CIA World Fact Book, 2004/Mauritius


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!| Background:
 * Discovered by the Portuguese in 1505, Mauritius was subsequently held by the Dutch, French, and British before independence 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 and declining sugar prices have slowed economic growth, leading to some protests over standards of living in the Creole community.
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!| Location: !| Geographic coordinates: !| Map references: !| Area: note: includes Agalega Islands, Cargados Carajos Shoals (Saint Brandon), and Rodrigues water: 10 sq km land: 2,030 sq km !| Area - comparative: !| Land boundaries: !| Coastline: !| Maritime claims: continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 nm !| Climate: !| Terrain: !| Elevation extremes: highest point: Mont Piton 828 m !| Natural resources: !| Land use: permanent crops: 2.96% other: 47.78% (2001) !| Irrigated land: !| Natural hazards: !| Environment - current issues: !| Environment - international agreements: signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements !| Geography - note:
 * Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar
 * 20 17 S, 57 33 E
 * Political Map of the World
 * total: 2,040 sq km
 * almost 11 times the size of Washington, DC
 * 0 km
 * 177 km
 * territorial sea: 12 nm
 * tropical, modified by southeast trade winds; warm, dry winter (May to November); hot, wet, humid summer (November to May)
 * small coastal plain rising to discontinuous mountains encircling central plateau
 * lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
 * arable land, fish
 * arable land: 49.26%
 * 200 sq km (2000 est.)
 * cyclones (November to April); almost completely surrounded by reefs that may pose maritime hazards
 * water pollution, degradation of coral reefs
 * party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
 * the main island, from which the country derives its name, is of volcanic origin and is almost entirely surrounded by coral reefs
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!| Population: !| Age structure: 15-64 years: 68.8% (male 418,836; female 420,411) 65 years and over: 6.5% (male 31,104; female 47,798) (2004 est.) !| Median age: male: 29.3 years female: 31.1 years (2004 est.) !| Population growth rate: !| Birth rate: !| Death rate: !| Net migration rate: !| Sex ratio: under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.65 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2004 est.) !| Infant mortality rate: female: 12.73 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) male: 18.36 deaths/1,000 live births !| Life expectancy at birth: male: 68.11 years female: 76.13 years (2004 est.) !| Total fertility rate: !| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: !| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: !| HIV/AIDS - deaths: !| Nationality: adjective: Mauritian !| Ethnic groups: !| Religions: !| Languages: !| Literacy: total population: 85.6% male: 88.6% female: 82.7% (2003 est.)
 * 1,220,481 (July 2004 est.)
 * 0-14 years: 24.8% (male 152,424; female 149,908)
 * total: 30.1 years
 * 0.81% (2004 est.)
 * 15.85 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
 * 6.82 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
 * -0.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)
 * at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
 * total: 15.57 deaths/1,000 live births
 * total population: 72.09 years
 * 1.97 children born/woman (2004 est.)
 * 0.1% (2001 est.)
 * 700 (2001 est.)
 * less than 100 (2001 est.)
