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| Introduction | Mauritius |
| Background: | Discovered by the Portuguese in 1505, Mauritius 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 and declining sugar prices have slowed economic growth, leading to some protests over standards of living in the Creole community. |
| People | Mauritius |
| Population: | 1,220,481 (July 2004 est.) |
| Age structure: | 0-14 years: 24.8% (male 152,424; female 149,908) 15-64 years: 68.8% (male 418,836; female 420,411) 65 years and over: 6.5% (male 31,104; female 47,798) (2004 est.) |
| Median age: | total: 30.1 years male: 29.3 years female: 31.1 years (2004 est.) |
| Population growth rate: | 0.81% (2004 est.) |
| Birth rate: | 15.85 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Death rate: | 6.82 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Net migration rate: | -0.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Sex ratio: | at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.65 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate: | total: 15.57 deaths/1,000 live births female: 12.73 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) male: 18.36 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 72.09 years male: 68.11 years female: 76.13 years (2004 est.) |
| Total fertility rate: | 1.97 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | 0.1% (2001 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | 700 (2001 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths: | less than 100 (2001 est.) |
| Nationality: | noun: Mauritian(s) adjective: Mauritian |
| Ethnic groups: | Indo-Mauritian 68%, Creole 27%, Sino-Mauritian 3%, Franco-Mauritian 2% |
| Religions: | Hindu 52%, Christian 28.3% (Roman Catholic 26%, Protestant 2.3%), Muslim 16.6%, other 3.1% |
| Languages: | English (official), Creole, French (official), Hindi, Urdu, Hakka, Bhojpuri |
| Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 85.6% male: 88.6% female: 82.7% (2003 est.) |
| Government | Mauritius |
| Country name: | conventional long form: Republic of Mauritius conventional short form: Mauritius |
| Government type: | parliamentary democracy |
| Capital: | Port Louis |
| Administrative divisions: | 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 |
| Independence: | 12 March 1968 (from UK) |
| National holiday: | Independence Day, 12 March (1968) |
| Constitution: | 12 March 1968; amended 12 March 1992 |
| Legal system: | based on French civil law system with elements of English common law in certain areas |
| Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal |
| Executive branch: | chief of state: President Sir Anerood JUGNAUTH (since 7 October 2003) and Vice President Abdool Raouf BUNDHUN (since 25 February 2002) head of government: Prime Minister Paul BERENGER (since 30 September 2003) 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; election last held 25 February 2002 (next to be held NA 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 |
| Legislative branch: | unicameral National Assembly (66 seats; 62 elected by popular vote, 4 appointed by the election commission from the losing political parties to give representation to various ethnic minorities; members serve five-year terms) elections: last held on 11 September 2000 (next to be held NA September 2004) election results: percent of vote by party - MSM/MMM 52.3%, MLP/PMSD 36.9%, OPR 10.8%; seats by party - MSM/MMM 54, MLP/PMSD 6, OPR 2 |
| Judicial branch: | Supreme Court |
| Political parties and leaders: | Hizbullah [Cehl Mohamed FAKEEMEEAH]; Mauritian Labor Party or MLP [Navinchandra RAMGOOLAM]; Mauritian Militant Movement or MMM [Paul BERENGER] - in coalition with MSM; Mauritian Social Democrat Party or PMSD [Charles Xavier-Luc DUVAL]; Militant Socialist Movement or MSM [Pravind JUGNAUTH] - governing party; Rodrigues Movement or MR [Joseph (Nicholas) Von MALLY]; Rodrigues Peoples Organization or OPR [Serge CLAIR] |
| Political pressure groups and leaders: | various labor unions |
| International organization participation: | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, C, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, InOC, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, NAM, OPCW, PCA, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
| Diplomatic representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Usha JEETAH FAX: [1] (202) 966-0983 telephone: [1] (202) 244-1491, 1492 chancery: 4301 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 441, Washington, DC 20008 |
| Diplomatic representation from the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador John PRICE 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, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-2450 telephone: [230] 202-4400 FAX: [230] 208-9534 |
| Flag description: | four equal horizontal bands of red (top), blue, yellow, and green |
| Communications | Mauritius |
| Telephones - main lines in use: | 348,200 (2003) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular: | 462,400 (2003) |
| Telephone system: | general assessment: small system with good service domestic: primarily microwave radio relay trunk system international: country code - 230; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean); new microwave link to Reunion; HF radiotelephone links to several countries; fiber optic submarine cable (SAT-3/WASC/SAFE) provides connectivity to Europe and Asia |
| Radio broadcast stations: | AM 4, FM 9, shortwave 0 (2002) |
| Radios: | 420,000 (1997) |
| Television broadcast stations: | 2 (plus several repeaters) (1997) |
| Televisions: | 258,000 (1997) |
| Internet country code: | .mu |
| Internet hosts: | 3,985 (2003) |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs): | 2 (2000) |
| Internet users: | 150,000 (2003) |
| Transportation | Mauritius |
| Highways: | total: 1,926 km paved: 1,868 km (including 44 km of expressways) unpaved: 58 km (2000) |
| Ports and harbors: | Port Louis |
| Merchant marine: | total: 8 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 22,946 GRT/27,102 DWT foreign-owned: Belgium 1, India 4, Switzerland 2 (2003 est.) by type: cargo 1, combination bulk 4, passenger/cargo 1, refrigerated cargo 2 |
| Airports: | 5 (2003 est.) |
| Airports - with paved runways: | total: 2 over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways: | total: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 2 (2004 est.) |
| Military | Mauritius |
| Military branches: | National Police Force (includes the paramilitary Special Mobile Force or SMF and National Coast Guard) |
| Military manpower - availability: | males age 15-49: 342,482 (2004 est.) |
| Military manpower - fit for military service: | males age 15-49: 172,157 (2004 est.) |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure: | $11.2 million (2003) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP: | 0.2% (2003) |
| Transnational Issues | Mauritius |
| Disputes - international: | Mauritius claims the Chagos Archipelago (UK-administered British Indian Ocean Territory), and its former inhabitants, who reside chiefly in Mauritius, were granted UK citizenship and the right to repatriation in 2001; claims French-administered Tromelin Island |
| Illicit drugs: | minor 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 |
| This page was last updated on 16 December, 2004 |
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