Geography of Mauritius

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Mauritius
Native name: Moris
Nickname: The Star and Key of the Indian Ocean
Geography
Location Indian Ocean
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Archipelago Mascarene Islands
Area Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value).
Highest elevation 828 m (2,717 ft)
Country
Demographics
Population 1,264,866
Density 616 /km2 (1,595 /sq mi)

Mauritius is an island of Africa's southeast coast located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar. It is geologically located within the Somali plate.

Statistics

File:L'île Maurice vue par Sentinel 2 (cropped).jpg
Satellite image of Mauritius

Area (includes Agaléga, Cargados Carajos (Saint Brandon), and Rodrigues):
total: 2,011 km2
land: 2,030 km2
water: 10 km2
note: includes Agalega Islands, Cargados Carajos Shoais (Saint Brandon), and Rodrigues.

Coastline: 177 km

Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nmi (22.2 km; 13.8 mi)
continental shelf: 200 nmi (370.4 km; 230.2 mi) or to the edge of the continental margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 nmi (370.4 km; 230.2 mi)

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Piton de la Petite Rivière Noire 828 m

Natural resources: arable land, fish

Land use:
arable land: 38.24%
permanent crops: 1.96%
other: 59.80% (2011)

Irrigated land: 212.2 km2 (2003)

Total renewable water resources: 2.75 km3 (2011)

Environment - current issues: water pollution, degradation of coral reefs

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

Geography - note: The main island is from which the country derives its name, former home of the dodo, a large flightless bird related to pigeons, driven to extinction by the end of the 17th century through a combination of hunting and the introduction of predatory species.

Landscape near Les Mariannes.
Landscape near Les Mariannes.

Table of Islands

Island Capital Other Cities Area (km2) Population
Agalega Islands Vingt-Cinq La Fourche, St Rita, Port St James 26.0 290
Agalega Islands Vingt-Cinq La Fourche, St Rita, Port St James 26.0 290
Cargados Carajos Raphael Avocare, Ile du Sud, Coco Island 3.2 63
Cargados Carajos Raphael Avocare, Ile du Sud, Coco Island 3.2 63
Islets of Mauritius Port Louis 1871 1252980
Ile aux Benitiers Ile aux Benitiers 0.7 10
Ile Aux Cerfs Le Touessrok Resort 1.2 0
Ile des deux Cocos deux Cocos resort 0.04 2
Mouchoir Rouge Mouchoir Rouge resort 0.01 3
Mauritius Island Port Louis Beau-Bassin Rose-Hill, Quatre Bornes, Vacoas-Phoenix, Curepipe 1860 1252964
More Mauritius Islands Ile aux Aigrettes Ronde Island, Ile de la Passe, Coin du Mire, Ile D’Ambre, Ile Plate, Ilot Gabriel, Grand Port Islets, Ile aux Serpents, Ile de L’Est 8.8 1
Islets of Rodrigues Port Mathurin 111 38167
Ile Crabe Rodrigues Port Crabe 0.4 2
Rodrigues Island Port Mathurin Gabriel, Riviere Cocos, port south east 109 38164
More Rodrigues Islands Ile aux Cocos Ile Fregate, Ile aux Sables, Ile aux Chats, le Hermitage, Ile Gombrani 1.36 1
Mauritius Port Louis 2011 1291500

notes: excludes Tromelin and other îles éparses

Climate

File:Mauritius2021OSM.png
A comprehensive map of Mauritius, including the country's outlying islands

The local climate is tropical, modified by southeast trade winds; there is a warm, dry winter from May to November and a hot, wet, and humid summer from November to May. Anticyclones affect the country during May to September.

Cyclones affect Mauritius during November–April. Hollanda (1994) and Dina (2002) were the worst two of the more recent cyclones to have affected the island.

Climate data for Port Louis
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 35
(95)		 33
(91)		 32
(90)		 31
(88)		 29
(84)		 28
(82)		 27
(81)		 27
(81)		 28
(82)		 31
(88)		 33
(91)		 35
(95)		 35
(95)
Average high °C (°F) 31.5
(88.7)		 31.4
(88.5)		 31.5
(88.7)		 30.7
(87.3)		 29.3
(84.7)		 27.6
(81.7)		 26.7
(80.1)		 26.8
(80.2)		 27.7
(81.9)		 28.8
(83.8)		 30.2
(86.4)		 31.1
(88)		 29.44
(85)
Average low °C (°F) 24.1
(75.4)		 24.0
(75.2)		 23.8
(74.8)		 23.0
(73.4)		 21.5
(70.7)		 19.9
(67.8)		 19.3
(66.7)		 19.1
(66.4)		 19.4
(66.9)		 20.4
(68.7)		 21.8
(71.2)		 23.2
(73.8)		 21.63
(70.92)
Record low °C (°F) 17
(63)		 18
(64)		 17
(63)		 14
(57)		 13
(55)		 11
(52)		 11
(52)		 10
(50)		 11
(52)		 13
(55)		 14
(57)		 17
(63)		 10
(50)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 131
(5.16)		 160
(6.3)		 83
(3.27)		 87
(3.43)		 48
(1.89)		 24
(0.94)		 18
(0.71)		 19
(0.75)		 17
(0.67)		 15
(0.59)		 24
(0.94)		 85
(3.35)		 711
(28)
Average rainy days (≥ 1.0 mm) 9 10 8 7 6 4 4 5 3 3 3 6 68
Mean monthly sunshine hours 248 226 217 240 248 210 217 217 240 279 270 279 2,891
Source #1: World Meteorological Organization.[1]
Source #2: BBC Weather[2]

Terrain

The country's landscape consists of a small coastal plain rising to discontinuous mountains encircling a central plateau. Mauritius is almost completely surrounded by reefs that may pose maritime hazards. The main island is of volcanic origin.

The mountains with the greatest prominence include:

Piton de la Petite Rivière Noire, 828 m, the highest point of the island[3]

Le Morne Brabant, 556 m

Tourelle de Tamarin, 563 m[4]

Corps de Garde, 720 m, prominence 382 m[5]

Le Pouce, 820 m, prominence 352 m[6]

Pieter Both, 820 m, prominence 229 m[7]

Montagne Cocotte, 780 m

Extreme points

This is a list of the extreme points of Mauritius, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location.

See also

References

  1. ↑ World Weather Information Service-Port Louis, World Meteorological Organization. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the CIA World Factbook.

External links

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