Mauritius

Mauritius is relatively young geologically, having been created by volcanic activity some 8 million years ago.[15] Together with Réunion and Rodrigues, Mauritius is part of the Mascarene Islands. These islands have emerged from the abysses as a result of gigantic underwater volcanic eruptions that happened thousands of kilometres to the east of the continental block made up by Africa and Madagascar.[15] They are no longer volcanically active, and the hotspot now rests under Réunion. There has been no active volcano on the island for more than 100,000 years.[15] Mauritius is encircled by a broken ring of mountain ranges, varying in height from 300 meters to 800 meters above sea level. The land rises from coastal plains to a central plateau where it reaches a height of 670 meters, the highest peak is in the southwest, Piton de la Petite Rivière Noire at 828 metres (2,717 ft).[15] Streams and rivers speckle the island; a lot of them are formed in the cracks created by lava flows.

The country is situated some 2,000 kilometres (1242 miles) off the south East coast of Africa, between Latitudes 19°58.8′ and 20°31.7′ South and Longitudes 57°18.0′ and 57°46.5′ East.[16][17] The island of Mauritius is 65 km long and 45 km wide[18] and has a total land area of some 1,864.8 km2,[3] it is surrounded by more than 150 kilometres (93 miles) of white sandy beaches and the lagoons are protected from the open sea by the world’s third largest coral reef, which surrounds the island.[17] Just off the Mauritian coast lie some 49 uninhabited islands and islets (see Islets of Mauritius), some of them are used as natural reserves for the protection of endangered species.