Mauritius: Fact file
Updated March 2010
| Name | Republic of Mauritius |
| Area | 2 040 sq km |
| Capital | Port Louis |
| Major settlements | Beau Bassin-Rose Hill, Vacoas-Phoenix, Curepipe (Commonwealth Secretariat undated) |
| Boundaries | Indian Ocean (archipelago) |
| Population | 1.3 million, 2007 (UNDP 2009) |
| Natural pop growth | 0.7%, 2005-2010 (UNDP 2009) |
| Urbanisation | 43.9%, 1990 (UNDP 2009) |
| Life expectancy | Female 75.7 yrs, male 68.5 yrs, 2007 (UNDP 2009) |
| Infant mortality | 15/1000, 2005-2010 est (UN Statistics Division 2010a) |
| HIV/AIDS prevalence | 15-49 yrs: 1.8%; 2007 est (Republic of Mauritius 2008, 5) |
| Adult literacy rate | Female 84.7%, male 90.2%, 2005 (UNDP 2009) |
| Military expenditure | 0.2% of GDP; 2005 (UN Statistics Division 2010b) |
| Health expenditure | 4.3% of GDP; 2005 (UN Statistics Division 2010c) |
| Legal system | French civil law system, elements of English common law (NationMaster undated) |
| Independence | March 12, 1968 |
| GDP | US$6.959 billion, 2007 est (IMF 2008) |
| GDP per capita | US$4 875, 2007 (IMF 2009, 65) |
| GDP growth rate | 6.6%, 2008 (IMF 2009, 62) |
| Main exports | Clothing, sugar, food and live animals, textiles (Frame 2008, 786) |
| Currency | 100 cents = 1 Mauritian Rupee |
| Unemployment | 7.2%, 2008 (Money Biz 2009) |
| Inflation rate | 8.8%, 2008 (IMF 2009, 66) |
| External debt ratio | 8.8% of GDP, 2008 (IMF 2009, 84) |
| Roads | 2 020 km, 98% tarred; 592 km secondary, 950 km main, 75 km motorway; 2005 (Frame 2008, 779) |
| Rail | None (Frame 2008, 794) |
| Airports | 2; Port Louis and Rodrigues Island (Avigation Networks Undated) |
| Ethnic groups | Indo-Mauritians, General population, (mixed European and African), Muslims and Sino-Mauritians (Government of Mauritius undated) |
| Languages | Official English, national French, others Morisyen (Creole French), Bhojpuri, Urdu, Tamil, other Indian and Chinese languages (Ethnologue.com undated) |
| Religion | Hindu 50%, Christian 32% (of which 73% are Roman Catholic), Muslims 17% (US Department of State 2009) |
References
AVIGATION NETWORKS UNDATED "Airports in Mauritius", [www] http://worldaerodata.com/countries/Mauritius.php [opens new window] (accessed 18 Mar 2010).
COMMONWEALTH SECRETARIAT UNDATED "Country profile: Mauritius", [www] http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Templates/YearbookHomeInternal.asp?NodeID=138782 [opens new window] (accessed 18 Mar 2010).
ETHNOLOGUE.COM UNDATED "Languages of Mauritius" [www] http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=Mauritius [opens new window] (accessed 18 Mar 2010).
FRAME, I 2008 (ed) Africa South of the Sahara 2008, Routledge.
GOVERNMENT OF MAURITIUS UNDATED "Mauritius in figures", [www] http://www.gov.mu/portal/sites/ncb/cso/mif04/mif04.pdf [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 18 Mar 2010).
IMF 2008 World Economic Outlook Database, April 2008, [www] http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2008/01/weodata/index.aspx [opens new window] (accessed 18 Mar 2010).
IMF 2009 Regional Economic Outlook: Sub-Saharan Africa, October, [www] http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/reo/2009/AFR/eng/sreo1009.pdf, [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 18 Mar 2010).
MONEY BIZ 2009 "Mauritius unemployment rate down to 7.2 pct in 2008", 25 March, [www] http://www.moneybiz.co.za/business_in_africa/Mauritius_unemployment_rate_down_to_7_2_pct_in_2008.asp [opens new window] (accessed 18 Mar 2010).
NATIONMASTER UNDATED "Legal system (most recent) by country", [www] http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/gov_leg_sys-government-legal-system [opens new window] (accessed 18 Mar 2010).
REPUBLIC OF MAURITIUS 2008 "Country Progress Report: Declaration of Commitment of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on HIV/AIDS" IN 2008 progress reports submitted by countries, UNAIDS, [www] http://data.unaids.org/pub/Report/2008/mauritius_2008_country_progress_report_en.pdf [PDF document, opens in window] (accessed 18 Mar 2010).
SADC 2007 "Mauritius" IN Country Profiles, 160, 165, [www] http://www.sadcreview.com/pdfs07/mauritius2007_08.pdf [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 18 Mar 2010).
UNDP 2009 "Mauritius HDI Rank - 81", IN Human Development Report 2009, [www] http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/data_sheets/cty_ds_MUS.html [opens new window] (accessed 15 October 2009).
UN STATISTICS DIVISION 2010a "Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 births)" IN UNdata, [www] http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?q=MExico&d=PopDiv&f=variableID%3A77%3BcrID%3A484 [opens new window] (accessed 18 Mar 2010).
UN STATISTICS DIVISION 2010b "Military expenditure (% of GDP)" IN UNdata, [www] http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?q=GDP&d=WDI&f=Indicator_Code%3AMS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS [opens new window] (accessed 18 Mar 2010).
UN STATISTICS DIVISION 2010c "Total expenditure on health as percentage of gross domestic product" IN UNdata, [www] http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?q=Gross+domestic+product&d=WHO&f=inID%3AHSR20 [opens new window] (accessed 18 Mar 2010).
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE 2009 "Mauritius" IN International Religious Freedom Report 2009, [www] http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2009/127245.htm [opens new window] (accessed 18 Mar 2010).
