This Thursday, 12 March 2009, Mauritius is celebrating its 41st anniversary as an independent country, and also its 17th years as a republic. The island was an English colony until 1968, and had been under the hold of different countries in the more earlier years, namely France, the Dutch, and even the Portugese, who were the first ones to discover the island.
This year the guest of honor is the President of the Republic of Botswana: Lieutenant General Seretse Khama Ian Khama. The official ceremony will take place at Le Champ de Mars, in Port Louis, as from 18.30.
History of this beautiful island found in the Indian Ocean can be found here.
National anthem:
Glory to thee, Motherland,
O motherland of mine.
Sweet is thy beauty,
Sweet is thy fragrance,
Around thee we gather
As one people,
As one nation,
In peace, justice and liberty.
Beloved country, may God bless thee
For ever and ever.
Proud to be a Mauritian!! Happy Independence Day to all fellow countrymen!!
* Ritesh BlogZone * 
@ Irfaan: Mauritius is known for being a rainbow of cultures that seamlessly work together. Oken community pa kav dire ki sa la terre mauricienne la li pou zot sa, becoz the land was inoccupied (only belonged to the dodos!), and all the people came from other countries. What is unique is that they managed to form a new kind of people, a new kind of culture, and that is truly amazing. Thus it makes sense why social n cultural harmony remains the backbone of our island. And if you take away the backbone from anything really, it just becomes a mess. Similarly, I guess that’s the reason that emphasis is put on our “rainbow” nation….so that it can prosper by underlining that NU pays NU fiertE…i.e. the togetherness.
Enplis, personne pa p empeche toi come up with a new logo and slogan 😛
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Me too I’m proud to be mauritian. Mais mone commence plein because every year mem zafaire: “nou pays nou fierte” or something about social harmony and cultural diversity. B si to prend maurice apres to tire this social harmony, ki rester lerla?
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Happy Independence Day to you as well 🙂
Let our quadricolore always be glorified…
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