Mauritius, an Island that is almost home

• Posted Sep 08, 2019
• Tags Mauritius, Climate, History, Society, Culture

Mauritius, An Island  That Is Almost Home

Mauritius is an island nation located in the Indian Ocean. It has been named after the Dutch monarch Prince Maurice Van Nassau. It is one of the most beautiful tourist destinations in the region with extensive beaches and palm stretches along them. Tourism forms a pretty big chunk in the national income of the country and therefore is taken very seriously both by the government and the inhabitants. The policies are pretty favorable to the tourists. Its fondness for the tourists can be understood from the fact that there is legally no need to take visa for citizens of several countries visiting to Mauritius.

History:

Mauritius has always held a key position in the Indian Ocean and its location has made it a pretty important base for trading between the Indian sub continent regions and the European markets. The island is recorded as uninhabited when discovered by Arabs in the middle ages. The region has since than seen quite varied occupation during the imperial colonization race.

The Portuguese were the first to establish a visiting base on the island which was abandoned not long later. The Dutch occupation followed soon who named the island and established a small colony on the island. Soon after the Dutch abandoning the island, the French took control of the island who further established the colony. This was followed by an invasion by the British who subsequently defeated the French and took control of the island.

The island nation got its independence from the British colonial occupation in 1968. Most of the structural aspects of the nation were designed during the French and British occupation of the island.

Culture:

The culture here is basically the amalgamation of portions from various ethnicities that are present on the island. While Sega is the major music genre, other genres like fusion, Seggae and even Bhojpuri songs are prevalent amongst the residents.

Mauritius’s cuisine has developed out of Indian, Chinese, French and Creole cuisines and possess the tang of each of these while maintain a sense of originality in itself.

The usual list of festivals includes the most prominent Hindu, Islamic and Christian ones. While Holi and Diwali are celebrated with immense galore, Ramzan and Christmas also find a clear place in the holiday list.

Climate:

Mauritius is located pretty close to the Tropic of Capricorn and therefore features tropical type of climate. It also features forests in the mountainous regions due east. The average temperatures in the country do not show great variation and the difference between the average peak temperatures in the two seasons is rarely greater than 5 degree Celsius.

The climate and the societal setup of the country have allowed the country to have an impeccable record when it comes of the environmental quality. In fact Mauritius proudly owns the tag of being the second on the list of countries with best air quality. This study was conducted by World Health Organization in 2011.

This is one of the reasons for Mauritius being one of the most preferred tourist destinations.

Architecture:

Mauritius has imbibed the architectural styles from the British, French and Dutch settlers. It also shows several features taken from the East African and Indian style. The Mauritian architecture shows definite signatures of the colonization era in the Indian Ocean. It has a hybrid sort of architecture that readily features designs and decorative elements similar to European and Indian styles in idea but improvised to have a definite uniqueness.

Taking a tour to Mauritius can be seen as exploring a bowl of delicacy that has tastes of varying dishes mixed seamlessly to create a yet wonderful taste.

Society:

Pre Independence, Mauritius was predominantly an imperial colony being wrestled for. As the history speaks aloud, where there is colonization, also is slavery. The French introduced slavery to the island and brought slaves from Africa to work on their sugarcane plantations. Later when the British took control of the island, the brought further more workers from India to work here. Later after the country gained independence, the different ethnicities have resided together forming a rather peaceful and harmonious society.

Mauritius is preferable for tourists because of its location and climate which delivers heavily on the peaceful and enjoyable ambience standards. Also the favorable visa and other perks speak firmly in the favor of Mauritius being seen as tourist attraction.