Demographics of Mauritius
19204
219933114
2008-06-17T14:49:38Z
Aeons
994745
Moved article from Mauritius article section to here
[[Image:Boy and girl from Mauritius.jpg|thumb|200px|A Mauritian boy and girl.]] <!-- A picture showing the main ethnic groups present on the island would be more fitting -->
Mauritian society includes people from many different ethnic groups. A majority of the republic's residents are the descendants of people from the [[Indian subcontinent]]. Mauritius also contains substantial populations from continental [[Africa]], [[Madagascar]], [[France]], [[Great Britain]], and [[China]], among other places.
==Ancestry==
[[Image:Miss Mauritius 07 Melody Selvon.jpg|thumb|100px|right|[[Melody Selvon]], "Miss Mauritius" in 2007.]]
The [[Indo-Mauritian]]s (when the ethnic groups are combined) and [[Mauritian Creole people|Creoles]] (of African descent) are the predominant population. There are approximately 30,000 Mauritians of Chinese descent, from the Hakka, Mandarin, and Cantonese language groups. More than 90% of the Sino-Mauritian community are Roman Catholic{{Fact|date=June 2008}}, the remainder are largely Buddhist.
While there is a small population of British citizens living in Mauritius, most of whom have Mauritian nationality, few identify as being Mauritian. The term Anglo-Mauritian, a term which may include Mauritians living in the UK, is used unofficially.
Though the [[Franco-Mauritian]] group is small, it is the largest of the European ancestries on the island. They are usually upper-class citizens and form the wealthiest group of people on the island.
Small groups of foreign students from Europe or the Indian Ocean region are also present. Recent years have seen a steady flow of foreign workers into the textile industry (primarily Chinese women), the construction industry (primarily Indian workers), and harbour-related activities (primarily Taiwanese men). Immigration policy does not provoke much debate in Mauritius, and the relative economic stability of the island serves to attract foreign workers{{Fact|date=October 2007}}.
==Language==
[[Image:Port Louis vegetables.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Picture from the 1950s of the Central Market, Port Louis, Mauritius.]]
The official language of Mauritius is [[English language|English]]. All government administrative documents are therefore drawn up in English. Together with English, French is also used in instruction in the educational system. [[French language|French]], however, predominates in the media, both broadcast and printed as well as with business and in corporate affairs. Although English is the official language of the island, A majority of the population can speak French fluently. American and other English-language movies and TV programmes shown in Mauritius are conventionally dubbed in French.
The most widely-spoken language of the country is [[Mauritian Creole]], which has close ties with French pronunciation, but with a few marked differences - Creole does not contain some of the more deep and rounded consonants that French does. Mauritian Creole is considered the native tongue of the country. Creole was the language used by the African slaves to communicate with their French masters. Today, Creole is used in everyday life by all Mauritians. When [[Franco-Mauritian]]s engage in conversations with Creole speakers, French is more commonly employed than Creole.
[[Hindi language|Hindi]] and Urdu also has numerous speakers in the country, although both are used mainly by the Indian community. Several other languages including [[Tamil language|Tamil]], [[Telugu language|Telugu]], [[Marathi]], [[Bhojpuri]], [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]], [[Punjabi]] and dialects of [[Chinese (linguistics)|Chinese]], such as [[Cantonese (linguistics)|Cantonese]], [[Hakka]] and [[Mandarin (linguistics)|Mandarin]], are also spoken by significant parts of the population. The earliest builders brought by the French were the [[Tamil people|Tamils]] of Indian origin, who were employed to build Port Louis, the capital. Subsequently, around hundred years later, laborers from other parts of [[British Raj|British India]] were brought by the British. [[Arabic]] is taught in Mosques around Mauritius.
==Religion==
The religions present in the republic are [[Hinduism]] (52%), [[Roman Catholicism]] (28%), [[Islam]] (16.6%), [[Buddhism]] (2.5%), [[Adventist]] [[Protestantism]] (2%) and [[Sikhism]] (0.3%). <ref>[http://www.gesource.ac.uk/worldguide/html/956_people.html Intute - World Guide - Mauritius<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
== Statistics ==
[[Image:Mauritius demography.png|thumb|550px|center|Demographics of Mauritius, Data of [[FAO]], year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands.]]
'''Population:'''
Island of Mauritius only: 1,227,078 (December 2007 estimate) <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gov.mu/portal/goc/cso/ei683/toc.htm |title=Population and Vital Statistics, Republic of Mauritius, Year 2007 - Highlights |publisher=Central Statistics Office (Mauritius)|accessdate=2008-05-26 |date=March 2008}}</ref>
'''Age structure:'''
<br>''0-14 years:''
26% (male 153,385; female 149,451)
<br>''15-64 years:''
68% (male 401,032; female 403,295)
<br>''65 years and over:''
6% (male 28,981; female 43,224) (2000 est.)
'''Population growth rate:'''
0.89% (2000 est.)
'''Birth rate:'''
16.66 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)
'''Death rate:'''
6.83 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)
'''Net migration rate:'''
-0.93 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)
'''Sex ratio:'''
<br>''at birth:''
1 male(s)/female
<br>''under 15 years:''
1.03 male(s)/female
<br>''15-64 years:''
0.99 male(s)/female
<br>''65 years and over:''
0.67 male(s)/female
<br>''total population:''
0.98 male(s)/female (2000 est.)
'''Infant mortality rate:'''
17.73 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)
'''Life expectancy at birth:'''
<br>''total population:''
70.98 years
<br>''male:''
66.98 years
<br>''female:''
75.04 years (2000 est.)
'''Total fertility rate:'''
2.02 children born/woman (2000 est.)
'''Nationality:'''
<br>''noun:''
Mauritian(s)
<br>''adjective:''
Mauritian
'''Ethnic groups:'''
[[India]]n/[[South Asian]] 68%, [[Creole peoples|Creole]] 27%, [[Han Chinese|Chinese]] 3%, [[Franco-Mauritian|French]] 2%
'''Religions:'''
[[Hinduism]] 52%, [[Christianity]] 28.3% ([[Roman Catholicism]] 26%, [[Protestant]] 2.3%), [[Islam]] 16.6%, other 3.1%
'''Languages:'''
[[English language|English]] (Official), [[French language|French]], [[Mauritian Creole]], [[Hindi language|Hindi]], [[Tamil language|Tamil]], [[Bojpoori]], [[Hakka dialect|Hakka]].
'''Literacy:'''
<br>''definition:''
age 15 and over can read and write
<br>''total population:''
82.9%
<br>''male:''
87.1%
<br>''female:''
78.8% (1995 est.)
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Template group
|list =
{{Mauritius topics}}
{{Africa topic|Demographics of}}
}}
<!--Categories-->
[[Category:Mauritian society]]
[[Category:Demographics by country|Mauritius]]
<!--Other languages-->
[[fr:Démographie de Maurice]]
[[pt:Demografia da ilha Maurício]]
[[sr:Демографија Маурицијуса]]
[[sh:Stanovništvo Mauricijusa]]