Although known to Arab and Malay sailors as early as the 10th century, Mauritius was first explored by the Portuguese in 1505; it was subsequently held by the Dutch, French, and British before independence was attained in 1968. A stable democracy with regular free elections and a positive human rights record, the country has attracted considerable foreign investment and has earned one of Africa's highest per capita incomes. Recent poor weather, declining sugar prices, and declining textile and apparel production, have slowed economic growth, leading to some protests over standards of living in the Creole community.

Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar
20 17 S, 57 33 E
Political Map of the World
total: 2,040 sq km ; land: 2,030 sq km ; water: 10 sq km ; note: includes Agalega Islands, Cargados Carajos Shoals (Saint Brandon), and Rodrigues
almost 11 times the size of Washington, DC
0 km
177 km
territorial sea: 12 nm ; exclusive economic zone: 200 nm ; continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
tropical, modified by southeast trade winds; warm, dry winter (May to November); hot, wet, humid summer (November to May)
small coastal plain rising to discontinuous mountains encircling central plateau
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m ; highest point: Mont Piton 828 m
arable land, fish
arable land: 49.02% ; permanent crops: 2.94% ; other: 48.04% (2005)
220 sq km (2003)
2.2 cu km (2001)
Total: 0.61 cu km/yr (25%/14%/60%) ; Per capita: 488 cu m/yr (2000)
cyclones (November to April); almost completely surrounded by reefs that may pose maritime hazards
water pollution, degradation of coral reefs
party to: Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands ; signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
the main island, from which the country derives its name, is of volcanic origin and is almost entirely surrounded by coral reefs
1,250,882 (July 2007 est.)
0-14 years: 23.5% (male 147,808/female 146,270) ; 15-64 years: 69.8% (male 436,043/female 437,441) ; 65 years and over: 6.7% (male 32,475/female 50,845) (2007 est.)
total: 31.2 years ; male: 30.3 years ; female: 32.1 years (2007 est.)
0.798% (2007 est.)
15.26 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
6.88 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
-0.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female ; under 15 years: 1.011 male(s)/female ; 15-64 years: 0.997 male(s)/female ; 65 years and over: 0.639 male(s)/female ; total population: 0.971 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
total: 14.14 deaths/1,000 live births ; male: 16.72 deaths/1,000 live births ; female: 11.53 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
total population: 72.88 years ; male: 68.92 years ; female: 76.9 years (2007 est.)
1.94 children born/woman (2007 est.)
0.1% (2001 est.)
700 (2001 est.)
less than 100 (2001 est.)
noun: Mauritian(s) ; adjective: Mauritian
Indo-Mauritian 68%, Creole 27%, Sino-Mauritian 3%, Franco-Mauritian 2%
Hindu 48%, Roman Catholic 23.6%, Muslim 16.6%, other Christian 8.6%, other 2.5%, unspecified 0.3%, none 0.4% (2000 census)
Creole 80.5%, Bhojpuri 12.1%, French 3.4%, English (official; spoken by less than 1% of the population), other 3.7%, unspecified 0.3% (2000 census)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write ; total population: 84.4% ; male: 88.4% ; female: 80.5% (2000 census)


conventional long form: Republic of Mauritius ; conventional short form: Mauritius ; local long form: Republic of Mauritius ; local short form: Mauritius
parliamentary democracy
name: Port Louis ; geographic coordinates: 20 09 S, 57 29 E ; time difference: UTC+4 (9 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
9 districts and 3 dependencies*; Agalega Islands*, Black River, Cargados Carajos Shoals*, Flacq, Grand Port, Moka, Pamplemousses, Plaines Wilhems, Port Louis, Riviere du Rempart, Rodrigues*, Savanne

12 March 1968 (from UK)
Independence Day, 12 March (1968)
12 March 1968; amended 12 March 1992
based on French civil law system with elements of English common law in certain areas; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations
18 years of age; universal
chief of state: President Sir Anerood JUGNAUTH (since 7 October 2003); Vice President Abdool Raouf BUNDHUN (since 25 February 2002) ; head of government: Prime Minister Navinchandra RAMGOOLAM (since 5 July 2005) ; cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister ; elections: president and vice president elected by the National Assembly for five-year terms (eligible for a second term); election last held 25 February 2002 (next to be held in 2007); prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the president, responsible to the National Assembly ; election results: Karl OFFMANN elected president and Raouf BUNDHUN elected vice president; percent of vote by the National Assembly - NA%; note - Karl OFFMANN stepped down on 30 September 2003
unicameral National Assembly (70 seats; 62 members elected by popular vote, 8 appointed by the election commission to give representation to various ethnic minorities; to serve five-year terms) ; elections: last held on 3 July 2005 (next to be held in 2010) ; election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - AS 38, MSM/MMM 22, OPR 2; appointed seats - AS 4, MSM/MMM 2, OPR 2
Supreme Court
Alliance Sociale or AS [Navinchandra RAMGOOLAM] (governing coalition - includes MLD, MMSM, MR, MSD, PMXD); Mauritian Labor Party or MLP [Navinchandra RAMGOOLAM]; Mauritian Militant Movement or MMM [Paul BERENGER]; Mauritian Socialist Militant Movement or MMSM [Madan DOLLOO]; Militant Socialist Movement or MSM [Nando BODHA]; Mouvement Republicain or MR [Jayarama VALAYDEN]; Parti Mauricien Xavier Duval or PMXD [Xavier Luc DUVAL]; Rodrigues Movement or MR [Joseph (Nicholas) Von MALLY]; Rodrigues Peoples Organization or OPR [Serge CLAIR]
various labor unions
ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, C, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, InOC, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OIF, OPCW, PCA, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
four equal horizontal bands of red (top), blue, yellow, and green
chief of mission: Ambassador Usha JEETAH ; chancery: 4301 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 441, Washington, DC 20008 ; telephone: [1] (202) 244-1491, 1492 ; FAX: [1] (202) 966-0983
chief of mission: Ambassador Cesar CABRERA ; embassy: 4th Floor, Rogers House, John Kennedy Street, Port Louis ; mailing address: international mail: P. O. Box 544, Port Louis; US mail: American Embassy, Port Louis, US Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-2450 ; telephone: [230] 202-4400 ; FAX: [230] 208-9534





