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The island of Mauritius itself is divided into 9 districts: Black River , Flacq , Grand Port , Moka , Pamplemousses , Plaines Wilhems , Port Louis ,Rivière du Rempart , Savanne The local climate is tropical, modified by southeast trade winds; there is a warm, dry winter from May to November and a hot, wet, and humid summer from November to May. Cyclones affect the country during November-April. The island's capital and largest city is Port Louis, in the northwest. Other important towns are Curepipe, Vacoas, Phoenix, Quatre Bornes, Rose-Hill and Beau-Bassin. The island is well known for its exceptional natural beauty; Mauritian society is highly multicultural. Island residents are the descendants of people from the Indian subcontinent, Africa, Madagascar, France, England, China plus a few other places. The official language of Mauritius is English. French is still widely spoken despite France having lost its colonial dominion over the island nearly 200 years ago. The French-derived Mauritian Creole, with major influences from the other dialects, is widely spoken (80%) on the island and is considered the lingua franca of the country. Several other languages, including Arabic, Indian languages such as Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Bhojpuri, Gujarati or dialects of Chinese like Cantonese, Hakka and Mandarin are also spoken. The latter South Asian languages are spoken by descendants of the labourers brought from British India during the British rule. The Indo-Mauritians (when the ethnic groups are combined) form approximately 70% of the total population, while the rest of the population are of either African, French, Chinese, or mixed descent. There are approximately 30,000 Mauritians of Chinese descent, from Hakka, Mandarin and Cantonese language groups. More than 90% of the Sino-Mauritian community adhere to the Roman Catholic faith. Of all religiously affiliated Mauritians, Hindus constitute 52%, while the remainder is composed mostly of Christians (28%) and Muslims (16.6%). Buddhists (2.5%), Sikhs (0.3%) and other religions are also followed. The mixed colonial past of Mauritius is reflected in its culture. The cuisine of Mauritius is a blend of Desi, Creole, Chinese and European. It is not uncommon for a combination of cuisines to form part of the same meal. The "cari poule" or chicken curry is the most popular dish and eaten as a favourite by all sections of the community. Mauritian Cuisine is a great leveller and brings together all sections of the community. Once tasted, your taste buds will be captured forever. Famous chefs on Mauritian Cuisine come from varied cultural backgrounds. Among the most well known for traditional Mauritian Cuisine are Guy Felix, Lalita Sookhee, Philippe Lenoir, Raymond de Ravel, Madeleine Philippe and Zubeida Randera. Madeleine Philippe is well known for her promotion of Mauritian Cuisine on the internet. In 1847 Mauritius became the fifth country in the world to issue postage stamps. The two types of stamps issued then, known as the Red Penny and the Blue Penny are probably the most famous stamps in the world, being very rare and therefore also very expensive. When discovered, the island of Mauritius was home to a previously unknown species of bird, which the Portuguese named the dodo (simpleton), as they appeared not too bright. However, by 1681, all dodos had been killed by settlers or their domesticated animals. Nevertheless, the dodo is prominently featured as a supporter of the national coat-of-arms(see above). Mauritius has from time to time also been chosen as setting for films, most of which are Bollywood productions from India. The latest Hindi film to feature Mauritius has been Garam Masala (2005). Rose Hill, Mauritius was also the site of the first ever gay pride march in May 2006, one onlooker remarked, "This is good, we need to be more open like the rest of the world", while others did not share these views. Pamplemousses, Coloured Earth Of Chamarel, Grand Bassein, Plenty of Nature Parks are the major tourist attractions coupled with the excellent scenic beauty. The centre of the island boasts mountains of curious and intriguing shape. The coast is covered in tropical gardens. The bougainvillea, of pinks, reds and purples, are quite magnificent.Surrounding the coast are calm waters, enclosed by a reef. At Grand Baie (in the north of the island) the water is beautifully blue. In the morning, the lagoons inside the reef are green, truly the colour of emeralds. In the afternoon they change to hundreds of shades of blue truly worth the experience. Republic of Mauritius Area: 788 sq mi (2,040 sq km) Population (2006 est.): 1,240,827 (growth rate: 0.8%); birth rate: 15.4/1000; infant mortality rate: 14.6/1000; life expectancy: 72.6; density per sq mi: 1,583 Capital: Port Louis Currency : Mauritian rupee Languages: English less than 1%(official), Creole 81%, Bojpoori 12%, French 3% (2000) Ethnicity: Indo-Mauritian 68%, Creole 27%, Sino-Mauritian 3%, Franco-Mauritian 2% Religions: Hindu 48%, Roman Catholic 24%, other Christian 8%, Islam 17% (2000) Literacy : 86% Mauritius Flag Mauritius Map Mauritius Longitude & Latitude
Mauritius Nationl Anthem/Song
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