 * noun: Mauritian(s)
 * Indo-Mauritian 68%, Creole 27%, Sino-Mauritian 3%, Franco-Mauritian 2%
 * Hindu 52%, Christian 28.3% (Roman Catholic 26%, Protestant 2.3%), Muslim 16.6%, other 3.1%
 * English (official), Creole, French (official), Hindi, Urdu, Hakka, Bhojpuri
 * definition: age 15 and over can read and write
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!| Country name: conventional short form: Mauritius !| Government type: !| Capital: !| Administrative divisions: !| Independence: !| National holiday: !| Constitution: !| Legal system: !| Suffrage: !| Executive branch: head of government: Prime Minister Paul BERENGER (since 30 September 2003) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: president and vice president elected by the National Assembly for five-year terms; election last held 25 February 2002 (next to be held NA 2007); prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the president, responsible to the National Assembly election results: Karl OFFMANN elected president and Raouf BUNDHUN elected vice president; percent of vote by the National Assembly - NA; note - Karl OFFMANN stepped down on 30 September 2003 !| Legislative branch: elections: last held on 11 September 2000 (next to be held NA September 2004) election results: percent of vote by party - MSM/MMM 52.3%, MLP/PMSD 36.9%, OPR 10.8%; seats by party - MSM/MMM 54, MLP/PMSD 6, OPR 2 !| Judicial branch: !| Political parties and leaders: !| Political pressure groups and leaders: !| International organization participation: !| Diplomatic representation in the US: FAX: [1] (202) 966-0983 telephone: [1] (202) 244-1491, 1492 chancery: 4301 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 441, Washington, DC 20008 !| Diplomatic representation from the US: embassy: 4th Floor, Rogers House, John Kennedy Street, Port Louis mailing address: international mail: P. O. Box 544, Port Louis; US mail: American Embassy, Port Louis, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-2450 telephone: [230] 202-4400 FAX: [230] 208-9534 !| Flag description:
 * conventional long form: Republic of Mauritius
 * parliamentary democracy
 * Port Louis
 * 9 districts and 3 dependencies*; Agalega Islands*, Black River, Cargados Carajos Shoals*, Flacq, Grand Port, Moka, Pamplemousses, Plaines Wilhems, Port Louis, Riviere du Rempart, Rodrigues*, Savanne
 * 12 March 1968 (from UK)
 * Independence Day, 12 March (1968)
 * 12 March 1968; amended 12 March 1992
 * based on French civil law system with elements of English common law in certain areas
 * 18 years of age; universal
 * chief of state: President Sir Anerood JUGNAUTH (since 7 October 2003) and Vice President Abdool Raouf BUNDHUN (since 25 February 2002)
 * unicameral National Assembly (66 seats; 62 elected by popular vote, 4 appointed by the election commission from the losing political parties to give representation to various ethnic minorities; members serve five-year terms)
 * Supreme Court
 * Hizbullah [Cehl Mohamed FAKEEMEEAH]; Mauritian Labor Party or MLP [Navinchandra RAMGOOLAM]; Mauritian Militant Movement or MMM [Paul BERENGER] - in coalition with MSM; Mauritian Social Democrat Party or PMSD [Charles Xavier-Luc DUVAL]; Militant Socialist Movement or MSM [Pravind JUGNAUTH] - governing party; Rodrigues Movement or MR [Joseph (Nicholas) Von MALLY]; Rodrigues Peoples Organization or OPR [Serge CLAIR]
 * various labor unions
 * ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, C, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, InOC, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIK, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
 * chief of mission: Ambassador Usha JEETAH
 * chief of mission: Ambassador John PRICE
 * four equal horizontal bands of red (top), blue, yellow, and green
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!| Economy - overview: !| GDP: !| GDP - real growth rate: !| GDP - per capita: !| GDP - composition by sector: industry: 30.3% services: 63.6% (2003 est.) !| Investment (gross fixed): !| Population below poverty line: !| Household income or consumption by percentage share: highest 10%: NA !| Distribution of family income - Gini index: !| Inflation rate (consumer prices): !| Labor force: !| Labor force - by occupation: !| Unemployment rate: !| Budget: expenditures: $1.461 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2003) !| Public debt: !| Agriculture - products: !| Industries: !| Industrial production growth rate: !| Electricity - production: !| Electricity - consumption: !| Electricity - exports: !| Electricity - imports: !| Oil - production: !| Oil - consumption: !| Oil - exports: !| Oil - imports: !| Current account balance: !| Exports: !| Exports - commodities: !| Exports - partners: !| Imports: !| Imports - commodities: !| Imports - partners: !| Reserves of foreign exchange & gold: !| Debt - external: !| Economic aid - recipient: !| Currency: !| Currency code: !| Exchange rates: !| Fiscal year:
 * 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. Sugarcane is grown on about 90% of the cultivated land area and accounts for 25% of export earnings. The government's development strategy centers on expanding local financial institutions and building a domestic information telecommunications industry. Mauritius has attracted more than 9,000 offshore entities, many aimed at commerce in India and South Africa, and investment in the banking sector alone has reached over $1 billion. Mauritius, with its strong textile sector and responsible fiscal management, has been well poised to take advantage of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
 * purchasing power parity - $13.85 billion (2003 est.)
