Mauritius, a small island nation of 1.2 million people 500 miles east of Madagascar, is one of the most competitive, stable, and successful economies in Africa. With a 2013 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of USD 11.9 billion and per capita GDP of over USD 9,000, Mauritius is ranked as an upper-middle income country by the World Bank. Mauritius' small land area of only 2,040 square kilometers understates its importance to the Indian Ocean region as it controls an Exclusive Economic Zone of more than 2 million square kilometers, one of the largest in the world.