Rodrigues

For other uses, see Rodrigues (disambiguation).

Rodrigues Island Region Île Rodrigues Zil Rodrigues
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "Travail, Solidarité, Fierté" (French) "Labour, Solidarity, Pride"
Anthem: Motherland File:Mauritius National Anthem.ogg
Location of Rodrigues in the southwestern Indian Ocean. The large island on the left, off the eastern coast of southern Africa, is Madagascar.
Capital and largest city	Port Mathurin
Official languages	English
Vernacular languages	Rodriguan Creole English
Demonym(s)	Rodriguan
Government	Parliamentary republic
• President	Kailash Purryag
• Prime Minister	Navinchandra Ramgoolam
• Chief Commissioner	Serge Clair
• Chief Executive	Pritam Singh Mattan
Legislature	Parliament
• Lower house	Regional Assembly
Area
• Total	109 km2 (42 sq mi)
Population
• 2011 estimate	37,922
• 2000 census	35,779
Currency	Mauritian rupee (MUR)
Time zone	UTC+4 (MUT)
• Summer (DST)	not observed
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy (AD)
Drives on	Left
Calling code	+230
Internet TLD	.mu

Rodrigues (Template:Lang-fr) is an autonomous outer island of Mauritius located in the Indian Ocean, about 650 kilometres (400 mi) east of Mauritius It is part of the Mascarene Islands which include Mauritius, the Cargados Carajos and Réunion. The area of Rodrigues is 108 km². It is of volcanic origin surrounded by coral reef, and just off its coast lie some tiny uninhabited islands. The island used to be the tenth District of Mauritius, it gained autonomous status on 10 December 2002 and is governed by the Rodrigues Regional Assembly. The capital of the island is Port Mathurin.

Its inhabitants are Mauritian citizens, as of 2011, the island's population was about 37,922 according to Statistics Mauritius. Most of the inhabitants are of mixed African and French descent. Its economy is based mainly on fishing, farming, handicraft and a developing tourism sector.

Etymology and History

(GO AWAY NO ONE LIKES YOU) The island was named after the Portuguese explorer D. Diogo Rodrigues in February 1528. It still has the same name from then. Many maps also describe it as Diego Roiz.

See also: History of Mauritius

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 supposedly contains them, and the Cantino planisphere of c.1500 and some other contemporary maps clearly show the three islands of the Mascarenes as Dina Arobi (or Harobi), Dina Margabin and Dina Moraze. These are apparently corrupted transliterations or transcriptions of the Arabic Diva Harab ("Desert Island"), Diva Maghrebin ("Western Island") and Diva Mashriq ("Eastern Island"). While the second clearly refers to Réunion, sources disagree about which of the other is Mauritius and which one Rodrigues, which are both to the east of Réunion and arranged in a somewhat stylized way on these maps. However, even in its original state, Rodrigues had some karst, while Mauritius even after suffering 500 years of deforestation can by no means be called "desert" even in a colloquial sense.

The island was located again in February 1507. Part of the fleet of Afonso de Albuquerque and Tristão da Cunha, Diogo Fernandes Pereira's Cirne spotted Réunion on February 9 after a cyclone diverted their course. The other two islands were subsequently rediscovered. The initial name was Diogo Fernandes; Domingo Froiz was given as a name some years later, and by 1528 it had been again renamed after the Portuguese navigator D. Diogo Rodrigues and has remained so since. The orthography has been less stable at first, with the name being transcribed Diogo Rodriguez (Spanish maps),Diego Roiz, Diego Ruys (Dutch maps) (or even "Diego Ruy's Island"), Dygarroys or Bygarroys. Some early French sources called it Île Marianne.

Due to the island lying far off the beaten track of seafarers at that time, it received few visits. From 1601, the Dutch began visiting the island somewhat more regularly 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 1883, the eruption of the Indonesian volcano Krakatoa was heard at Rodrigues Island and it remains the furthest point at almost 4800 km, at which the explosion was heard. The sound was described as "the roar of heavy guns". Naval ships were ordered to investigate as it was feared the sound was due to a ship in distress firing its guns. Having been heard from about 5000 km (3000 mi) away on the other side of the Indian Ocean, the noise remains the loudest sound in recorded history.

In 1968, Rodrigues was joined with Mauritius when it attained independence; today it is an autonomous region of Mauritius.

In 2002, the island was made the seat of the Roman Catholic Vicariate Apostolic of Rodrigues.

Politics

Rodrigues Regional Assembly

The island of Rodrigues is a constituency of the Republic of Mauritius and is dependent on the latter. However, on the 20th November 2001, the Mauritius National Assembly has unanimously adopted two laws giving Rodrigues its autonomy, creating a decentralized government system. This new legislation has allowed the implementation of a regional Assembly in Rodrigues constituting 18 members and an executive council headed by a Chief Commissioner. The council meets every week to make decisions, draw up laws and manage the budget. The Chief Commissioner has the main task of informing the Mauritian Prime Minister of the management of the island’s concerns. The last election of the Rodrigues Regional Assembly was held on 5 February 2012. The Organisation du Peuple de Rodrigues (OPR) party was the winner and obtained eleven seats, while the Mouvement Rodriguais (MR) obtained 8 and Front Patriotique Rodriguais (FPR) 2 seats. The actual chief commissioner is Louis Serge Clair and the Chief Executive of Rodrigues is Pritam Singh Mattan.

