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The known and sometimes formally documented history of Mauritius begins with its possible discovery by Austronesians (not documented) under the Austronesian expansion from pre-Han Taiwan, circa 1500 to 1000 BC, and then by Arabs, (documented on Portuguese maps), followed by Portuguese and its appearance on European maps in the early 16th century.
Mauritius, [a] officially the Republic of Mauritius, [b] is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about 2,000 kilometres (1,100 nautical miles) off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Agaléga, and St. Brandon (Cargados Carajos shoals).
Following the 1967 election the newly formed Mauritian government government was formed and passed an independence bill in the Mauritian Parliament. [ 1 ] : 102 Mauritius experienced a period of instability in the days running up to the declaration resulting in the 1968 Mauritian riots before order was restored by the British authorities.
The youngest islands to form were Mauritius (7–10 mya), the oldest of the existing islands, created along with the undersea Rodrigues ridge. The islands of Rodrigues and Réunion were created in the last two million years. Réunion is the largest of the islands (2,500 km 2), followed by Mauritius (1,900 km 2) and Rodrigues (110 km 2).
Mauritius was a Crown colony off the southeast coast of Africa. Formerly part of the French colonial empire, British rule in Mauritius was established de facto with the invasion of Isle de France in November 1810, and de jure by the subsequent Treaty of Paris. British rule ended on 12 March 1968, when Mauritius became an independent country.
The new constitution provided for a 28-member Council of Government, which consisted of the Governor, 12 officials, 5 appointed members and 10 elected members. [2] The ten elected members were returned from nine constituencies formed from the nine districts, which all districts returning one member except Port Louis, which returned two. [3]
Islands of the Republic of Mauritius labelled in black. Sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago is disputed between Mauritius, Maldives and the United Kingdom.Mauritius has repeatedly stated that the Chagos Archipelago is part of its territory and that the United Kingdom claim is a violation of United Nations resolutions banning the dismemberment of colonial territories before independence.
The geology of Mauritius and Rodrigues is comparatively recent. The oldest rocks on Mauritius are only 10 million years old and 1.54 million years old on Rodrigues Island . The mafic basalts of the two islands formed in relation to the hotspot that generated the Deccan Traps and coral reefs built on the volcanoes forming non-volcanic sediments.