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Mauritius COUNTRY
Formal Name: Republic of Mauritius.
Short Name: Mauritius.
Term for Citizens: Mauritian(s).
Capital: Port Louis.
Date of Independence: March 12, 1968 (from
Britain).
GEOGRAPHY
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
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