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

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 177 km

Maritime claims
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
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% (2001)

Irrigated land: 200 km² (2000 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: 1,230,602 (July 2005 est.)
Growth rate: 0.84% (2005 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: Creole 80.5% Bhojpuri 12.1% French 3.4% (official) other 3.7% unspecified 0.3% (2000 census)

Religions: Hindu 48% Roman Catholic 23.6% other Christian 8.6% Muslim 16.6% other 2.5% unspecified 0.3% none 0.4% (2000 census)

Age structure
0-14 years: 24.4% (male 151,043/female 148,847)
15-64 years: 69.1% (male 424,472/female 425,974)
65 years and over: 6.5% (male 31,506/female 48,760) (2005 est.)

Median age
Total: 30.5 years
Male: 29.65 years
Female: 31.46 years (2005 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.84% (2005 est.)

Birth rate: 15.62 births/1000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate: 6.83 deaths/1000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.41 migrant(s)/1000 population (2005 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, 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: 0.65 male/female
Total population: 0.97 male/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 15.03 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 17.74 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 12.27 deaths/1000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 72.38 years
Male: 68.4 years
Female: 76.41 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.96 children born/woman (2005 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 Abdool Raouf BUNDHUN (since 25 February 2002)
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 stepped down on 30 September 2003

Legislative branch
Elections: last held on 11 September 2000 (next to be held 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 AU C FAO G-77 IAEA IBRD ICAO ICCt ICFTU ICRM IDA IFAD IFC IFRCS ILO IMF IMO InOC Interpol IOC ISO ITU MIGA NAM OPCW PCA SADC UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UNMIK UPU WCL WCO WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WToO WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Usha JEETAH
In the us chancery: 4,301 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 441, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 244-1491, 1492
In the us fax: [1] (202) 966-0983
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 expanding local financial institutions and building a domestic information telecommunications industry. 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 has been well poised to take advantage of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

Real gdp purchasing power parity: $15.68 billion (2004 est.)

Real gdp growth rate: 4.7% (2004 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $12,800 (2004 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 7.6%
Industry: 30%
Services: 62.4% (2004 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: 560,000 (2004 est.)
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: 10.8% (2004 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: $1.231 billion
Expenditures: $1.582 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)

Public debt: 29.2% of GDP (2004 est.)

Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June

Inflation rate consumer prices: 4.5% (2004 est.)

Current account balance: $284.1 million (2004 est.)

Exports: $2.012 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Commodities: clothing and textiles sugar cut flowers molasses
Partners: UK 33.1% France 20.4% US 14.8% Madagascar 5.1% Italy 4.1% (2004)

Imports: $2.245 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Commodities: manufactured goods capital equipment foodstuffs petroleum products chemicals
Partners: South Africa 11.3% China 9.4% India 9.3% France 9.2% Bahrain 5.3% Japan 4.1% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $1.676 billion (2004 est.)

Debt external: $1.78 billion (2004 est.)

Exchange rates: Mauritian rupees per US dollar - 27.499 (2004) 27.902 (2003) 29.962 (2002) 29.129 (2001) 26.25 (2000)

Electricity
Production: 1.836 billion kWh (2002)
Consumption: 1.707 billion kWh (2002)
Exports: 0 kWh (2002)
Imports: 0 kWh (2002)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 348,200 (2003)
Mobile cellular: 462,400 (2003)

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

Internet
Country code: .mu
Hosts: 3,985 (2003)
Users: 150,000 (2003)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $12.5 million (2004)
Percent of gdp: 0.2% (2004)

Airports: 6 (2004 est.)
With paved runways total: 2
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 1 (2004 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 4
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 2
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 2 (2004 est.)

Merchant marine
Total: 8 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 22,946 GRT/27,102 DWT
By type: bulk carrier 4, passenger/cargo 2, refrigerated cargo 2
Foreign owned: 6 (India 4, Switzerland 2) (2005)

Disputes international: Mauritius claims the Chagos Archipelago (UK-administered British Indian Ocean Territory) and its former inhabitants who reside chiefly in Mauritius were granted UK citizenship but no right to patriation in the UK; 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