From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (January 2007)

Rodrigues Rodrigues Island Region
Anthem: Motherland (Republic of Mauritius Anthem)
Capital (and largest city)		Port Mathurin
Official languages		English (official Language), French, Rodriguan Creole
Government		Dependency of Mauritius
-	President	Anerood Jugnauth
-	Chief Commissioner	Johnson Roussety
-	Chief Executive of Rodrigues	Jean-Claude Pierre-Louis
Area
-	Total	109 km²  42 sq mi
Population
-	2006 estimate	40,000
Currency		Mauritian rupee (MUR)

Rodrigues, named after the Portuguese explorer Diogo Rodrigues, is the smallest of the Mascarene Islands. With a peak elevation of approximately 355 meters, it is located 560 km east of Mauritius island, in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It is 109 km² in size, and surrounded by a coral reef. The capital of the island is Port Mathurin.

As of 2006, the island's population was about 40,000. The main language is Rodriguan Creole, while French and English are spoken or understood by some of the inhabitants. The main religion is Roman Catholicism with a small minorities of other religions. Most of the inhabitants are of mixed African and French descent. The main industries are handicraft, farming, fishing and tourism.

Contents 1 History 2 Natural history 3 See also 4 Notes and references 5 Further reading 6 External links

From the 10th century, Arabs have been known to visit the Mascarene Islands. A 12th century map by the Arab geographer Ash-Sharif al-Idrisi, clearly shows the three islands of the Mascarenes as Dina Arobi (Mauritius), Dina Margabin (Réunion) and Dina Moraze (Rodrigues). The island was named after the Portuguese navigator Dom Diogo Rodrigues in 1528.

From 1601, the Dutch began visiting the island, for fresh supplies of food. In 1691 the Huguenot, François Leguat and 7 companions landed on the island, intending to set up a farming colony of Protestant refugees. Farming was not successful, but there was an abundance of tortoises, turtles, birds, fish and other seafood.

During the 18th century several attempts were made by the French to develop the island. African slaves (ancestors of the present population) were brought to Rodrigues to develop stockbreeding and farming.

In 1809, after a brief battle with the French, British troops took possession of Rodrigues. And with British occupation, slavery was abolished.

In 1968 Mauritius annexed the island of Rodrigues. Today, it is an autonomous region of Mauritius, which aspires to full sovereignty.

Rodrigues is a volcanic island rising from a ridge along the edge of the Mascarene Plateau. Estimated to be from 1-4 million years old, over time Rodrigues has developed a unique environment, including many endemic species: 42 species of trees; the Rodrigues Fruit Bat; two species of bird, the Rodrigues fody and the Rodrigues warbler; and on the reef a species of coral, two species of damselfish and many new species of crustaceans.^[1] Other endemic animals such as Rodrigues giant tortoises and Rodrigues Solitaires are now extinct.

The coral reef of Rodrigues is of particular interest as it is self-seeding - it receives no coral zooplankton from elsewhere. This has led to the development of the endemic coral and a small number of species being present.

The coffee plant café marron, was thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered in 1979.^[2][3]

drying Octopus cyanea to be sold on Rodrigues island	Fruits of Dracaena reflexa	Pittosporum balfourii, an endemic shrub of Rodrigues island	Pittosporum balfourii, an endemic shrub of Rodrigues island
Ecological restoration to an indigenous forest in the Nature Reserve of Grande Montagne on Rodrigues island	Eastern slopes of Rodrigues island seen from the summit of Grande Montagne	Eastern slopes of Rodrigues island seen from the summit of Grande Montagne	Thespesia populnea : flower and ripening fruits
Casuarina equisetifolia (Casuarinaceae) : male and female flowers	Sheep on Rodrigues island	Suriana maritima (Surianaceae), shrub creeping on a calcarenitic shore of Rodrigues island

The almost uninhabited part of (Rodrigues island)	Ile aux Cocos (Rodrigues island)	A street in Port-Mathurin, Rodrigues	The building of the Rodrigues Regional Assembly
The Port-Mathurin's stadium, Rodrigues	The Port-Mathurin's stadium, Rodrigues	The Saint-Gabriel cathedral of Rodrigues	A shop in the streets of Port-Mathurin, Rodrigues
The Saint-Gabriel cathedral of Rodrigues	The mosque of Port-Mathurin, Rodrigues	Port-Mathurin's harbour (Rodrigues)	The capital of Rodrigues , Port-Mathurin
Boats in the harbour of Port-Mathurin, Rodrigues island	Public warning in creole language on Rodrigues island	Entrance of the Caverne Patates, south of Rodrigues island	Boats on the lagoon of Rodrigues
Acropora rodriguensis	Pezophaps solitaria

• Port Mathurin
• English Bay
• Cavern Patate
• L'Hermitage Island

1. ^ Convention on Biological Diversity - Third National Report for the Republic of Mauritius, Section 5.2.1, p. 26 (DOC). Ministry of Environment and National Development Unit in collaboration with the UNEP/GEF (October 2006). Retrieved on 2007-01-19.
2. ^ http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/plants/islandplants/marron.html
3. ^ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5307047

• The Little Coffee Plant that Wouldn't Die
• Rodrigues Political History
• Rodrigues Election 2006

• Rodrigues Regional Assembly
• Weather in Rodrigues
• Rodrigues images

Districts and dependencies of Mauritius
Districts
Black River | Flacq | Grand Port | Moka | Pamplemousses | Plaines Wilhems | Port Louis | Rivière du Rempart | Savanne
Dependencies
Agalega Islands | Cargados Carajos Shoals | Rodrigues

Coordinates: 19°43′S, 63°25′E