Country Overview: Mauritius

Geography

Mauritius is an African country east of Madagascar located in the Indian Ocean. The country consists of the several islands, with Mauritius being the largest and Rodrigues being the second largest. It has an area of 2,040 square kilometers, which is about 11 times larger than Washington DC. The island of Reunion, which is a a French overseas department, is actually nearer to Mauritius island than Rodrigues is.

The country has a population of around 1.3 million and has the highest population density of any African country. The capital of the country is Port Luis, which is located on the northwestern coast of Mauritius island.

History

Mauritius was not visited by humans until Arab sailors came in the 10th century CE. In 1505 Portuguese navigator Pedro Mascarenhas discovered Mauritius for Europeans.

The islands remained uninhabited until the Dutch took over them in the 17th century. The Dutch attempts at settlement were futile and were abandoned in 1710. However, Mauritius received its name in this time. The islands were named after Prince Maurice van Nassau of the Dutch Republic.

France, who were in control of Reunion already, took over Mauritius in 1715 and renamed it Isle de France. They established a successful sugar colony with slaves taken from Africa and Madagascar. They also founded the city of Port Louis as a naval center.

The British took over the islands in 1810 as a part of the Napoleonic wars, and they reinstated the name of Mauritius for them. In 1835 slavery was abolished, and sugar planters brought in indentured laborers from India to work in sugar production. Eventually, half a million indentured laborers were present on the islands, and they worked in manufacturing, transport, and construction in addition to sugar production. Mauritius was strategically important for the British in World War Two, as it served as a naval base and air station.

Mauritius gained its independence from Britain as a Commonwealth Realm on May 12th, 1968, and it became a part of the United Nations that same year. A cyclone that caused much damage in Mauritius in 1979, as well as the decline in world sugar prices, led to the diversification of agriculture in the country in the 1980’s. The export processing and tourism industries also boomed during this period. In 1992 Mauritius changed from a Commonwealth Realm to a republic within the Commonwealth. This means that the British monarch ceased to be the head of state of the country.

Demographics

Mauritius does not keep official statistics on ethnicity. However, it has been estimated that 68% of Mauritians are of Indian descent, 27% of Mauritians are Creoles, 3% of Mauritians are of Chinese descent, and 2% of Mauritians are of French descent.

Freedom of religion is a guaranteed constitutional right in Mauritius, and festivals of various religions are celebrated on the islands. The country is the only African nation to have a Hindu plurality, and this is because of the fact that the Indian indentured laborers kept their native religion when they moved to the islands. 48.5% of Mauritians are Hindu, 32.7% of Mauritians are Christian, 17.3% of Mauritians are Muslim, and 1.4% of Mauritians have no religion or practice no religion. A large majority of Mauritian Christians are Catholic.

There is no official language of Mauritius, but both English and French are used in government business. Mauritian Creole is spoken by 85.6% of the population of the islands. It is a language that is based on French and that also incorporates elements of English, African languages, and South Asian languages. The Indian language of Bhojpuri is spoken by 5.3% of the population, 4.1% of the population speaks French, and 4.1% of the population speaks other languages. These percentages are for the main languages that people speak, as most people in the country are multilingual.

Mauritius has a life expectancy of around 75 years, which is the second highest life expectancy in Africa. The literacy rate in Mauritius is around 90%, but this is bound to rise due to the fact that Mauritius provides free education to its citizens from a primary level to a tertiary level.

Politics

Mauritius is currently a parliamentary republic within the British Commonwealth. There are many political parties that operate in the country, and there has been much feuding between parties in the country’s history. The president of the country is a figurehead, while the prime minister is the head of government. The current president of Mauritius is Ameenah Gurib, who is the country’s first woman president. The country’s current prime minister is Anerood Jugnauth, who is a member of the political party Militant Socialist Movement, or MSM. The National Assembly is the legislative body of the country. The MSM, which has center-left political views despite the rather radical nature of its name, currently has a majority of seats in the Assembly.. The country is noted for being one of the most democratic and least corrupt countries in Africa. Mauritius has friendly relations with countries located all around the world, especially South African nations, EU members, China, and India.

Economy

Since becoming independent from Britain, Mauritius has had an economy that has grown substantially due to diversification. This has resulted in a much better standard of living in the country. The production of sugar is still a large part of the countries economy, but tourism, textiles, financial services, export processing, information technology, and infrastructure are also major sectors. The islands were able to weather the global financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 due to its sound economic policies. Mauritius has one of the highest GDP per capita’s in Africa as a result of its strong economy.

Nature

Mauritius has a tropical climate, as it is located near the Tropic of Capricorn. There are two seasons in the country, with summer from November to April and winter from June to September, but the temperature difference between the two seasons is small. Powerful tropical cyclones can hit the islands in the summer. Mont Piton is the highest point on the islands, and it is 828 meters high. It is located in the southwest of the main island. The main island has a central plateau that experiences cooler temperatures and more rainfall than the coastal areas. The islands lost much of their biodiversity, including a flightless bird called the dodo, in the first centuries after their discovery by humans. The islands were heavily deforested in this period as well, but there are still pockets of natural beauty in hilly and mountainous areas and in small outlying islands.

In conclusion, Mauritius is one of the rare African countries that has been able to create a stable democratic government, grow its economy, and give a high average standard of living to its people since independence. Hopefully it can continue in this success story in the future.