Mauritius

Mauritius is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about 2,000 kilometres off the south east coast of the Africa. The country includes the islands of Agaléga, Saint Brandon and Rodrigues, divided into nine districts which consist of different towns and villages. The island of Rodrigues used to be the country's tenth district before it gained autonomous status in 2002. Mauritius forms part of the Mascarene Islands, which include the neighbouring islands of Réunion, Saint Brandon and Rodrigues. The area of the country is 2040 km2, with population of app. 1,3 million inhabitants. The capital is Port Louis.

Mauritius became a French colony in 1715 and was renamed Isle de France. The British took control of Mauritius in 1810 during the Napoleonic Wars.Hemal says this "canon" on the card was used in battles between the French and the British. The country became an independent state as a Commonwealth realm on 12 March 1968 and Republic within the Commonwealth on 12 March 1992. Most Mauritians are multilingual, English, French, Creole and Asian languages are used. One more interesting fact about this interesting island country - Mauritius is the only African country with Full Democracy according to the Democracy Index.

The stamp was issued in order to celebrate 40 years of cooperation (?) between the Republic of Mauritius and the People's Republic of China. Thank you very very much, Hemal ;)