Mauritius History

Population: 1,240,827 (July 2006 est.)

The country's population density, more than 537 inhabitants per square kilometer, is one of the highest in the world. The capital, Port Louis, is the largest city, with a population of 142,645.

Geography

Mauritius is an island with surface area of 720 square miles, situated just above the Tropic of Capricorn, in the south of Indian Ocean. Being of a volcanic origin, Mauritius has a central plateau, which is about 400 meters above sea level. Mountains scattered throughout the island, tropical forests and plants are other feathers that add to the natural beauty of the island. With more than 90 miles of white sandy beaches and the transparent lagoon are protected from the open sea by the world's third largest coral reef, which almost surrounds the island.

History

Discovered by the Portuguese in 1505, Mauritius was subsequently held by the Dutch, French, and British before independence was attained in 1968.

Mauritius is named after Prince Maurice of Nassau. The Dutch settled in the island in 1598 and introduced sugar cane and the Java deer before leaving in 1710 where they had found in the mean time a far better settling place: The Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. About five years later, in 1715, the French occupied the island, renaming it "Isle de France"It was under the French Governor, Mahé de Labourdonnais (photo), that Mauritius knew its first development: a harbour was built. Port Louis, named after the ruling king Louis XV, became the capital of Mauritius. Trade on the island thrived; Mauritius could supply enough sugar and rum to the surrounding islands and visiting vessels.

From this strategic position in the Indian Ocean, the French were plaguing English vessels on their way to and from India. In 1810, the British conquered the island which they occupied, and Mauritius was formally ceded to them in the "Traiti de Paris" of 1814. Most of the French settlers, remained on the island and were allowed to keep their customs, religion and laws.

A few years later, in 1835, the British abolished slavery - slaves at the time came from Madagascar, Senegal and Mozambique mainly - and this led to the importation of Indian indentured labourers to work in the sugar cane fields. They eventually settled in Mauritius and their descendants constitute nowadays the majority of the population.

Rapid development of the infrastructure continued. Free primary education was given to the population so that local civil servants could be trained to run the affairs of the country.

Mauritius achieved independence on 12 March 1968 and adopted a constitution based on the British parliamentary system. The first post-independence years were difficult but after over 15 years of planning and hard work, achieved economic and political stability. Mauritius changed its status to that of a Republic on 12 March 1992.

The Mauritian Constition is based on the Westminister model. Political power is vested in the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. Elections are held every five years

Language

Creole is the principal language. According to the 1983 census, the top five languages were: Creole, 54.1 percent; Bhojpuri, 20.4 percent; Hindi, 11.5 percent; French, 3.7 percent; and Tamil, 3.7 percent. These figures indicate the principal language used in the home. Most Mauritians, however, speak several languages.

Mauritian society is noteworthy for its high degree of religious tolerance. Mauritian often shares in the observances of religious groups other than their own. In part as a result of the multiplicity of religions, Mauritius has more than twenty national holidays. In addition, the government grants subsidies to all major religious groups according to their membership. According to the 1990 census, 49 percent of the population was Hindu, 27 percent Roman Catholic, 16 percent Muslim, and 0.5 percent Protestant; 7.5 percent belonged to other groups (incl. Born Again Christians)

Climate

Tropical, modified by southeast trade winds; warm, dry winter (May to November); hot, wet, humid summer (November to May)

The DODO Bird

The Dodo were huge birds of unknown species that existed only on the island of Mauritius.
Those birds had no experience of any types of predators before the arrival of settlers in the island. They were passive creatures even when approached by human visitors for the first time. So it was with lack of fears and child-like innocence that those birds greeted the first settlers, the Dutch, in 1598.
The story of the Dodo is indeed a tragic one. Firstly, human visitors, mainly the Dutch, used to kill them for food. Those that survived became prey to animals such as pigs, rats and monkeys that had been introduced into the island by sailors. By the year 1681 the last Dodo had died.