Geography

Calcarenitic shore of Rodrigues island, at Pointe Coton

Rodrigues is a volcanic island rising from a ridge along the edge of the Mascarene Plateau. The tectonically active Rodrigues Triple Point lies on the seafloor nearby. Even if the plateau under the lagoon surrounding Rodrigues may be much more ancient than the island, Rodrigues is only 1.5 million years old, over time Rodrigues has developed a unique environment, including many endemic species.

Rodrigues Island is situated some 560 kilometres (350 mi) kilometres to the East of Mauritius. It is located between Latitudes 19°40 and 19°46 South and Longitudes 63°20 and 63°30 East. It is about 18 km long and 6.5 km wide with an area of 108 km². The shape is that of a whale back with a central ridge and deep cut valleys. The island is hilly with a central spine culminating in the highest peak, Mountain Limon 398 metres (1,306 ft). Rodrigues is the only Mascarene Island with extensive limestone deposits and caves. A large fringing reef surrounds the island forming a lagoon within which lie eighteen small islets.

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 an overall species-poor but highly adapted ecosystem. A species of coral, two species of Pomacentrus damselfish and many new species of crustaceans are only found on Rodrigues' reefs.

Climate

The isolation and location of the island give a micro climate specific to Rodrigues, with two seasons. Rodrigues enjoys a mild tropical maritime climate with persistent trade winds blowing throughout the year. Mean summer temperature is 25.9 degrees Celsius and mean winter temperature is around 22.3 degrees Celsius. The temperature difference between summer and winter is 3.6 degrees Celsius. January to March are the hottest months and August is the coolest month. The wettest month is February; September and October are the driest months. The climate is hotter and dryer than in Mauritius. Cyclones may arise from November to April, and Rodrigues is more often hit than Mauritius.

Biodiversity

Rodrigues Island was characterised by endemic plant and animal species in abundance, but from the seventeenth century much of its biodiversity has been eradicated. The island was home to a now extinct endemic species of flightless bird, the Rodrigues Solitaire (Pezophaps solitaria). An endemic species of bat, the Rodrigues Flying Fox is currently listed as critically endangered.

To restore some forest areas, Grande Montagne, Anse Quitor and two islets, Ile aux Sables and Ile aux Cocos have been declared Nature Reserves (under the Forest and Reserves Act 1983).

Subdivisions

Rodrigues has 14 municipalities or zones:

Zone Nr.	Municipality	Population Census of 2000
Zone 5	Port Mathurin	5,929
Zone 8	Lataniers-Mont Lubin	3,806
Zone 9	Petit Gabriel	3,658
Zone 12	Rivière Cocos	2,893
Zone 10	Mangues-Quatre Vents	2,870
Zone 11	Plaine Corail-La Fouche Corail	2,832
Zone 13	Port Sud-Est	2,717
Zone 4	Oyster Bay	2,594
Zone 7	Roche Bon Dieu-Trèfles	2,059
Zone 14	Coromandel-Graviers	1,944
Zone 1	Piments-Baie Topaze	1,445
Zone 2	La Ferme	1,112
Zone 3	Baie Malgache	1,076
Zone 6	Grand Baie-Montagne Goyaves	844
	Rodrigues	35,779

For statistical purposes, the zones are further subdivided into a total of 182 localities. The zones have between a minimum of six localities (La Ferme) and 22 (the capital Port Mathurin).

Demographics

The population estimate (as of 1 July 2011) for the island of Rodrigues was 37,922. The main religion is Roman Catholicism with a small minorities of other religions. Most of the inhabitants are of mixed African and French descent.

Language

The mother tongue of Rodriguans is the Rodriguan Creole, English and French are used as the language of government administration, the courts and business. The Rodriguan Creole is much similar to the Mauritian Creole, though some words are pronounced differently.

Education

Education in Rodrigues is similar Mauritian Education system. The government provides free education to students up to the tertiary level.

Economy

The economy of Rodrigues is mostly dependent upon Mauritius. The main sources of income and economic activity are tourism, fishing, cultivation of vegetables (especially of onions, garlic and chili), and animal rearing. The handicraft industry has proven to be beneficial to the economy of the island. However, the income derived from the export of sea products, cattle, and food crops is smaller than the costs of imported products, creating a deficit. Lately, tourism has become the focused sector.

Culture

Religion

The main religion is Roman Catholicism with a small minorities of other religions like Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists. Most of the inhabitants are of mixed African descent and there is a minority of mixed-raced peoples; descendants of the first European settlers.

Music and folklore

The traditional music of the island is known as Sega Tambour. The music has an accentuated beat, usually accompanied by an accordion, clapping and the use of improvised percussion instruments like bamboo. The folk dance music is similar to polkas, quadrilles, waltzes and Scottish reels.

Cuisine

Rodrigues cuisine consists of dishes from local products: fruit, vegetables, seafood (fish, octopus, crab, shrimp, lobster) and meat. National dishes include sausages with kreolinės, rougaille sauce, octopus with curry, Azim salad and Rodrigues cake.

See also

• WikiProject Mauritius

External links

Government

• Mauritius Government portal
• Statistics Mauritius
• Rodrigues Regional Assembly
• Official Portal of Rodrigues

Geography

• Wikimedia Atlas of Rodrigues
• Mauritius Meteorological Services
• Geographic data related to Rodrigues at OpenStreetMap

Travel

• Rodrigues travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Official Rodrigues Tourism
• Rodrigues Tourist Office

• This article incorporates public domain text from the websites of the Government of Mauritius portal.