Mauritius

Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about 2000km off the southeast coast of the African continent. The country includes the islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues, east of Mauritius, and the outer islands . The islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues form part of the Mascarene Islands, along with nearby Réunion, a French overseas department. The area of the country is 2,040km2. The capital and largest city is Port Louis.Formerly a Dutch colony and a French colony, Mauritius became a British colonial possession in 1810 and remained so until 1968, the year in which it attained independence. The British crown colony of Mauritius once included the current territories of Mauritius, Rodrigues, the outer islands of Agaléga, St. Brandon, Chagos Archipelago, and Seychelles. The Mauritian territories gradually devolved with the creation of a separate colony of Seychelles in 1903 and the excision of the Chagos Archipelago in 1965.The sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago is disputed between Mauritius and the United Kingdom . The UK excised the archipelago from Mauritian territory in 1965, three years prior to Mauritian independence. The UK gradually depopulated the archipelago's indigenous population and leased its biggest island, Diego Garcia, to the United States. Access to the archipelago is prohibited to casual tourists, the media, and its former inhabitants.