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Since Mauritius appeared on world maps around the early 1500s
a variety of Western colonizers have been attracted to the
island. Although the Portuguese are credited with putting
Mauritius on the map, they were never interested in settling
here, so it wasn't until the Dutch arrived that the first
people came to live on the island. From first setting foot
on Mauritius in 1598, it was another 40 years before the Dutch
established a colony here. They battled with the weather,
diseases and lack of resources on Mauritius and in 1710 finally
decided to withdraw from the island, which was no longer as
strategically important to them whilst they had a presence
in the Cape.
The French were next to claim Mauritius but again took some
time before setting up a colony in 1721. Mauritius changed
hands yet again in 1810 under the Napoleonic Wars, and became
part of the British Empire. In many ways the French way of
life was preserved, despite being ruled from England, since
the terms offered on the surrender of the French meant that
the property, legal system, customs and religions of the islanders
would be respected. During the twentieth century political
changes took place which paved the way towards Mauritian independence,
including constitutional and electoral reforms. Mauritius
became self-governing in 1967, and one of the first motions
of the government was to request the independence of Mauritius
as soon as possible. Under the leadership of Sir Seewoosagur
Ramgoolam Independence was gained on 12 March 1968, although
the island remained part of the Commonwealth, as it does to
this day.
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