MAURITIUS
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 1,860 km2; land area: 1,850 km2; includes Agalega
Islands, Cargados Carajos Shoals (Saint Brandon), and Rodrigues
Comparative area: slightly less than 10.5 times the size of
Washington, DC
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 177 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: edge of continental margin or 200 nm;
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: claims Chagos Archipelago, which includes the island of
Diego Garcia in UK-administered British Indian Ocean Territory; claims
French-administered Tromelin Island
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
Natural resources: arable land, fish
Land use: arable land 54%; permanent crops 4%; meadows and pastures
4%; forest and woodland 31%; other 7%; includes irrigated 9%
Environment: subject to cyclones (November to April); almost
completely surrounded by reefs
Note: located 900 km east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean
PEOPLE
Population: 1,081,000 (July 1991), growth rate 0.8% (1991)
Birth rate: 19 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: - 4 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 20 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 66 years male, 74 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 2.0 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Mauritian(s); adjective--Mauritian
Ethnic divisions: Indo-Mauritian 68%, Creole 27%, Sino-Mauritian
3%, Franco-Mauritian 2%
Religion: Hindu 52%, Christian (Roman Catholic 26%, Protestant
2.3%) 28.3%, Muslim 16.6%, other 3.1%
Language: English (official), Creole, French, Hindi, Urdu, Hakka,
Bojpoori
Literacy: 61% (male 72%, female 50%) age 13 and over can
read and write (1962)
Labor force: 335,000; government services 29%, agriculture and
fishing 27%, manufacturing 22%, other 22%; 43% of population of working
age (1985)
Organized labor: 35% of labor force in more than 270 unions
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: none
Type: parliamentary democracy
Capital: Port Louis
Administrative divisions: 9 districts and 3 dependencies*;
Agalega Islands*, Black River, Cargados Carajos*, Flacq, Grand Port,
Moka, Pamplemousses, Plaines Wilhems, Port Louis, Riviere du Rempart,
Rodrigues*, Savanne
Independence: 12 March 1968 (from UK)
Constitution: 12 March 1968
Legal system: based on French civil law system with elements of
English common law in certain areas
National holiday: Independence Day, 12 March (1968)
Executive branch: British monarch, governor general, prime
minister, deputy prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Assembly
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders:
Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952),
represented by Governor General Sir Veerasamy RINGADOO (since 17 January
1986);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Sir Anerood JUGNAUTH (since 12
June 1982); Deputy Prime Minister Prem NABABSING (since 26 September
1990)
Political parties and leaders:
government coalition--Militant Socialist Movement (MSM), A.
JUGNAUTH; Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM), Paul BERENGER;
Organization of the People of Rodrigues (OPR), Louis Serge CLAIR;
Democratic Labor Movement (MTD), Anil BAICHOO;
opposition--Mauritian Labor Party (MLP), Navin RAMGOOLMAN;
Socialist Workers Front, Sylvio MICHEL;
Mauritian Social Democratic Party (PMSD), G. DUVAL
Suffrage universal at age 18
Elections:
Legislative Assembly--last held on 15 September 1991 (next to be
held by 15 September 1996);
results--MSM/MMM 53%, MLP/PMSD 38%;
seats--(70 total, 62 elected) MSM/MMM alliance 59 (MSM 29, MMM 26,
OPR 2, MTD 2); opposition 3
Communists: may be 2,000 sympathizers; several Communist
organizations; Mauritius Lenin Youth Organization, Mauritius Women's
Committee, Mauritius Communist Party, Mauritius People's Progressive
Party, Mauritius Young Communist League, Mauritius Liberation Front,
Chinese Middle School Friendly Association, Mauritius/USSR Friendship
Society
Other political or pressure groups: various labor unions
Member of: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA,
IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL,
IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, PCA, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Chitmansing JESSERAMSING;
Chancery at Suite 134, 4301 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008;
telephone (202) 244-1491 or 1492;
US--Ambassador Penne Percy KORTH; Embassy at 4th Floor, Rogers
House, John Kennedy Street, Port Louis; telephone 230 208-9763 through
208-9767
Flag: four equal horizontal bands of red (top), blue, yellow,
and green
ECONOMY
Overview: The economy is based on sugar, manufacturing (mainly
textiles), and tourism. Sugarcane is grown on about 90% of the cultivated
land area and accounts for 32% of export earnings. The government's
development strategy is centered on industrialization (with a view to
exports), agricultural diversification, and tourism. Economic performance
in 1989 was impressive, with 5.0% real growth and low unemployment.
GDP: $2.1 billion, per capita $2,000; real growth rate 5.5% (FY89)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 12.7% (1989)
Unemployment rate: 2.7% (1989 est.)
Budget: revenues $477 million; expenditures $540 million, including
capital expenditures of $112 million (FY89)
Exports: $993 million (f.o.b., 1989);
commodities--textiles 44%, sugar 40%, light manufactures 10%;
partners--EC and US have preferential treatment, EC 77%, US 15%
Imports: $1.2 billion (f.o.b., 1989);
commodities--manufactured goods 50%, capital equipment 17%,
foodstuffs 13%, petroleum products 8%, chemicals 7%;
partners--EC, US, South Africa, Japan
External debt: $670 million (December 1989)
Industrial production: growth rate 12.9% (FY87); accounts
for 25% of GDP
Electricity: 233,000 kW capacity; 420 million kWh produced,
375 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: food processing (largely sugar milling), textiles,
wearing apparel, chemicals, metal products, transport equipment,
nonelectrical machinery, tourism
Agriculture: accounts for 10% of GDP; about 90% of cultivated
land in sugarcane; other products--tea, corn, potatoes, bananas, pulses,
cattle, goats, fish; net food importer, especially rice and fish
Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis for the international
drug trade
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $76
million; Western (non-US) countries (1970-88), $628 million; Communist
countries (1970-89), $54 million
Currency: Mauritian rupee (plural--rupees);
1 Mauritian rupee (MauR) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Mauritian rupees (MauRs) per US$1--14.295 (January
1991), 14.839 (1990), 15.250 (1989), 13.438 (1988), 12.878 (1987), 13.466
(1986), 15.442 (1985)
Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June
COMMUNICATIONS
Highways: 1,800 km total; 1,640 km paved, 160 km earth
Ports: Port Louis
Merchant marine: 9 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 94,619
GRT/140,345 DWT; includes 2 passenger-cargo, 2 cargo, 1 container,
1 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 1 liquefied gas, 2 bulk
Civil air: 4 major transport aircraft
Airports: 5 total, 4 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
3 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: small system with good service; new microwave
link to Reunion; high-frequency radio links to several countries; 48,000
telephones; stations--2 AM, no FM, 4 TV; 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth
station
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: paramilitary Special Mobile Force, Special Support Units,
National Police Force, National Coast Guard
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 302,588; 155,176 fit for
military service
Defense expenditures: $4 million, 0.2% of GDP (1988)