Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius (République de Maurice) is an island nation off the coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about 900 kilometres east of Madagascar. In addition to the island of Mauritius, the republic includes the islands of St. Brandon, Rodrigues and the Agalega Islands. Mauritius is part of the Mascarene Islands, with the French island of Réunion 200 km (125 mi) to the southwest and the island of Rodrigues 570 km to the northeast.
The discovery of Mauritius Island was first made by the Arab sailors around the 9th century. At this time the island was a dense forest.

Fernandez Pereira, a Portuguese sailor who saw the island decided to give it the name of Cerne in 1505. Subsequently held by the Dutch, French, and British before independence was attained in 1968.

A tropical climate modified by southeast trade winds; warm, dry winter (May to November); hot, wet, humid summer (November to May); Mauritius has only two seasons, winter and summer, although there is not much temperature difference. The climate on the central plateau is cooler than on the coastal areas. The West coast is much wetter and more humid than the East coast.