Mascarene Islands

Mascarene Islands, French: Îles Mascareignes, collectively, the islands of Réunion, Mauritius, and Rodrigues, which are situated in a line along a submarine ridge ―the Seychelles-Mauritius Plateau, 640 to 800 km northeast of southern Madagascar in the western Indian Ocean. 

All of the Macscarene Islands are of volcanic in origin. The name Mascarene is taken from the 16th-century Portuguese explorer Pedro de Mascarenhas. The islands now form two separate Indian Ocean states: Réunion and Mauritius (Rodrigues Island is a dependency of Mauritius).