Mauritius is a mountainous island in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar. It is the Parliamentary democracy within the British Commonwealth. It is part of the Mascarene Islands. The island of Rodriguez and two groups of small islands, Agalega and Cargados Carajos, are dependencies of Mauritius. Mauritius is divided into nine districts. The capital is Port Louis. There are also small Chinese and French communities. About half of the people are Hindu, while 30% are Christian (mainly Roman Catholic), and most of the remainder are Muslim. English is the official language, although most of the people speak a Creole dialect; other languages include Bojpoori, French, Hindi, Urdu, and Hakka.
Mauritius has had one of the world's faster-growing economies since the early 1980s, in part because of its success in attracting foreign investors. Sugarcane is the chief crop, and it is grown on 90% of the country's arable land. Tea, flowers for the florist trade and food crops are also grown, cattle and goats are raised, and there is a fishing industry. Since independence, the country has decreased its dependence on sugar, diversified its industrial base to include mining and manufacturing. Financial services, data processing, and call centers provide increasing employment, and tourism is important. Clothing and textiles, sugar and molasses, cut flowers, and fish are the major exports. Manufactured goods, capital equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, and chemicals are imported. The country's chief trading partners are Great Britain, France, China, and the United States.
History of Mauritius:
The Arabs as early as the 10th century, but officially discovered in 1505 by the Portuguese navigator Pedro Mascarenhas, the island was occupied successively by the Dutch (1598-1712) and the French (1715-1810).
French immigrants who came in 1715 named the island Ile de France and established the first road and harbor infrastructure, as well as the sugar industry, under the leadership of Gov. Mahe de Labourdonnais. Blacks from Africa and Madagascar came as slaves to work in the sugarcane fields. In 1810, and was ceded to Great Britain in 1814 through the Treaty of Paris.
Indian immigration slavery in 1835, rapidly changed the fabric of Mauritian society, and the country flourished with the increased cultivation of sugarcane. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 heralded the decline of Mauritius as a port of call for ships rounding the southern tip of Africa, bound for South and East Asia. The economic instability of the price of sugar, the main crop, in the first half of the 20th century brought civil unrest, then economic, administrative, and political reforms. On 12 March 1968, Mauritius became Independent.
The country formally broke ties with the British Crown in 12 March 1992, becoming a republic within the Commonwealth. In addition to sugarcane, textile production and tourism are the leading industries. Primary education is free, and Mauritius boasts one of the highest literacy rates in sub-Saharan Africa.
Land area:
714 sq mi (1,849 sq km);
Total area:
788 sq mi (2,040 sq km)
Population (2007 est.):
1,250,882 (growth rate: 0.8%);
- Birth rate: 15.3/1000
- Infant mortality rate: 14.1/1000
- Life expectancy: 72.9
- Density per sq mi: 1,752
Capital and largest city (2003 est.):
Port Louis, 577,200 (metro. area), 143,800 (city proper)
Coordinate:
20 Degree 10' 0" S, 57 Degree 31' 0" E
Monetary unit:
Mauritian rupee
Languages:
English less than 1% (official), Creole 81%, Bojpoori 12%, French 3% (2000)
Ethnicity/race:
Indo-Mauritian 68%, Creole 27%, Sino-Mauritian 3%, Franco-Mauritian 2%
Religions:
Hindu 48%, Roman Catholic 24%, other Christian 8%, Islam 17% (2000)
Literacy rate:
86% (2003 est.)
Economic summary:
o GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $14.06 billion; per capita $ $11,200.
o Real growth rate: 4.6%.
o Inflation: 8.8%.
o Unemployment: 8.8%.
o Arable land: 49%.
o Agriculture: sugarcane, tea, corn, potatoes, bananas, pulses; cattle, goats; fish.
o Labor force: 552,700; construction and industry 30%, services 25%, agriculture and fishing 9%, trade, restaurants, hotels 22%, transportation and communication 7%, finance 6% (2007).
o Industries: food processing (largely sugar milling), textiles, clothing, chemicals, metal products, transport equipment, non electrical machinery, tourism.
o Natural resources: arable land, fish.
o Exports: $2.475 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): clothing and textiles, sugar, cut flowers, molasses.
o Imports: $3.627 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): manufactured goods, capital equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals.
o Major trading partners: UK, UAE, France, U.S., Madagascar, South Africa, China, India (2006).
Communications:
o Telephones: main lines in use: 357,300 (2006); mobile cellular: 772,400 (2006).
o Radio broadcast stations: AM 4, FM 9, shortwave 0 (2002).
o Radios: 420,000 (1997).
o Television broadcast stations: 2 (plus several repeaters) (1997).
o Televisions: 258,000 (1997).
o Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 9,792 (2007).
o Internet users: 182,000 (2006).
Transportation:
o Railways: 0 km.
o Highways: total: 2,020 km; paved: 2,020 km (including 75 km of expressways) (2005).
o Ports and harbors: Port Louis.
o Airports: 5 (2007).
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