Mauritius (Mauritius in English), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is a State of the Indian Ocean archipelago in the Mascarene Islands. It is located south-east Africa about 900 kilometres east of Madagascar, 250 km from the Reunion and farther south of Seychelles.
The republic covers an area of 2 040 km2 is composed of Mauritius, which represents 91% of the country with 1 865 km2 area and several small islands and reefs which Rodrigues and the archipelagos of Cargados Carajos and " Agalega.
The dodo, a bird disappeared, is the emblem of the country.
Historians believe that the first visitors of Mauritius were the Phoenician sailors who reportedly discussed during the first circumnavigation around the African continent, sponsored by the pharaoh of Egypt Néchao II, around -600. Sailors Arab regularly visited Mauritius from the fifth century and gave it the name Dina Arobi. It was not until the early sixteenth century that the Portuguese navigators began to circulate in the region. The Portuguese settled there for the first time in 1505 (it still appears on Arab maps dating from before the discovery by the Portuguese, under the name Cirné). The island is occupied and colonized by the Dutch from 1598. It is called Mauritius in honor of Dutch Prince Maurice of Nassau. The Dutch are the first to introduce slaves on the island, the most likely slaves are brought from Africa and Madagascar. Their descendants, more or less mixed, constitute the so-called Creole population. There are also Indian slaves, [2] in the island alongside the first Europeans, Indians and free of significant social level. They will also deer Java, which are now driven.
