Mauritius is a subtropical island in the Indian Ocean, strategically located at the crossroads of Africa and Asia, at 855 km east of Madagascar. The main city and capital of the country is Port Louis. Mauritius is independent since 1968 and has become a Republic in 1992. An island with an area of 1,864 km2, it is almost entirely surrounded by coral reefs.

Mauritius has a maritime climate, tropical during summer and sub-tropical during winter. The summer months extend from November to April and winter from May to October. In the centre of the island, the temperature varies between 13ºC and 19ºC in July - August, and between 19ºC and 25ºC in January. Along the coast, the temperature is about 5ºC higher.

The population was estimated at approximately 1.2 million in December 2002. The population is made up of descendants of immigrants principally of European, African, Indian and Chinese origin. The multicultural society, living in harmony, makes Mauritius unique in the world. Most Mauritians are bilingual. Whilst English is the official language, French and Creole are widely spoken daily. There are also many oriental languages such as Hindi, Mandarin and Urdu spoken and taught at school.

Discovered by the Portuguese in 1505, the first settlers on the island were the Dutch who named the island after their ruler Prince Maurice van Nassau. The island was then inhabited by the French and later fell under the governance of the British from 1810 until independence was attained in 1968. Agricultural development expanded under the British rule with the arrival of Indian Indentured labourers who were brought in to work in sugar cane fields. On 12 March 1992 Mauritius became a Republic, still forming part of the British Commonwealth.

Mauritius has a cosmopolitan culture. Co-existence among Mauritians of Indian, African, European and Chinese ancestry has led to a sharing of cultures and values, a collective participation in festivals and increased understanding between people of different backgrounds. Mauritius is today a unique melting pot of peoples, languages and cultures.

The constitution of the country, which is based on the British parliamentary democracy, establishes a strict separation of powers between the three arms of government - the Legislative, the Executive and the Judiciary. The President of the Republic, who is elected by the National Assembly, is the Head of State. Executive power rests with the Prime Minister and a cabinet of Ministers. The National Assembly is the supreme legislative body.

The main sources of law in Mauritius are the Constitution, the statutes (including regulations), the Criminal Code, the Civil Code, the Commercial Code, the Code of Civil Procedure, case law, and inter-national treaties.

Independence of the judiciary is guaranteed by the Constitution. The Supreme Court, which is the highest judicial authority, is a superior court of record and the principal court of civil and criminal jurisdiction. The Constitution has maintained the right of appeal against final judgements of the Supreme Court to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of UK, as Mauritius remains a member of the Commonwealth.

Over the past 15 years, Mauritius has emerged as a unique investment destination and as a great place to do business. The country enjoys a vibrant economy, stable democracy and high living standards. Since independence in 1968, it has ambitiously moved from a small agricultural economy to a dynamic secondary sector (textile and tourism), to the services sector through global business activities and lately Business Process Outsourcing. In its latest 'Ease of Doing Business' publication of the World Bank, Mauritius is ranked 27th out of 178 economies.

An array of well-established restaurants, hotels and leisure activities provide options for all tastes and generally all establishments are of a very high standard catering for both the high demands of the business sector as well as the discerning tourist. As such, visitors and expatriates will find an incredible amount of options for leisure facilities to cope with the demands and interests of the very cosmopolitan populations in all the islands - not least of course the high quality golf courses and wide variety of water based activities.

For further information on Mauritius, visit the Portal of the Republic of Mauritius on www.gov.mu