ed 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

People Mauritius

Population:
1,220,481 (July 2004 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 24.8% (male 152,424; female 149,908)
15-64 years: 68.8% (male 418,836; female 420,411)
65 years and over: 6.5% (male 31,104; female 47,798) (2004 est.)

Median age:
total: 30.1 years
male: 29.3 years
female: 31.1 years (2004 est.)

Population growth rate:
0.81% (2004 est.)

Birth rate:
15.85 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Death rate:
6.82 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Net migration rate:
-0.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.65 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2004 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 15.57 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 12.73 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
male: 18.36 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 72.09 years
male: 68.11 years
female: 76.13 years (2004 est.)

Total fertility rate:
1.97 children born/woman (2004 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.1% (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
700 (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
less than 100 (2001 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Mauritian(s)
adjective: Mauritian

Ethnic groups:
Indo-Mauritian 68%, Creole 27%, Sino-Mauritian 3%, Franco-Mauritian
2%

Religions:
Hindu 52%, Christian 28.3% (Roman Catholic 26%, Protestant 2.3%),
Muslim 16.6%, other 3.1%

Languages:
English (official), Creole, French (official), Hindi, Urdu, Hakka,
Bhojpuri

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 85.6%
male: 88.6%
female: 82.7% (2003 est.)

Government Mauritius

Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Mauritius
conventional short form: Mauritius

Government type:
parliamentary democracy

Capital:
Port Louis

Administrative divisions:
9 districts and 3 dependencies*; Agalega Islands*, Black River,
Cargados Caraj