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.
Geography
Mauritius
Location:
Southern Africa, island in the
Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar
Geographic coordinates:
20 17 S, 57 33 E
Map references:
Political Map of the World
Area:
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
Area - comparative:
almost 11 times the size of
Washington, DC
Land boundaries:
0 km
Coastline:
177 km
Maritime claims:
measured from claimed
archipelagic straight baselines territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf:
200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
Climate:
tropical, modified by southeast
trade winds; warm, dry winter (May to November); hot, wet, humid summer
(November to May)
Terrain:
small coastal plain rising to
discontinuous mountains encircling central plateau
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Indian
Ocean 0 m highest point: Mont Piton 828 m
total: 0.61 cu km/yr
(25%/14%/60%) per capita: 488 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards:
cyclones (November to April);
almost completely surrounded by reefs that may pose maritime hazards
Environment - current issues:
water pollution, degradation of
coral reefs
Environment - international agreements:
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
Geography - note:
the main island, from which the
country derives its name, is of volcanic origin and is almost entirely
surrounded by coral reefs
total: 31.5 years
male: 30.6 years female: 32.3 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.8% (2008 est.)
Birth rate:
14.64 births/1,000 population
(2008 est.)
Death rate:
6.55 deaths/1,000 population
(2008 est.)
Net migration rate:
-0.09 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2008 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05
male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64
years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.67
male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2008
est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 12.56
deaths/1,000 live births male: 14.94 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 10.06 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 73.75
years male: 70.28 years female: 77.4 years (2008
est.)
Hindu 48%, Roman Catholic
23.6%, Muslim 16.6%, other Christian 8.6%, other 2.5%, unspecified 0.3%,
none 0.4% (2000 census)
Languages:
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)
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and
over can read and write total population: 84.4%
male: 88.4% female: 80.5% (2000 census)
Government
Mauritius
Country name:
conventional long form:
Republic of Mauritius conventional short form: Mauritius
local long form: Republic of Mauritius local short
form: Mauritius
Government type:
parliamentary democracy
Capital:
name: Port Louis
geographic coordinates: 20 09 S, 57 29 E time
difference: UTC+4 (9 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard
Time)
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; accepts
compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
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 May 2008); 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
(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
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court
Political parties and leaders:
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]
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
Diplomatic representation from the US:
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
Flag description:
four equal horizontal bands of
red (top), blue, yellow, and green
Economy
Mauritius
Economy - overview:
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, information and communications technology, and
hospitality and property development. Sugarcane is grown on about 90% of
the cultivated land area and accounts for 15% 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 32,000 offshore entities, many aimed at commerce in
India, South Africa, and China. 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).
agriculture and fishing 9%,
construction and industry 30%, transportation and communication 7%, trade,
restaurants, hotels 22%, finance 6%, other services 25% (2007)
Unemployment rate:
8.8% (2007 est.)
Population below poverty line:
8% (2006 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage
share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
39 (2006 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
8.8% (2007 est.)
Investment (gross fixed):
23.4% of GDP (2007 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $1.34 billion
expenditures: $1.642 billion; including capital expenditures of
(2007 est.)
Public debt:
59.9% of GDP (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products:
sugarcane, tea, corn, potatoes,
bananas, pulses; cattle, goats; fish
Industries:
food processing (largely sugar
milling), textiles, clothing, mining, chemicals, metal products, transport
equipment, nonelectrical machinery, tourism
clothing and textiles, sugar,
cut flowers, molasses, fish
Exports - partners:
UK 32.5%, France 15.1%, UAE
11.4%, US 8.3%, Madagascar 4.8% (2006)
Imports:
$3.627 billion f.o.b. (2007
est.)
Imports - commodities:
manufactured goods, capital
equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals
Imports - partners:
France 14.3%, India 13.6%,
China 8.6%, South Africa 7.3% (2006)
Economic aid - recipient:
$31.93 million (2005)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$1.772 billion (31 December
2007 est.)
Debt - external:
$2.583 billion (31 December
2007 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
Market value of publicly traded shares:
$5.7 billion (2007)
Currency (code):
Mauritian rupee (MUR)
Currency code:
MUR
Exchange rates:
Mauritian rupees per US dollar
- 31.798 (2007), 31.656 (2006), 29.496 (2005), 27.499 (2004), 27.902
(2003)
Fiscal year:
1 July - 30 June
Communications
Mauritius
Telephones - main lines in use:
357,300 (2006)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
772,400 (2006)
Telephone system:
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
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 4, FM 9, shortwave 0 (2001)
Radios:
420,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
2 (plus several repeaters)
(1997)
Televisions:
258,000 (1997)
Internet country code:
.mu
Internet hosts:
9,792 (2007)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
2 (2000)
Internet users:
182,000 (2006)
Transportation
Mauritius
Airports:
5 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 2 over
3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 3 914 to
1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 1 (2007)
Roadways:
total: 2,020 km
paved: 2,020 km (includes 75 km of expressways) (2005)
no regular military forces;
National Police Force, Special Mobile Force, National Coast Guard (2007)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49: 341,018
(2008 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
0.3% (2006 est.)
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; claims
French-administered Tromelin Island
Illicit drugs:
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
