Q 01/05

Mauritius lies east of which much larger island?

A) Sri Lanka

B) Java

C) Sumatra

D) Madagascar

Answer · why

D) Madagascar

Madagascar. Mauritius lies well to its east and had no inhabitants at all when the Dutch claimed it in 1598, so its whole population descends from peo...

Q 02/05

What is the capital and largest city of Mauritius?

A) Curepipe

B) Quatre Bornes

C) Mahébourg

D) Port Louis

Answer · why

D) Port Louis

Port Louis. French governor Mahé de La Bourdonnais founded it in the 1730s as a stop for ships rounding the Cape, and it lost much of that traffic whe...

Q 03/05

Mauritius and French Réunion belong to which island group?

A) The Comoros

B) The Seychelles

C) The Mascarene Islands

D) The Chagos Islands

Answer · why

C) The Mascarene Islands

The Mascarene Islands. Réunion is still an overseas department of France, so the island next door to Mauritius is part of the eurozone.

Q 04/05

Mauritius was named in 1598 in honour of whom?

A) Saint Maurice

B) Maurice, Prince of Orange

C) Emperor Maurice of Byzantium

D) Admiral Wybrand van Warwyck

Answer · why

B) Maurice, Prince of Orange

Maurice, Prince of Orange. Admiral Wybrand van Warwyck named the empty island for the Dutch head of state in 1598; the Dutch gave up on it by 1710, bu...

Q 05/05

Under French rule from 1715, Mauritius was known by what name?

A) Île Bourbon

B) Isle de France

C) Île Maurice

D) Ilha do Cisne

Answer · why

B) Isle de France

Isle de France. The name lasted until the British captured the island in 1810 and brought back the old Dutch one, though the settlers kept their Frenc...