he size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries:

0 km

Coastline:

177 km

Maritime claims:

measured from claimed archipelagic straight baselines
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin

Climate:

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

Terrain:

small coastal plain rising to discontinuous mountains encircling
central plateau

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mont Piton 828 m

Natural resources:

arable land, fish

Land use:

arable land: 49.02%
permanent crops: 2.94%
other: 48.04% (2005)

Irrigated land:

220 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

2.2 cu km (2001)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 0.61 cu km/yr (25%/14%/60%)
per capita: 488 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards:

cyclones (November to April); almost completely surrounded by reefs
that may pose maritime hazards

Environment - current issues:

water pollution, degradation of coral reefs

Environment - international agreements:

party to: Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Biodiversity, Climate
Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the
Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:

the main island, from which the country derives its name, is of
volcanic origin and is almost entirely surrounded by coral reefs;
home of the dodo, a large flightless bird related to pigeons, driven
to extinction by the end of the 17th century through a combination
of hunting and the introduction of predatory species

People
Mauritius

Population:

1,274,189 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 23% (male 148,573/female 143,859)
15-64 years: 70.1% (male 443,968/female 449,670)
65 years and over: 6.9% (male 35,269/female 52,850) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 31.5 years
male: 30.6 years
female: 32.3 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

0.8% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

14.64 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

6.55 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

-0.09 migrant(s)/1,000 populati