By the early 1990s, commercial flights connected Comoros with France, Mauritius, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, and Madagascar.

To accomplish the UK / US mutual defense strategy, in November 1965, the UK purchased the Chagos Archipelago, which includes Diego Garcia, from the then self-governing colony of Mauritius for £ 3 million to create the British Indian Ocean Territory ( BIOT ), with the intent of ultimately closing the plantations to provide the uninhabited British territory from which the US would conduct its military activities in the region.

* First, the island nation of Mauritius claims the Chagos Archipelago ( which is coterminous with the BIOT ), including Diego Garcia.

Other countries with large Hindu populations include Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Fiji and the island of Bali.

Radama concluded a treaty in 1817 with the British governor of Mauritius to abolish the lucrative slave trade in return for British military and financial assistance.

The known history of Mauritius begins with its discovery by Europeans and its appearance on maps in the early 16th century.

The island was not permanently inhabited for the forty years after its ' discovery ' by the Dutch, but in 1638 Cornelius Gooyer established the first permanent Dutch settlement in Mauritius with a garrison of twenty-five.

By the Treaty of Paris in 1814, the " Isle de France " which was renamed Mauritius was ceded to Great Britain, together with Rodrigues and the Seychelles.

Indentured labour began with Chinese, Malay, African and Malagasy labourers, but ultimately, it was India which supplied the much needed laborers to Mauritius.

Mauritius became an independent state on 12 March 1968, with Elizabeth II as Queen of Mauritius, represented as head of state the Governor-General.

Mauritius became a republic on 12 March 1992, with the last Governor General, Sir Veerasamy Ringadoo, as interim President.

Until 1992, Mauritius was a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as head of state, but on 12 March of that year, the country became a republic within the Commonwealth.

They form part along with the Speaker of the National Assembly, the legislative offices which under the constitution have the final decision and last word on any legislative matter including the laws of Mauritius.

Since independence in 1968, Mauritius has developed from a low-income, agriculturally based economy to a middle-income diversified economy with growing industrial, financial, and tourist sectors.

Telecommunications had an early beginning in Mauritius, with the first telephone line installed in 1883, seven years after the invention of the telephone.

Mauritius has a widespread bus network with around 220 bus lines and roughly 900 bus stops.

The first recorded flight, with takeoff from Mauritius, was undertaken on 2 June 1922 by Major F. W. Honnet.

Mauritius has strong and friendly relations with the West, as well as with India and the countries of southern and eastern Africa.

Considered part of Africa geographically, Mauritius has friendly relations with other African states in the region, particularly South Africa, by far its largest continental trading partner.

Mauritius coordinates much of its foreign policy with the Southern Africa Development Community and the Organization of African Unity.

Mauritius is also a member of the International Criminal Court with a Bilateral Immunity Agreement of protection for the US-military ( as covered under Article 98 ).

India has remained one of its biggest trading partners ; in addition India has deep social and historical links with a large portion of the population of Mauritius, India is the country's second largest source of foreign assistance.

( Christianity, a public holiday in Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia, Burundi, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Mauritius, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Senegal, Seychelles, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Togo, and Vanuatu ), and its related observances:

It used gizzard stones to help digest its food, which is thought to have included fruits, and its main habitat is believed to have been the woods in the drier coastal areas of Mauritius.

The ship had a difficult voyage — an outbreak of cholera on board when the ship was in Mauritius had the locals demanding its departure and they asked their governor to open fire and destroy the vessel if it did not respond.

Port-Louis, the capital city of Mauritius, as well as its cathedral are also named after St. Louis, who is the patron saint of the island.

Mauritius has followed a pragmatic development strategy in which liberalisation process was sequenced and tailored to its competitive advantages and weaknesses.

However, while this is exceptionally high compared with its neighbors in Mauritius, Madagascar and the African continent, it is only 57 % of the 30, 140 euros per capita GDP of metropolitan France in 2007.

The economy of South Africa is the largest in Africa, accounts for 24 % of its Gross Domestic Product in terms of PPP, and is ranked as an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank, which makes the country one of only four countries in Africa represented in this category ( the others being Botswana, Gabon and Mauritius ).

It is a matter of dispute whether the agreement transferred sovereignty of Tromelin from one to the other, and Mauritius claims the island as part of its territory on the grounds that sovereignty was not transferred to France and the island was thus part of the colony of Mauritius at the time of independence.

Indeed, as early as 1959, even before independence, Mauritius informed the World Meteorological Organization that it considered Tromelin to be part of its territory.

It is known as " Mangnokka " in Sri Lanka and Mauritius also by its Sinhalese and Tamil names, generally eaten boiled with a chili onion mixture called " Lunu Miris Sambol " ( type of a salsa ) or coconut sambol.

* In The Mauritius Command, the fourth book of the Aubrey-Maturin series, author Patrick O ' Brian mentions a banyan tree on îles Rodrigues ' which, rooting from its branches, made dark arcades that sheltered countless fruitbats the size of a moderate dove ..'

He made many contributions to the epidemiology of malaria and to methods of its survey and assessment, but perhaps his greatest was the development of mathematical models for the study of its epidemiology, initiated in his report on Mauritius in 1908, elaborated in his Prevention of malaria in 1911 and further elaborated in a more generalised form in scientific papers published by the Royal Society in 1915 and 1916.

The conservation for the species has moved on to the next stage and its focus has returned to Mauritius, re-establishing the species in the community and ecosystem.

* 1847 21 September Mauritius issues its first stamps, the Mauritius " Post Office " stamps, or the Red Penny and Blue Penny.

Mauritius has a strong human capital foundation developed through consistent and equitable investment in human development.

Mauritius, which was unknown to Europeans until the Portuguese sailed there and has strong connections with Mozambique, also obtained associate observer status in 2006.

The corsairs raids ( see Mauritius campaign of 1809 – 1811 ) continued until 1810 when a strong British expedition was sent to capture the island ( see Invasion of Isle de France ).

Mauritius has had strong ties with French culture throughout its history and was left with a very French " savoir vivre ".

Following his replacement, the Prince Regent went further by detaining Stojadinović without proper cause until he had managed, with the help of his strong personal ties to King George VI of the United Kingdom ( who had been the Prince Regent's best man in 1923 ) to enlist the support of the United Kingdom to have Stojadinović sent into exile to British controlled Mauritius, where he was kept during World War II.

Mauritius has a multi-party system, with two or three strong parties and a third party that is electorally successful.

Mauritius Breweries produce a local lager called Phoenix Beer and a strong lager.

Following a strong family tradition, Josias joined the Royal Navy at an early age and served an illustrious career during the Napolionic wars and was created a baronet after capturing the Indian Ocean islands of Réunion and Mauritius from the French.

Mauritius, a multilingual island in the Indian Ocean, has strong cultural ties with Mozambique.