Mauritius, with its full name the Republic of Mauritius, an island country, lies 1,200 miles off the southeastern coast of Africa, and just east of Madagascar, another African island country, which is larger by far than Mauritius.
The country can be divided into many parts with different climate all because of its peculiar terrains.
In the center there are volcanoes several thousand feet high, and 90% of its arable land is covered with sugarcane.
There are no people living on the island before the Dutch landed on it in 1638. The Dutch abandoned it in 1710, and five years later, the French came and succeeded in planting sugarcane there.
It was conquered by Britain in 1818. As a result, its official language is English. The main big cities are Beau Bassin and Mahebourg, with Port Louis as its capital.
Mauritius has many rare and unique animals, such as the snakes, parrots and lizards.
Mauritius was extremely poor when it declared its independence in 1968.
In the past ten years, obvious economic prosperity has shown itself in this island country. Nowadays its business, culture and tourism are developing rapidly.
Every year, thousands of millions of people rush there to enjoy the silver sand beach and song and dance performances with native national characters.