Formal Name: Republic of Mauritius.
Short Name: Mauritius.
Term for Citizens: Mauritian(s).
Capital: Port Louis.
Date of Independence: March 12, 1968 (from Britain).
Size: Approximately 1,865 square kilometers.
Topography: Includes Rodrigues Island, some 600 kilometers east and some uninhabited coralline islands; Mauritius and Rodrigues part of volcanic chain of Mascarene Islands. Mauritius part of broken ring of mountain ranges (about 18 percent) encircling central tableland (about 25 percent), with low-lying coastal plains (about 46 percent) and coral reefs offshore. Numerous rivers and streams.
Climate: Below about 400-meter level humid, subtropical climate. Above that level more temperate. Two seasons: hot and wet summer, November through April, including cyclones December through March; cool and dry winter, May through October. Overall average 200 centimeters of rain annually.
Data as of August 1994