Mauritius

• tropical, modified by southeast trade winds;
• warm, dry winter (May to November);
• hot, wet, humid summer (November to May)

• population density is one of the highest in the world;
• urban clusters are found throughout the main island, with a greater density in and around Port Luis;
• population on Rodrigues Island is spread across the island with a slightly denser cluster on the north coast as shown in this population distribution map

• the main island, from which the country derives its name, is of volcanic origin and is almost entirely surrounded by coral reefs;
• former home of the dodo, a large flightless bird related to pigeons, driven to extinction by the end of the 17th century through a combination of hunting and the introduction of predatory species

noun:

Mauritian(s)

adjective:

Mauritian

total:

39.6 years (2024 est.)

male:

38.1 years

female:

41 years

• population density is one of the highest in the world;
• urban clusters are found throughout the main island, with a greater density in and around Port Luis;
• population on Rodrigues Island is spread across the island with a slightly denser cluster on the north coast as shown in this population distribution map

at birth:

1.07 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.99 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.71 male(s)/female

total population:

0.95 male(s)/female (2024 est.)

total:

11.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.)

male:

13.1 deaths/1,000 live births

female:

10 deaths/1,000 live births

total population:

75.4 years (2024 est.)

male:

72.6 years

female:

78.4 years

total:

3.39 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

beer:

1.94 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

wine:

0.23 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

spirits:

0.88 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

other alcohols:

0.03 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

total:

20.2% (2020 est.)

male:

37.3% (2020 est.)

female:

3% (2020 est.)

• water pollution, degradation of coral reefs;
• soil erosion;
• wildlife preservation;
• solid waste disposal

party to:

Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

• tropical, modified by southeast trade winds;
• warm, dry winter (May to November);
• hot, wet, humid summer (November to May)

urban population:

40.9% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization:

0.28% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

particulate matter emissions:

10.48 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions:

4.35 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions:

2.06 megatons (2020 est.)

municipal:

290 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial:

10 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural:

310 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

conventional long form:

Republic of Mauritius

conventional short form:

Mauritius

local long form:

Republic of Mauritius

local short form:

Mauritius

etymology:

island named after Prince Maurice VAN NASSAU, stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, in 1598

note: pronounced mah-rish-us

name:

Port Louis

geographic coordinates:

20 09 S, 57 29 E

time difference:

UTC+4 (9 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

etymology:

named after LOUIS XV, who was king of France in 1736 when the port became the administrative center of Mauritius and a major reprovisioning stop for French ships traveling between Europe and Asia

history:

several previous; latest adopted 12 March 1968

amendments:

• proposed by the National Assembly;
• passage of amendments affecting constitutional articles, including the sovereignty of the state, fundamental rights and freedoms, citizenship, or the branches of government, requires approval in a referendum by at least three-fourths majority of voters followed by a unanimous vote by the Assembly;
• passage of other amendments requires only two-thirds majority vote by the Assembly;
• amended many times, last in 2016

citizenship by birth:

yes

citizenship by descent only:

yes

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

5 out of the previous 7 years including the last 12 months

chief of state:

President Prithvirajsing ROOPUN (since 2 December 2019)

head of government:

Prime Minister Pravind JUGNAUTH (since 23 January 2017)

cabinet:

Cabinet of Ministers (Council of Ministers) appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister

elections/appointments:

• president and vice president indirectly elected by the National Assembly for 5-year renewable terms;
• election last held on 7 November 2019 (next to be held in 2024);
• the president appoints the prime minister and deputy prime minister who have the majority support in the National Assembly

election results:

2019 : Prithvirajsing ROOPUN (MSM) elected president by the National Assembly - unanimous vote;

• 2015 : Ameenah GURIB-FAKIM (independent) elected president by the National Assembly - unanimous vote;
• note - GURIB-FAKIM, who was Mauritius' first female president, resigned on 23 March 2018;
• acting presidents served from March 2018 until ROOPUN's appointment in 2019

description:

unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (70 seats maximum; 62 members directly elected multi-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and up to 8 seats allocated to non-elected party candidates by the Office of Electoral Commissioner; members serve a 5-year term)

elections:

last held on 7 November 2019 (next to be held by late 2024)

election results:

• percent of vote by party - Mauritian Alliance 2019 (MSM, ML, MAG, and PM) 37.7%, National Alliance (PTR, PMSD, and MJCB) 32.8%, MMM 20.6%, OPR 1%, other 7.9%;
• seats by party - MSM 38, PTR 14, MMM 8, OPR 2;
• composition - men 56, women 14, percentage women 20% (2019)

highest court(s):

• Supreme Court of Mauritius (consists of the chief justice, a senior puisne judge, and 24 puisne judges);
• note - the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (in London) serves as the final court of appeal

judge selection and term of office:

• chief justice appointed by the president after consultation with the prime minister;
• senior puisne judge appointed by the president with the advice of the chief justice;
• other puisne judges appointed by the president with the advice of the Judicial and Legal Commission, a 4-member body of judicial officials including the chief justice;
• all judges serve until retirement at age 67

subordinate courts:

