Where is Mauritius?
About Mauritius
The Land
The People
Life and Death
Health, Energy and the Environment
Education and Work
Travel, Communication and the Media
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Mauritius is an island country off the east coast of mainland Africa. There is one main island and three smaller ones.
Mauritius is in the Indian Ocean.
The land consists of a coastal plain rising to mountains which encircle a central plateau.
The geographical coordinates for the centre of Mauritius, also known as lines of latitude and longitude, are:-
Latitude - 20 17S
Longitude - 57 33E
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Check the weather in Plaisance now. It is about 15 kms south of Port Louis.
This is the time in Port Louis now
The Mauritian flag is four equal horizontal stripes of red, at the top, blue, yellow and green. Red represents self-determination and independence, blue the Indian
Ocean surrounding the island, yellow is said to be the new light of independence, golden sunshine, or the bright future, and green can represent either agriculture
or the lush vegetation of the island.
The capital of Mauritius is Port Louis.
Mauritius is a parliamentary republic with a president as head of state and a prime minister as head of the government.
In elections everyone over the age of 18 can vote.
The currency in Mauritius is the Mauritian rupee. Mauritius is a member of the Commonwealth.
English is the official language, but Creole the most spoken.
Hear the National Anthem
These are the anthem words
Mauritius is a parliamentary republic with a president as head of state and a prime minister as head of the government.
In elections everyone over the age of 18 can vote.
The currency in Mauritius is the Mauritian rupee. Mauritius is a member of the Commonwealth.
English is the official language, but Creole the most spoken.
Hear the National Anthem
These are the anthem words
We have already written our own history of England but are asking schools in Mauritius to provide us with a detailed history of
their own country. Check how here.
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The total land area of Mauritius is 2,030 sq kms which is the 53rd largest in Africa.
Mauritius has lakes, rivers and canals which total 10 sq kms.
Mauritius has no boundaries with another country
Mauritius has a coastline of 177 kms which is the 34th longest in Africa.
The highest point in Mauritius is Mont Piton at 828 metres.
The pie chart below shows how the land is split between agricultural land (crops and pastures), forests and other, which can be towns, villages, desert or frozen waste called tundra.
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The total population of Mauritius is 1,364,283 people, making it the 47th largest country in Africa by population.
Of this number 694,023 are females and 670,260 are males.
A person from Mauritius is called a Mauritian.
You can be a citizen of Mauritius if you are born in Mauritius or one of your parents is a citizen of Mauritius. You have to live in Mauritius for
5 of the previous 7 years, including the whole of the year before you apply before you can begin to apply for citizenship.
The largest five cities in Mauritius, by population are:-
- Port Louis 155,226 people
- Beau Bassin-Rose Hill 111,355
- Vacoas 110,000
- Curepipe 84,200
- Quatre Bornes 80,961
For each country we will give you a diagram showing the population density. This is the average number of people for each square kilometre.
Each little Owlbut is 1 person and
the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as
more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.
40.8% of the people live in cities or towns.
Each little Owlbut is 1 person and
the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as
more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.
40.8% of the people live in cities or towns.
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The birth rate in Mauritius is 12.8 births per 1,000 of population
The death rate in Mauritius is 7.1 deaths per 1,000 people.
Check this against the birth rate. If the death rate is higher than the birth rate then
the population will decrease unless immigrants arrive in the country.
There are 7.7 deaths of girls under 1 year per 1,000 of births and 11.3 deaths of boys.
The median age for females is 36.7 and for males is 34.5. The median age is that age which divides the population exactly in half so there are the same number
of people above the median age as below it.
We have no figures for the average age of a woman when she has her first child.
The elderly dependency ratio is 14.1. This is the number of elderly people (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64).
The potential support ratio is 7.1. This is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.
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Mauritius spends 4.8% of its total income on health care.
There are 2.31 doctors per 1,000 people.
There are 3.54 hospital beds per 1,000 people.
10.8% of the population are estimated as obese.
99.9% of the urban population and 99.8% of the rural population have drinking water that is either piped into their home or they have access to a public tap, a protected borehole, well, spring or
protected rainwater collection facility.
93.9% of the urban population and 92.6% of the rural population have access to a flushing toilet that is connected to a sewer, a pit latrine (that is a
permanent hole in the ground that is looked after) or a composting toilet.
Mauritius releases 5.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels in the process of producing and consuming energy. This puts it as the 20th highest in Africa.
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Mauritius spends 5.0% of its total income on education.
Children usually start school at age 5 in Mauritius. Primary education is for six years until age 11 and secondary education must continue till 16 but can go on to 18/19. This may be followed
by further education at a university or college.
Generally the school year consists of 3 terms and starts in the middle of January and finishes at the beginning of November. There is usually a 2 week
break in the middle of April and a 4 week break starting in the middle of July.
91.0% of females and 95.4% of males are able to read and write by the age of 15.
24.0% of all people aged between 16 and 24 are not in work. Among females 31.0% are unemployed while with males 18.6% can't find work.
The total number of people available for work in Mauritius is 633,900.
They work in the following sectors.
- Agriculture includes farming, fishing and forestry work
- Industry includes mining, manufacturing, construction and energy workers
- Services is everything else
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There are 2 paved airports in Mauritius, which is the 48th highest number in Africa.
There are no railways in Mauritius.
There are 2,149 kilometres of roads in Mauritius, which means Mauritius is in 49th place for the most kilometres of roads in Africa.
There are 3 major national newspapers in Mauritius.
There are 1.84 million mobile phone users.
30% of the people have a fixed landline.
717,618 people have access to the internet at home via any device (computer or mobile).
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