The Republic of Mauritius is a group of islands and archipelagos in the Indian Ocean comprising Mauritius, Rodrigues, Agalega, Tromelin, Cargados Carajos (Saint Brandon) and the Chagos Archipelago, including Diego Garcia.
The main island, Mauritius, is situated in the south-west Indian Ocean, slightly over the tropic of Capricorn, in latitude 20° south and longitude 57° east of Greenwich. It is 2,000 km off the east coast of mainland Africa and some 855 km east of Madagascar. An island of volcanic origin with an area of 1,864 km2, it is almost entirely surrounded by fringing coral reefs.
Rodrigues has an area of 108 km2 and is at approximately 560 km east of Mauritius and rises to a maximum elevation of approximately 400m above sea level from an elevated seafloor high.
Agalega, situated some 1,000 km to the north of Mauritius, comprises two islands: North Island and South Island. The two islands have a combined land area of about 25 km2 and are surrounded by a fringing reef. They are connected by a shallow lagoon of about 1.7 km in length.
Cargados Carajos (St Brandon) is an archipelago comprising a number of sand banks, shoals and a group of 16 islands and islets located some 402 km north north-east of Mauritius.
Chagos Archipelago, which comprises some 58 islands, is located approximately 2,200 km north-east of Mauritius and has an area of about 60 km2. Diego Garcia is the largest island of the Chagos Archipelago.
Tromelin is located 580 km north-west of Mauritius. It has an area of about 1 km2.