• lower regional courts known as District Courts, Court of Civil Appeal;
• Court of Criminal Appeal;
• Public Bodies Appeal Tribunal

• Alliance Morisien (Mauritian Alliance)
• Jean-Claude Barbier Movement (Mouvement Jean-Claude Barbier) or MJCB
• Mauritian Militant Movement (Mouvement Militant Mauricien) or MMM
• Mauritian Social Democratic Party (Parti Mauricien Social Democrate) or PMSD
• Mauritius Labor Party (Parti Travailliste) or PTR or MLP
• Militant Platform (Plateforme Militante) or PM
• Militant Socialist Movement (Mouvement Socialist Mauricien) or MSM
• Muvman Liberater or ML
• National Alliance
• Patriotic Movement (Mouvement Patriotique) or MAG
• Rodrigues Peoples Organization (Organisation du Peuple Rodriguais) or OPR

chief of mission:

Ambassador Purmanund JHUGROO (since 7 July 2021)

chancery:

1709 N Street NW, Washington, DC 20036

telephone:

[1] (202) 244-1491

FAX:

[1] (202) 966-0983

email address and website:

[email protected]; https://mauritius-washington.govmu.org/Pages/index.aspx

chief of mission:

Ambassador Henry V. JARDINE (since 22 February 2023); note - also accredited to Seychelles

embassy:

4th Floor, Rogers House, John Kennedy Avenue, Port Louis

mailing address:

2450 Port Louis Place, Washington, DC 20521-2450

telephone:

[230] 202-4400

FAX:

[230] 208-9534

email address and website:

[email protected]; https://mu.usembassy.gov/

• four equal horizontal bands of red (top), blue, yellow, and green;
• red represents self-determination and independence, blue the Indian Ocean surrounding the island, yellow has been interpreted as the new light of independence, golden sunshine, or the bright future, and green can symbolize either agriculture or the lush vegetation of the island

note: while many national flags consist of three - and in some cases five - horizontal bands of color, the flag of Mauritius is the world's only national flag to consist of four horizontal color bands

name:

"Motherland"

lyrics/music:

Jean Georges PROSPER/Philippe GENTIL

note: adopted 1968

total World Heritage Sites:

2 (both cultural)

selected World Heritage Site locales:

Aapravasi Ghat; Le Morne Cultural Landscape

• upper middle-income Indian Ocean island economy;
• diversified portfolio;
• investing in maritime security;
• strong tourism sector decimated by COVID-19;
• expanding in information and financial services;
• environmentally fragile

agriculture:

3.8% (2023 est.)

industry:

18.6% (2023 est.)

services:

64.6% (2023 est.)

note: figures may not total 100% due to non-allocated consumption not captured in sector-reported data

total:

20.9% (2023 est.)

male:

19% (2023 est.)

female:

23.6% (2023 est.)

note: % of labor force ages 15-24 seeking employment

lowest 10%:

2.9% (2017 est.)

highest 10%:

29.9% (2017 est.)

note: % share of income accruing to lowest and highest 10% of population

consumption:

580,000 metric tons (2022 est.)

imports:

580,000 metric tons (2022 est.)

general assessment:

• the telecom sector in Mauritius has long been supported by the varied needs of tourists;
• this has stimulated the mobile market, leading to a particularly high penetration rate;
• the response of the country’s telcos to tourist requirements also contributed to the country being among the first in the region to provide services based on 3G and WiMAX technologies;
• the incumbent telco provides comprehensive LTE and fiber broadband coverage, and in late 2021 it launched a gigabit fiber-based broadband service;
• the country has seen improved international internet capacity in recent years, with direct cables linking to India, Madagascar, and South Africa, as well as other connections to Rodrigues and Reunion;
• mobile subscribers in Mauritius secured 5G services in mid-2021;
• this followed the regulator’s award of spectrum in two bands to the MNOs (2022)

domestic:

fixed-line teledensity over 36 per 100 persons and mobile-cellular services teledensity 152 per 100 persons (2021)

international:

• country code - 230;
• landing points for the SAFE, MARS, IOX Cable System, METISS and LION submarine cable system that provides links to Asia, Africa, Southeast Asia, Indian Ocean Islands of Reunion, Madagascar, and Mauritius;
• satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean);
• new microwave link to Reunion;
• HF radiotelephone links to several countries (2019)

• the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation is the national public television and radio broadcaster;
• it broadcasts programming in French, English, Hindi, Creole and Chinese, it provides 17 television channels in Mauritius;
• there are nine Mauritian FM radio stations and two operating on the AM band

(2022)

number of registered air carriers:

1 (2020); inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 13

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

1,745,291 (2018)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

233.72 million (2018) mt-km

total:

2,428 km

paved:

2,379 km (includes 99 km of expressways)

unpaved:

49 km (2015)

total ports:

2 (2024)

large:

0

medium:

0

small:

1

very small:

1

ports with oil terminals:

1

key ports:

Port Louis, Port Mathurin

• 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