Thread by @notscientific

🇲🇺 Territory of Mauritius is 1,000x larger than the size of Mauritius island.

😍 Many smaller, gorgeous islands (+ huge maritime territory) scattered all over the Indian Ocean form part of Mauritius.

🧵⬇️

(😟 Some have been appropriated by superpowers to build military bases.)

Diego Garcia. It now houses a major US military base.

Illegally annexed by the British from Mauritian territory 50+ years ago, and its inhabitants were evicted.

The UK still refuses to completely decolonise Mauritius despite the UN ruling in favour of Mauritian sovereignty.

Agalega. India is currently building a military base on the island, after years of rapprochement between the Modi government and the rightwing Mauritian government.

The <500 inhabitants of Agalega now have their movements restricted and fear expulsion altogether.

China has reportedly approached Mauritius and several other African countries for the right to open a naval base in the Indian Ocean.

The Chinese Navy would use those bases to refuel and rearm ships and submarines.
popularmechanics.com/military/a3638…

Thankfully, not every island has been taken over by foreign military.

(Yet? 😔)

Here's Tromelin. It's tiny (700m wide) but beautiful.

St Brandon. Coral reefs extend hundreds of meters from the shore. More than a million seabirds live on the islands.

Chagos archipelago. Diego Garcia is the main island but the archipelago comprises 60+ islands.

Its flora and fauna is one of the richest in the world.

Rodrigues. My real home 🙂

Population: 40,000. What Rodrigues doesn't have in terms of standard of living, it makes up with peace, quiet and generosity.

Saya de Malha Bank. Mauritius also administers the largest submerged ocean bank in the world.

It is a hidden underwater bank teeming with life: pygmy blue whales, world's largest seagrass meadow …

It's also one of the biggest carbon sinks in the ocean.