prefix = st1 /Mauritius, with its full name the Republic of Mauritius, an island country, lies 1,200 miles off the southeastern coast of Africa, and just east of Madagascar, another African island country, which is larger by far thanMauritius. It covers 788 square miles and has a population of 1,00,000, about 750.000 Indians, 300,000 Chinese and 20,000 Whites included. They are living together peacefully, although they share such different beliefs as Hindu, Roman Catholic, Muslim and so on. The country can be divided into many parts with different climate all because of its peculiar terrains  . In the center there are volcanoes several thousand feet high, and 90% of its arable land is covered with sugarcane. There are no people living on the island before the Dutch landed on it in 1638. The Dutch  _ it in 1710, and five years later, the French came and succeeded in planting sugarcane there. It was conquered byBritainin 1818. As a result, its official language is English. The main big cities are Beau - Bassin and Mahebourg, withPort Louisas its capital. Mauritius has many rare and unique animals, such as the snakes, parrots and lizards. The giraffe is a type of animal with a very long neck and legs and yellow skin with dark spots. It is the tallest of all living animals. Mauritius was extremely poor when it declared its independence in 1968. In the past ten years, obvious economic prosperity has shown itself in this island country. Nowadays its business, culture and tourism are developing rapidly. Every year, thousands of millions of people rush there to enjoy the silver sand beach and song and dance performances with native national characters. According to the passage all of the following statements are true EXCEPT_.
Arable land covers 90% of the country's total area It was the rule of foreigners that made the Mauritiuspeople live in poverty More than half of Mauritiuspopulation are Indians Britain ruled the island longer than French and Dutch