The slopes are forested, and the plains are green throughout the year with natural vegetation. Trade winds form the SE tend to blow all year around but are strongest during Nov-April, when most of the rain falls.
Tourism is an important source of revenue.
Tea, fruit, and vegetables are important agricultural crops. There are no significant minerals. The British took it in 1810, and under their rule massive Indian immigration took place. Mauritius became an independent state within the Commonwealth of Nations in 1968. Sugar has always been the principal crop, and the fall of world prices in the 1980s resulted in a vigorous programme of agricultural diversification.