While Mauritius may be best known for its spectacular beauty, one must not forget that it is also an amazing melting-pot of cultures and traditions. The photo at left gives one the idea of the diversity of people who call Mauritius home, as well as the friendly disposition they share with eachother and with the world... Indeed, one would be hard pressed to find another society of people in the world so well integrated and adjusted to its own diversity as is found in Mauritius -- a characteristic that should be envied by many other nations, which could stand to learn some valuable lessons from the culture and history and people of Mauritius...

Some basic facts about the people:

Population of Mauritius is now estimated to 1,127,068 (July 1995)
Nationality: Mauritian(s)
Ethnic Divisions: 68% Indo-Mauritian,  27% Creole, 3% Sino-Mauritian,
        2% Franco-Mauritian 
Religions: 52%   Hindu, 28.3% Christian (Roman Catholic 26%, Protestant 2.3%)
        16.6% Muslim, 3.1%  Other 
Languages -- English is the official language. 
        Creole, French, Hindi, Urdu, Hakka, Bojpoori
Population growth rate: 0.89% (1995 est.)
Birth rate: 18.91 births/1000 population (1995 est.)
Death rate: 6.38 deaths/1000 population (1995 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 17.8 deaths/1000 live births (1995 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: male:67.9 years & female:74.95 years (1995 est.)
Labor force: 335,000
  by occupation: government services 29%, agriculture & fishing 27%,
                 manufacturing 22%, other 22%

CHC wishes to thank the MAURITIUS ISLAND ONLINE homepage for originally posting this excellent information...

Return to CHC Mauritius Page ÿ