and streams (interesting facts about rivers).
- There are no official languages in Mauritius. Here, the local version of the Creole dialect, English and partly French, is in use.
- The first people to ever set foot on Mauritian soil were Europeans.
- In Mauritius a unique flightless dodo bird lived, but already in the first hundred years after the island was settled, it was completely exterminated.
- The Portuguese captain who discovered Mauritius gave it the name «Sishna» in honor of one of their ships.
- One in five women and one in ten men in Mauritius are illiterate, unable to read and write.
- About half of the inhabitants of Mauritius profess Hinduism.
- Cultivation of sugarcane — about 90% of the entire agriculture of the island.
- Mauritius does not have its own army. The police are there, but there is very little crime, so the police are mostly idle.
- Mauritius, geographically belonging to Africa — the richest African country, as measured by per capita income.