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.

Geographic coordinates: 20 17 S 57 33 E

Map reference: Political Map of the World

Area
Total: 2,040 km²
Note: includes Agalega Islands, Cargados Carajos Shoals (Saint Brandon), and Rodrigues
Water: 10 km²
Land: 2,030 km²
Comparative: almost 11 times the size of Washington DC

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 177 km

Maritime claims
Continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin
Territorial sea: 12 NM
Exclusive economic zone: 200 NM

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
Extremes highest point: Mont Piton 828 m

Natural resources: arable land: fish

Land use
Arable land: 49.26%
Permanent crops: 2.96%
Other: 47.78% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 200 km² (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: cyclones (November to April); almost completely surrounded by reefs that may pose maritime hazards

Geography
Note: the main island from which the country derives its name is of volcanic origin and is almost entirely surrounded by coral reefs

Population: 1,210,447 (July 2003 est.)
Growth rate: 0.84% (2003 est.)
Below poverty line: 10% (2001 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Mauritian
Adjective: Mauritian

Ethnic groups: Indo-Mauritian 68% Creole 27% Sino-Mauritian 3% Franco-Mauritian 2%

Languages: English (official) Creole French (official) Hindi Urdu Hakka Bhojpuri

Religions: Hindu 52% Christian 28.3% (Roman Catholic 26% Protestant 2.3%) Muslim 16.6% other 3.1%

Age structure
0-14 years: 25.1% (male 153,401; female 150,399)
15-64 years: 68.5% (male 413,660; female 415,534)
65 years and over: 6.4% (male 30,673; female 46,780) (2003 est.)

Median age
Total: 29.8 years
Male: 29.1 years
Female: 30.8 years (2002)

Population growth rate: 0.84% (2003 est.)

Birth rate: 16.1 births/1000 population (2003 est.)

Death rate: 6.81 deaths/1000 population (2003 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.91 migrant(s)/1000 population (2003 est.)

Environment
Current issues: water pollution degradation of coral reefs
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.02 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.02 male/female
15-64 years: 1 male/female
65 years and over: 0.66 male/female
Total population: 0.98 male/female (2003 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 16.11 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 13.19 deaths/1000 live births (2003 est.)
Male: 18.98 deaths/1000 live births

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 71.8 years
Male: 67.82 years
Female: 75.85 years (2003 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.98 children born/woman (2003 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.1% (2001 est.)
People living with hivaids: 700 (2001 est.)
Deaths: less than 100 (2001 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 85.6%
Male: 88.6%
Female: 82.7% (2003 est.)

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 (vacant; a new Vice President will be determined by assembly elections on NA December 2003)
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 and Raouf BUNDHUN stepped down on 30 September 2003

Legislative branch
Elections: last held on 11 September 2000 (next to be held by September 2005)
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]

International organization participation: ACCT ACP AfDB C ECA FAO G-77 IAEA IBRD ICAO ICCt ICFTU ICRM IDA IFAD IFC IFRCS ILO IMF IMO InOC Interpol IOC ISO ITU NAM OAU 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
In the us fax: [1] (202) 966-0983
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 244-1491, 1492
In the us chancery: 4,301 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 441, Washington, DC 20,008
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador John PRICE
From the us embassy: 4th Floor, Rogers House, John Kennedy Street, Port Louis
From the us mailing address: international mail: P. O. Box 544, Port Louis; US mail: American Embassy, Port Louis, Department of State, Washington, DC 20,521-2,450
From the us telephone: [230] 202-4,400
From the us fax: [230] 208-9,534

Flag description: four equal horizontal bands of red (top) blue yellow and green

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. Sugarcane is grown on about 90% of the cultivated land area and accounts for 25% of export earnings. The government's development strategy centers on foreign investment. Mauritius has attracted more than 9,000 offshore entities many aimed at commerce in India and South Africa and investment in the banking sector alone has reached over $1 billion. Mauritius with its strong textile sector and responsible fiscal management has been well poised to take advantage of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The government is encouraging foreign investment in the information technology field.

Real gdp growth rate: 2.3% (2002 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $10,100 (2002 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 6%
Industry: 33%
Services: 61% (1999 est.)

Agriculture products: sugarcane tea corn potatoes bananas pulses; cattle goats; fish

Industries: food processing (largely sugar milling) textiles clothing; chemicals metal products transport equipment nonelectrical machinery; tourism

Industrial production growth rate: 8% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 514,000 (1995)
By occupation construction and industry: 36%
By occupation services: 24%
By occupation agriculture and fishing: 14%
By occupation trade restaurants hotels: 16%
By occupation transportation and communication: 7%
By occupation finance: 3% (1995)

Unemployment rate: 8.8% (2002 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.)

Budget
Revenues: $1.1 billion
Expenditures: $1.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.)

Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June

Inflation rate consumer prices: 6.4% (2002 est.)

Exports: $1.6 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Commodities: clothing and textiles sugar cut flowers molasses
Partners: UK 27.7% France 25.5% US 16.4% Madagascar 6.2% Belgium 5% (2002)

Imports: $1.8 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Commodities: manufactured goods capital equipment foodstuffs petroleum products chemicals
Partners: France 18.4% South Africa 13.5% India 7.8% China 4.5% UK 4.2% (2002)

Debt external: $2.4 billion (2002 est.)

Exchange rates: Mauritian rupees per US dollar - 29.96 (2002) 29.13 (2001) 26.25 (2000) 25.19 (1999) 23.99 (1998)

Electricity
Production: 1.311 billion kWh (2001)
Production by source fossil fuel: 90.8%
Production by source hydro: 9.2%
Production by source other: 0% (2001)
Production by source nuclear: 0%
Consumption: 1.219 billion kWh (2001)
Exports: 0 kWh (2001)
Imports: 0 kWh (2001)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 280,900 (2000)
Mobile cellular: 180,000 (2000)

Telephone system
General assessment: small system with good service
Domestic: primarily microwave radio relay trunk system
International: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean); new microwave link to Reunion; HF radiotelephone links to several countries

Internet
Country code: .mu
Service providers isps: 2 (2000)
Users: 158,000 (2002)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $9.712 million (FY02)
Percent of gdp: 0.2% (FY02)

Airports: 5 (2002)
With paved runways total: 2
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 1 (2002)
With unpaved runways total: 3
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 2
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 1 (2002)

Railways: 0 km

Waterways: none

Merchant marine
Total: 8 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 23,455 GRT/27,102 DWT
Ships by type: cargo 1, combination bulk 4, passenger/cargo 1, refrigerated cargo 2
Note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience:, Belgium 1, India 3, Norway 1, Switzerland 2 (2002 est.)

Disputes international: Mauritius claims the Chagos Archipelago (UK-administered British Indian Ocean Territory) and its former inhabitants who reside chiefly in Mauritius but 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