Rodrigues (island)
Encyclopedia : R : RO : ROD : Rodrigues (island)
Rodrigues (or, incorrectly, Rodriguez) is one of the Mascarene Islands and a dependency of Mauritius. It is located 560 km east of Mauritius, 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 1996, the island's population was about 35,000. The main language is Mauritian Creole, while French and English are spoken or understood by a large proportion on the inhabitants. The main religion is Roman Catholicism with a small minority of Protestants and Jehovah's Witnesses. Most of the inhabitants are of mixed African and French descent. The main industries are woodcrafting, farming, fishing and tourism.
Political history
Rodrigues was discovered in 1528 by the Portuguese explorer Diogo Rodrigues. The island was colonised by a group of shipwrecked French Huguenots led by Francois Leguat in 1691 but abandoned in 1693. A French colony was established at Port Mathurin in 1735, which was conquered by Britain in 1809. Britain then took over the island and administered it as part of Mauritius. The island voted strongly against independence in 1967, but nonetheless gained it as part of Mauritius the following year.The Rodrigues People's Organisation was established in 1976 to campaign for , which was partly achieved in 2001 when a regional assembly was set up on the island.
On February 4, 2003, Serge Clair became the Chief Commissioner of Rodrigues, and the Chief Executive of the newly established island council when the island obtained its autonomy. Today, Rodrigues has its own regional assembly which participates in the general assembly of Mauritius.
Natural history
Rodrigues is a volcanic island arising from a ridge along the edge of the Mascarene Plateau. Estimated to be from 1-4 million years old, in this time Rodrigues has developed a unique environment including many endemic species: 42 species of trees; the Rodriguan or golden bat (Pteropus rodricensis); two species of bird, the Rodrigues fody (Foudia flavicans) and the Rodrigues warbler (Acrocephalus rodericana); and a species of coral (Acropora rodriguensis). Other endemic animals such as Rodrigues giant tortoises and Rodrigues Solitaires are now extinct.
The coral reef of Rodrigues is of particular interest due to it having to self-seed. That is it receives no coral zooplankton from elsewhere. This has lead to the development of the above mentioned coral and a small number of species being present.
The coffee plant, Café marron (Ramosmania rodriguesii), was thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered in 1979.
Interesting places
- Port Mathurin
- English Bay
- Cavern Patate
- L'Hermitage Island
External links
- [The Little Coffee Plant that Wouldn't Die]
- [Images of Rodrigues]
- [Map of Mauritius]
- [Shoals Rodrigues]
- [Mysterra magazine about Rodrigues]
- [All About Rodrigues]
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|---|---|
| Districts | |
| Black River | Flacq | Grand Port | Moka | Pamplemousses | Plaines Wilhems | Port Louis | Rivière du Rempart | Savanne | |
| Dependencies | |
| Agalega Islands | Cargados Carajos Shoals | Rodrigues | |
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