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| Country | Mauritius | | | Flag |  | | | Capital | name: Port Louis geographic coordinates: 20 10 S, 57 30 E time difference: UTC+4 (9 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) | | | Population | 1,250,882 (July 2007 est.) | | | GMT | +4 | | | Location | Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar
see map | | | 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 | | | 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 type | parliamentary democracy | | | National holiday | Independence Day, 12 March (1968) | | | Constitution | 12 March 1968; amended 12 March 1992 | | | Legal system | based on French civil law system with elements of English common law in certain areas; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | | | Background | Although known to Arab and Malay sailors as early as the 10th century, Mauritius was first explored by the Portuguese in 1505; it 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. | | Internet country code | .mu | |
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