Since independence in 1968, Mauritius has developed from a low-income, agriculturally based economy to a middle-income diversified economy with growing industrial, financial, and tourist sectors. For most of the period, annual growth has been in the order of 5% to 6%. This remarkable achievement has been reflected in more equitable income distribution, increased life expectancy, lowered infant mortality, and a much-improved infrastructure. The economy rests on sugar, tourism, textiles and apparel, and financial services, and is expanding into fish processing. Sugarcane is grown on about 90% of the cultivated land area and accounts for 25% of export earnings. The government's development strategy centers on creating vertical and horizontal clusters of development in these sectors. Mauritius has attracted more than 9,000 offshore entities, many aimed at commerce in India and South Africa, and investment in the banking sector alone has reached over $1 billion. Mauritius, with its strong textile sector, has been well poised to take advantage of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
$14.9 billion (2007 est.)
$7.757 billion (2007 est.)
5.5% (2007 est.)
$11,900 (2007 est.)
agriculture: 4.8% ; industry: 25% ; services: 70.1% (2007 est.)
550,000 (2007 est.)
agriculture and fishing 14%, construction and industry 36%, transportation and communication 7%, trade, restaurants, hotels 16%, finance 3%, other services 24% (1995)
9.2% (2007 est.)
10% (2001 est.)
lowest 10%: NA% ; highest 10%: NA%
37 (1987 est.)
9.1% (2007 est.)
23.4% of GDP (2007 est.)
revenues: $1.34 billion ; expenditures: $1.642 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2007 est.)
59.9% of GDP (2007 est.)
sugarcane, tea, corn, potatoes, bananas, pulses; cattle, goats; fish
food processing (largely sugar milling), textiles, clothing, mining, chemicals, metal products, transport equipment, nonelectrical machinery, tourism
4.7% (2007 est.)
2.122 billion kWh (2005)
fossil fuel: 90.8% ; hydro: 9.2% ; nuclear: 0% ; other: 0% (2001)
1.973 billion kWh (2005)
0 kWh (2005)
0 kWh (2005)
0 bbl/day (2005 est.)
22,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)
0 bbl/day (2004)
21,380 bbl/day (2004)
0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005)
0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)
-$552 million (2007 est.)
$2.475 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
clothing and textiles, sugar, cut flowers, molasses
UK 32.5%, France 15.1%, UAE 11.4%, US 8.3%, Madagascar 4.8% (2006)
$3.627 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
France 14.3%, India 13.6%, China 8.6%, South Africa 7.3% (2006)

$1.772 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
$2.583 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
$NA
$NA
$3.598 billion (2006)
Mauritian rupee (MUR)
MUR
Mauritian rupees per US dollar - 31.798 (2007), 31.656 (2006), 29.496 (2005), 27.499 (2004), 27.902 (2003)
1 July - 30 June
$31.93 million (2005)
357,300 (2006)
772,400 (2006)
general assessment: small system with good service ; domestic: monopoly over fixed-line services terminated in 2005; fixed-line teledensity roughly 30 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular services launched in 1989 with teledensity in 2006 exceeding 60 per 100 persons ; international: country code - 230; landing point for the SAFE submarine cable that provides links to Asia and South Africa where it connects to the SAT-3/WASC submarine cable that provides further links to parts of East Africa, and Europe; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean); new microwave link to Reunion; HF radiotelephone links to several countries
AM 4, FM 9, shortwave 0 (2001)
420,000 (1997)
2 (plus several repeaters) (1997)
258,000 (1997)
.mu
9,792 (2007)
2 (2000)
182,000 (2006)

5 (2007)
total: 2 ; over 3,047 m: 1 ; 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2007)
total: 3 ; 914 to 1,523 m: 2 ; under 914 m: 1 (2007)



total: 2,020 km ; paved: 2,020 km (includes 75 km of expressways) (2005)

total: 5 ships (1000 GRT or over) 19,417 GRT/19,700 DWT ; by type: bulk carrier 2, passenger/cargo 2, refrigerated cargo 1 ; foreign-owned: 2 (India 2) (2007)
Port Louis

no regular military forces; National Police Force, Special Mobile Force, National Coast Guard (2007)

males age 18-49: 313,271 (2005 est.)


0.3% (2006 est.)

Mauritius claims the Chagos Archipelago (UK-administered British Indian Ocean Territory), and its former inhabitants, who reside chiefly in Mauritius; claims French-administered Tromelin Island

consumer and transshipment point for heroin from South Asia; small amounts of cannabis produced and consumed locally; significant offshore financial industry creates potential for money laundering, but corruption levels are relatively low and the government appears generally to be committed to regulating its banking industry

