Population 1,250,882 (July 2007 est.): Indo-Mauritian 68%, Creole 27%, Sino-Mauritian 3%, Franco-Mauritian 2%
Capital City Port Louis

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)

Official Currency Mauritian Rupee

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)

Land


Location: Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar
Land Area 1,860 sq km (718 sq miles) - almost 11 times the size of Washington, DC
Terrain: small coastal plain rising to discontinuous mountains encircling central plateau
Natural Resources: arable land, fish
Natural hazards: cyclones (November to April); almost completely surrounded by reefs that may pose maritime hazards