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Mauritius




FLAG

Mauritius National Anthem lyrics
Glory to thee, Motherland,
O motherland of mine.
Sweet is thy beauty,
Sweet is thy fragrance,
Around thee we gather
As one people,
As one nation,
In peace, justice and liberty.
Beloved country, may God bless thee
Forever and ever.


Lyrics: Jean Georges Prosper
Music: Philippe Gentil
Coat of arms of Mauritius

The flag of Mauritius was adopted upon independence, March 12, 1968. It consists of four horizontal stripes of equal width, coloured (from top to bottom) red, blue, yellow, and green. The flag was recorded at the College of Arms in London on 9 January 1968.


BACKGROUND

Although known to Arab and Malay sailors as early as the 10th century, Mauritius was first explored by the Portuguese in the 16th century and subsequently settled by the Dutch - who named it in honor of Prince Maurits van NASSAU - in the 17th century. The French assumed control in 1715, developing the island into an important naval base overseeing Indian Ocean trade, and establishing a plantation economy of sugar cane. The British captured the island in 1810, during the Napoleonic Wars. Mauritius remained a strategically important British naval base, and later an air station, playing an important role during World War II for anti-submarine and convoy operations, as well as the collection of signals intelligence. Independence from the UK was attained in 1968. A stable democracy with regular free elections and a positive human rights record, the country has attracted considerable foreign investment and has earned one of Africa's highest per capita incomes. Recent poor weather, declining sugar prices, and declining textile and apparel production, have slowed economic growth, leading to some protests over standards of living in the Creole community


GEOGRAPHY

The main island, from which the country derives its name, is of volcanic origin and is almost entirely surrounded by coral reefs;

Location: Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar; time difference: UTC+4
Area: total: 2,040 sq km land: 2,030 sq km water: 10 sq km
note: includes Agalega Islands, Cargados Carajos Shoals (Saint Brandon), and Rodrigues
Coastline: 177 km
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
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Mont Piton 828 m
Natural hazards: cyclones (November to April); almost completely surrounded by reefs that may pose maritime hazards
Current Environment Issues: water pollution, degradation of coral reefs


PEOPLE

Population: 1,339,827 (July 2015 est.)
Ethnic groups: Indo-Mauritian 68%, Creole 27%, Sino-Mauritian 3%, Franco-Mauritian 2%
Religions: Hindu 48%, Roman Catholic 23.6%, Muslim 16.6%, other Christian 8.6%, other 2.5%, unspecified 0.3%, none 0.4% (2000 census)
Languages: Creole 80.5%, Bhojpuri 12.1%, French 3.4%, English (official; spoken by less than 1% of the population), other 3.7%, unspecified 0.3% (2000 census)


GOVERNMENT

Government type: parliamentary democracy
Capital: name: Port Louis geographic coordinates: 20 09 S, 57 29 E
Administrative divisions: 9 districts Black River, Flacq, Grand Port, Moka, Pamplemousses, Plaines Wilhems, Port Louis, Riviere du Rempart, Savanne 3 dependencies; Agalega Islands, Cargados Carajos Shoals, Rodrigues
Legal system: civil legal system based on French civil law with some elements of English common law
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (70 seats; 62 members elected by popular vote, 8 appointed by the election commission to give representation to various ethnic minorities)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court


ECONOMY

Since independence in 1968, Mauritius has developed from a low-income, agriculturally based economy to a middle-income diversified economy with growing industrial, financial, and tourist sectors. For most of the period, annual growth has been in the order of 5% to 6%. This remarkable achievement has been reflected in more equitable income distribution, increased life expectancy, lowered infant mortality, and a much-improved infrastructure. The economy rests on sugar, tourism, textiles and apparel, and financial services, and is expanding into fish processing, information and communications technology, and hospitality and property development. Sugarcane is grown on about 90% of the cultivated land area and accounts for 15% of export earnings. The government's development strategy centers on creating vertical and horizontal clusters of development in these sectors. Mauritius has attracted more than 32,000 offshore entities, many aimed at commerce in India, South Africa, and China. Investment in the banking sector alone has reached over $1 billion. Mauritius, with its strong textile sector, has been well poised to take advantage of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Mauritius' sound economic policies and prudent banking practices helped to mitigate negative effects from the global financial crisis in 2008-09. GDP grew 3-4% in 2010-2014 and the country continues to expand its trade and investment outreach around the globe.

Labor force: 597,300 (2010 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture and fishing: 9% construction and industry: 30% transportation and communication: 7% trade, restaurants, hotels: 22% finance: 6% other services: 25% (2007)
Unemployment rate: 7.8% (2010 est.) 7.3% (2009 est.)
Population below poverty line: 8% (2006 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.9% (2010 est.) 2.5% (2009 est.)
Public debt: 57.7% of GDP (2010 est.) 60.3% of GDP (2009 est.)
Agriculture - products: sugarcane, tea, corn, potatoes, bananas, pulses; cattle, goats; fish
Industries: food processing (largely sugar milling), textiles, clothing, mining, chemicals, metal products, transport equipment, nonelectrical machinery, tourism
Electricity - production: 2.885 billion kWh (2013 est.)
Electricity - consumption: 2.658 billion kWh (2013 est.)
Oil - consumption: 23,000 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Oil - imports: 20,750 bbl/day (2009 est.)
Current account balance: -$824.2 million (2010 est.) -$674.6 million (2009 est.)
Exports - commodities: clothing and textiles, sugar, cut flowers, molasses, fish
Exports - partners: UK 19%, France 16.8%, US 11%, Madagascar 8.4%, Italy 7.9%, South Africa 6%, Spain 4.9% (2010)
Imports - commodities: manufactured goods, capital equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals
Imports - partners: India 20.3%, France 10.6%, China 10.3%, South Africa 9.7% (2010)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $2.601 billion (31 December 2010 est.) $2.304 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Debt - external: $4.695 billion (31 December 2010 est.) $3.717 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Currency: MUR (Rupee)
Exchange rates: Mauritian rupees (MUR) per US dollar - 30.991 (2010) 31.96 (2009) 27.973 (2008) 31.798 (2007) 31.656 (2006)


COMMUNICATIONS

Telephones in use: 379,100 (2009) country comparison to the world: 105
Cellular Phones in use: 1.7 million (2014)
Telephone system: general assessment: small system with good service domestic: monopoly over fixed-line services terminated in 2005; fixed-line teledensity roughly 30 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular services launched in 1989 with teledensity in 2009 reaching 85 per 100 persons international: country code - 230; landing point for the SAFE submarine cable that provides links to Asia and South Africa where it connects to the SAT-3/WASC submarine cable that provides further links to parts of East Africa, and Europe; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean); new microwave link to Reunion; HF radiotelephone links to several countries (2011)
Internet country code: .mu
Internet hosts: 51,139 (2012)
Internet users: 290,000 (2009)


TRANSPORTATION

Airports: 5 (2013) country comparison to the world: 182
Airports (paved runways): total: 2 (over 3,047 m: 1 - 914 to 1,523 m: 1) (2010)
Airports (unpaved runways): total: 3 (914 to 1,523 m: 2 - under 914 m: 1) (2010)
Roadways: total: 2,066 km paved: 2,066 km (includes 75 km of expressways) (2009)
Merchant marine: total: 3 by type: passenger/cargo 2, refrigerated cargo 1 (2010)
Ports and terminals: Port Louis


MILITARY

Military branches: no regular military forces; Mauritius Police Force, Special Mobile Force, National Coast Guard (2011)

(Extracted from: CIA - The World Factbook)