This blog is about place names in Mauritius that also exist in other countries.

When I was five, I thought all countries were islands – probably because I live on one, Mauritius

I imagined my cousins in other countries were living on islands just a little further away

I made a spreadsheet of these places and checked that they really exist elsewhere.

I also grouped the names by country and counted how many came from each.

You can see my full list here:

Country name twin

A Surprising Connection: Balaclava

One interesting example is Balaclava.

Both Balaclava in Mauritius and Balaclava in Ukraine have a hidden harbour.

The famous Battle of Balaclava happened in 1854, which was 44 years after the French stopped ruling Mauritius.

Check it out here:(Balaclava)

Mauritius Place Names Found Elsewhere

Here are some of the places I confirmed

What the Data Shows

When I counted the origins of these names, I noticed:

30% of the place names come from France.

20% come from Guadeloupe.

15% come from Seychelles.

10% come from Réunion.

I realized that since Guadeloupe, Seychelles, and Réunion were all once ruled by France, this might explain why these islands have many similar place names.

But there’s more: countries like Spain, Suriname, Switzerland, and Ukraine were never ruled by France, yet they still share names with Mauritius. That really intrigued me. It makes me think how small the world is, since we carry the same names too.

A Bit of History

The French ruled Mauritius for 95 years, from 1715 until 1810.

During that time, they also controlled many other islands, which helps explain these shared names.

The three main colonial powers that ruled Mauritius each stayed for an average of about 121 years.
Since Mauritius became independent in 1968, it makes me wonder, 121 years later - maybe around 2089, we will enter another new era.
I will be 76 years old in 2089.

My grandfather, Takenarain Seechurn, was born on 14 June 1936.
He was 32 years old when Mauritius gained its independence.

THE CONSTITUTION of the REPUBLIC OF MAURITIUS -
CHAPTER III – CITIZENSHIP 20 Persons who became citizens on 12 March 1968 (1) Every person who, having been born in Mauritius, was on 11 March 1968 a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies became a citizen of Mauritius on 12 March 1968.

The Constitution of the Republic of Mauritius 

What I Learned

While doing this research:

• I learned about the island of Guadeloupe

• I improved my knowledge of the world

• I discovered that the French ruled many other islands

Looking back, my childhood thought wasn’t so wrong after all: maybe the world is a chain of islands, all connected in some way.

I recently did one blog that is linked to this one click to find out!

Casernes