Riviere Noire 828 m

Natural resources: arable land, fish

Land use:
arable land: 49%
permanent crops: 3%
permanent pastures: 3%
forests and woodland: 22%
other: 23% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 170 sq km (1993 est.)

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

Environment-current issues: water pollution

Environment-international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea,
Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection,
Ship Pollution, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

@Mauritius:People

Population: 1,168,256 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 26% (male 155,917; female 152,563)
15-64 years: 68% (male 393,330; female 397,285)
65 years and over: 6% (male 28,092; female 41,069) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.2% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 18.64 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 6.69 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 16.54 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 70.9 years
male: 67.05 years
female: 74.74 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.22 children born/woman (1998 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, Hindi, Urdu, Hakka,
Bojpoori

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 82.9%
male: 87.1%
female: 78.8% (1995 est.)

@Mauritius:Government

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

Data code: MP

Government type: parliamentary democracy

National capital: Port Louis

Administrative divisions: 9 districts and 3 dependencies*; Agalega
Islands*, Black River, Cargados Carajos*, Flacq, Grand Port, Moka,
Pamplemousses, Plaines Wilhems, Port Louis, Riviere du Rempart,
Rodrigues*,