Mauritius

Where the name comes from

Mauritius was named in 1598 after Maurice of Nassau, the Dutch stadtholder who later became Prince of Orange.

First people

The island was uninhabited until Dutch settlement in 1638.¹

Known for

Mauritius is known as the only home of the dodo, which was extinct by the late 1600s.²

Outside contact

France claimed it in 1715 and settled it in 1721, and Britain conquered it in 1810; between 1834 and 1920, almost half a million indentured workers from India arrived.^3,4

The modern country

Independence came in 1968, and the island’s strong Indian heritage lives alongside African, European and Chinese roots.¹