 * 4.1% (2003 est.)
 * purchasing power parity - $11,400 (2003 est.)
 * agriculture: 6.1%
 * 22.9% of GDP (2003)
 * 10% (2001 est.)
 * lowest 10%: NA
 * 37 (1987 est.)
 * 4.2% (2003 est.)
 * 560,000 (2003)
 * agriculture and fishing 14%, construction and industry 36%, transportation and communication 7%, trade, restaurants, hotels 16%, finance 3%, other services 24% (1995)
 * 9.8% (2003 est.)
 * revenues: $1.122 billion
 * 31.9% of GDP (2003)
 * sugarcane, tea, corn, potatoes, bananas, pulses; cattle, goats; fish
 * food processing (largely sugar milling), textiles, clothing; chemicals, metal products, transport equipment, nonelectrical machinery; tourism
 * 8% (2000 est.)
 * 1.311 billion kWh (2001)
 * 1.219 billion kWh (2001)
 * 0 kWh (2001)
 * 0 kWh (2001)
 * 0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
 * 21,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
 * NA (2001)
 * NA (2001)
 * $289 million (2003)
 * $1.965 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
 * clothing and textiles, sugar, cut flowers, molasses
 * UK 31%, France 21.3%, US 17.6%, Madagascar 6.3% (2003)
 * $2.136 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
 * manufactured goods, capital equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals
 * South Africa 12.1%, France 12%, China 8.4%, India 8.2% (2003)
 * $1.598 billion (2003)
 * $1.75 billion (2003 est.)
 * $42 million (1997)
 * Mauritian rupee (MUR)
 * MUR
 * Mauritian rupees per US dollar - 27.9015 (2003), 29.962 (2002), 29.1293 (2001), 26.2496 (2000), 25.1858 (1999)
 * 1 July - 30 June
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!| Telephones - main lines in use: !| Telephones - mobile cellular: !| Telephone system: domestic: primarily microwave radio relay trunk system international: country code - 230; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean); new microwave link to Reunion; HF radiotelephone links to several countries; fiber optic submarine cable (SAT-3/WASC/SAFE) provides connectivity to Europe and Asia !| Radio broadcast stations: !| Radios: !| Television broadcast stations: !| Televisions: !| Internet country code: !| Internet hosts: !| Internet Service Providers (ISPs): !| Internet users:
 * 348,200 (2003)
 * 462,400 (2003)
 * general assessment: small system with good service
 * AM 4, FM 9, shortwave 0 (2002)
 * 420,000 (1997)
 * 2 (plus several repeaters) (1997)
 * 258,000 (1997)
 * .mu
 * 3,985 (2003)
 * 2 (2000)
 * 150,000 (2003)
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!| Highways: paved: 1,868 km (including 44 km of expressways) unpaved: 58 km (2000) !| Ports and harbors: !| Merchant marine: foreign-owned: Belgium 1, India 4, Switzerland 2 (2004 est.) by type: cargo 1, combination bulk 4, passenger/cargo 1, refrigerated cargo 2 !| Airports: !| Airports - with paved runways: over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.) !| Airports - with unpaved runways: 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 2 (2004 est.)
 * total: 1,926 km
 * Port Louis
 * total: 8 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 22,946 GRT/27,102 DWT
 * 5 (2003 est.)
 * total: 2
 * total: 4
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!| Military branches: !| Military manpower - availability: !| Military manpower - fit for military service: !| Military expenditures - dollar figure: !| Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
 * National Police Force (includes the paramilitary Special Mobile Force or SMF and National Coast Guard)
 * males age 15-49: 342,482 (2004 est.)
 * males age 15-49: 172,157 (2004 est.)
 * $11.2 million (2003)
 * 0.2% (2003)
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