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)
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 10 S, 57 30 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 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 (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; 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 (the governing party) [Pravind JUGNAUTH]; Rodrigues Movement or MR [Joseph (Nicholas) Von MALLY]; Rodrigues Peoples Organization or OPR [Serge CLAIR]
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 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, 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 - overview
GDP (purchasing power parity)
$17 billion (2006 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate)
$7.175 billion (2006 est.)
GDP - real growth rate
4.9% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP)
$13,700 (2006 est.)
GDP - composition by sector
agriculture
5.1%
industry
25.2%
services
69.7% (2006 est.)
Labor force
555,000 (2006 est.)
Labor force - by occupation
agriculture and fishing 14%, construction and industry 36%, transportation and communication 7%, trade, restaurants, hotels 16%, finance 3%, other services 24% (1995)
Unemployment rate
9.4% (2006 est.)
Population below poverty line
10% (2001 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share
lowest 10%
NA%
highest 10%
NA%
Distribution of family income - Gini index
37 (1987 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
8.9% (2006 est.)
Investment (gross fixed)
23.6% of GDP (2006 est.)
Budget
revenues
$1.475 billion
expenditures
$1.854 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.)
Public debt
57.9% of GDP (2006 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
Industrial production growth rate
8% (2000 est.)
Electricity - production
2.107 billion kWh (2004)
Electricity - production by source
fossil fuel
90.8%
hydro
9.2%
nuclear
0%
other
0% (2001)
Electricity - consumption
1.96 billion kWh (2004)
Electricity - exports
0 kWh (2004)
Electricity - imports
0 kWh (2004)
Oil - production
0 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - consumption
21,500 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - exports
NA bbl/day
Oil - imports
NA bbl/day
Natural gas - production
0 cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - consumption
0 cu m (2004 est.)
Current account balance
-$651 million (2006 est.)
Exports
$2.318 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Exports - commodities
clothing and textiles, sugar, cut flowers, molasses
Exports - partners
UK 30.5%, France 15.2%, UAE 10.5%, US 10.3%, Madagascar 7% (2006)
Imports
$3.391 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Imports - commodities
manufactured goods, capital equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals
Imports - partners
France 15.5%, South Africa 8.6%, India 7.4%, China 5.9%, Bahrain 5.6%, Saudi Arabia 4.2%, UAE 4.2%, Germany 4.1% (2006)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold
$1.358 billion (2006 est.)
Debt - external
$2.834 billion (2006 est.)
Economic aid - recipient
$42 million (1997)
Currency (code)
Mauritian rupee (MUR)
Currency code
MUR
Exchange rates
Mauritian rupees per US dollar - 31.656 (2006), 29.496 (2005), 27.499 (2004), 27.902 (2003), 29.962 (2002)
Fiscal year
1 July - 30 June
Telephones - main lines in use
359,000 (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular
713,300 (2005)
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
no regular military forces; National Police Force, Special Mobile Force, National Coast Guard (2007)
Manpower available for military service
males age 18-49: 313,271 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP
0.3% (2006 est.)
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
