!!!Mauritius: Geography
||Location|Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, about 800 km (500 mi) east of Madagascar
||Geographic Coordinates|20 17 S, 57 33 E[{GoogleMap location='-20.283333,57.55' zoom='4'}]
||Area |''total: ''2,040 sq km\\''land: ''2,030 sq km\\''water: ''10 sq km\\''__note:__ ''includes Agalega Islands, Cargados Carajos Shoals (Saint Brandon), and Rodrigues\\[[__''Verified in 8 databases''__]
||Land boundaries|0 km
||Coastline|177 km
||Elevation Extremes|''lowest point: ''Indian Ocean 0 m\\''highest point: ''Mont Piton 828 m
||Highest Mountains|
||Terrain|small coastal plain rising to discontinuous mountains encircling central plateau
||Natural Hazards|cyclones (November to April); almost completely surrounded by reefs that may pose maritime hazards
||Natural Resource|arable land, fish
||Land Use|''arable land: ''38.24%\\''permanent crops: ''1.96%\\''other: ''59.8% (2011)
||Climate|tropical, modified by southeast trade winds; warm, dry winter (May to November); hot, wet, humid summer (November to May)
||Irrigated Land|212.2 sq km (2003)
||Renewable Water Resources|2.75 cu km (2011)
||Environment_CurrentIssues|water pollution, degradation of coral reefs
||Environment - international agreements|''party to: ''Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands\\''signed, but not ratified: ''none of the selected agreements
||Large Cities|__Due to difference in city rankings taken from two data sources we are listing here both lists :__\\According to [Wolfram|http://www.wolframalpha.com]: Port Louis; Beau Bassin-Rose Hill; Vacoas-Phoenix; Curepipe; Quatre Bornes\\According to [Geonames|http://www.geonames.org]: Port Louis; Vacoas; Curepipe; Quatre Bornes; Triolet\\\\\__Attempted Explanation:__ Please help us to try to explain the discrepancies by sending us helpful information to [office@global-geography.org|mailto:office@global-geography.org] \\[Important Cities|Geography/Africa/Mauritius/Geography/Important_Cities]
||Geography-note|the main island, from which the country derives its name, is of volcanic origin and is almost entirely surrounded by coral reefs; former home of the dodo, a large flightless bird related to pigeons, driven to extinction by the end of the 17th century through a combination of hunting and the introduction of predatory species