Mauritius is a Southern African island country. Inserted in the Mascarenhas archipelago, Mauritius is an independent republic located 800 kmeast of the island of Madagascar, in the Indian Ocean, which includes the islands of Rodrigues, Agalega and Cargados Carajos, in a total area of 2040 km2. The capital is Port Louis, with 583,400 residents (2004), including the cities of Beau Bassin-Rose Hill (110,700 residents), Vascoas-Phoenix (104,400 residents), Curepipe (79,900 residents) and Quatre Bornes (76,500 residents).
Mauritius is a volcanic island, with two distinct geographical areas: that of the North, marked by plains; and that of the Center and South, where plateaus surrounded by volcanic craters predominate, whose altitude does not exceed 826 meters.
Climate
It has a tropical monsoon climate with great oceanic influence.
Economy
Of rare natural beauty, Mauritius has great tourism potential, which began to be exploited in the 1970s, being today responsible for the largest share of income within the tertiary sector, which occupies 2/5 of the population and constitutes half of the total. GDP. Agriculture, in turn, represents 1/8 of GDP and occupies 1/6 of the available labor, based mainly on the production of sugar cane, tea, tobacco, potatoes and bananas. As for the industrial sector, it survives based on manufacturing industries of imported raw materials, such as textiles, electronic materials and plastics, which are subsequently dispatched to the export market. Mauritius’ main trading partners are the United Kingdom, France, the United States of America and South Africa.
Environmental indicator: the value of carbon dioxide emissions, per capita (metric tons, 1999), is 2.1.
Population
It has a population that, in 2006, was 1 240 827 residents, which corresponded to a population density of 603.24 residents/km2. The birth and death rates are, respectively, 15.43% and 6.86%. Average life expectancy is 72.63 years. The value of the Human Development Index (HDI) is 0.779 and the value of the Gender-adjusted Development Index (IDG) is 0.770 (2001). It is estimated that, in 2025, the population will be 1 407 000 residents. The main ethnic groups are Mauritanians (68%), Creoles (27%) and Chinese (3%). The most representative religious groups are Hindus (51%), Christians (28.56%) – (Roman Catholics 26% and Protestants 2.3%) – and Muslims (16%). The official language is English.
History
Before being colonized by the Dutch in 1598, the island of Mauritius (in honor of the Dutch ruler Maurício de Nassau) had already been visited, both by the Arabs in the 10th century and by the Portuguese in the early 16th century. After the Dutch abandoned it in 1710, Mauritius was occupied by the French East India Company from 1721 to 1767, and its name changed to the island of France. It was then administered by a French minister. During that period, the colony developed economically. However, in 1810, following the war between England and France, the British captured the island, securing their possession in the Treaty of Paris in 1814. The French language and its laws were maintained by the British, who only changed the name, which became Mauritius again. The prosperity in Mauritius lasted until 1860, when sugar prices fell sharply. Between 1866 and 1869 two facts left Mauritius completely devastated: in 1866, 67 and 68, a malaria epidemic drove the ships away from Port Louis, completely isolating the island; in 1869, the opening of the Suez Canal diverted many of the routes that passed through Mauritius. For Mauritius democracy and rights, please check getzipcodes.
During the First World War, the economy of Mauritius developed at the expense of rising sugar prices, a situation that changed during the Great Depression in the early 1930s. After the Second World War, which did not improve the picture economic and social, political and administrative reforms were carried out that led, in 1968, to the independence of the Kingdom of Mauritius within the Commonwealth, according to the Constitution approved that year.
The passage of Cyclone Claudette in 1979 had catastrophic effects that the fall in sugar prices in the early 1980s only worsened. These events led the Government of Mauritius to initiate intense programs of diversification of agriculture, which were complemented with the development of the manufacturing industry and the financial sector, especially the stock exchange market. In 1991, the Constitution was amended, defining Mauritius as a republic, an amendment that came into force in 1992.
Countryaah.com: Offers a full list of airports in the country of Mauritius, sorted by city location and acronyms.
Abbreviationfinder.org: Provides most commonly used abbreviations and initials containing the country name of Mauritius. Listed by popularity.
1UpTravel.com – Maps of Mauritius
Check out the maps of this Southern African island in the Indian Ocean. View the maps of Port Louis, Agalega Islands, Rodrigues Island and Cargados Carajos Shoals.
