Mauritius

Lore & Background

The 1502 Portuguese Cantino planisphere has led some historians to speculate that Arab sailors were the first to discover the uninhabited island around 975, naming it Dina Arobi. Called Ilha do Cirne or Ilha do Cerne on early Portuguese maps, the island was visited by Portuguese sailors in 1507. A Dutch fleet landed at what is now the Grand Port District and took possession of the island in 1598, renaming it after Maurice, Prince of Orange. Short-lived Dutch attempts at permanent settlement took place over a century aimed at exploiting the local ebony forests, establishing sugar and arrack production. When French colonisation began in 1715, the island was renamed 'Isle de France'. In 1810, the United Kingdom seized the island and under the Treaty of Paris, France ceded Mauritius and its dependencies to the United Kingdom. The British colony of Mauritius now included Rodrigues, Agaléga, St. Brandon, the Chagos Archipelago, and, until 1906, the Seychelles. Mauritius and France dispute sovereignty over the island of Tromelin, the treaty failing to mention it specifically. Mauritius became the British Empire's main sugar-producing colony and remained a primarily sugar-dominated plantation-based colony until independence, in 1968. The country became a republic in 1992 but retained the Privy Council of the United Kingdom as highest court of appeal. In 1965, three years before the independence of Mauritius, the United Kingdom split the Chagos Archipelago away from Mauritius, and the islands of Aldabra, Farquhar, and Desroches from the Seychelles, to form the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT). The local population was forcibly expelled and the largest island, Diego Garcia, was leased to the United States, restricting access to the archipelago. Ruling on the sovereignty dispute, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion in 2019 ordering the return of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, but as of 2025, negotiations are ongoing and no bilateral agreement has been finalized and publicly confirmed.

In Their Own Story

The morning mist clings to the Seven Coloured Earths of Chamarel as a local fisherman mends his nets on a beach where French colonial architecture meets Indian temple spires. The air smells of salt and frying spices, a sensory testament to centuries of migration. In Port Louis, the bustling Central Market hums with voices speaking Creole, Hindi, and Mandarin in equal measure, while the distant silhouette of Le Morne Brabant stands as a silent guardian, remembering those who sought freedom from slavery on its slopes. Here, the past is not a burden but a foundation for a future where every culture is woven into the national fabric.

Reader's Guide

Given its geographic location and colonial past, the people of Mauritius are diverse in ethnicity, culture, language and faith. It is the only country in Africa where Hinduism is the most practised religion. Indo-Mauritians make up the bulk of the population with significant Creole, Sino-Mauritian and Franco-Mauritian minorities. The island's government is closely modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system with Mauritius highly ranked for economic and political freedom. The Economist Democracy Index ranks Mauritius as the only country in Africa with full democracy while the V-Dem Democracy Indices classified it as an electoral democracy. Mauritius ranks 73rd (very high) in the Human Development Index and the World Bank classifies it as a high-income economy. It is amongst the most competitive and most developed economies in Africa. The country is a welfare state. The government provides free universal health care, free education up through the tertiary level, and free public transportation for students, senior citizens, and disabled people. Mauritius is consistently ranked as the most peaceful country in Africa. Along with the other Mascarene Islands, Mauritius is known for its biodiverse flora and fauna with many unique species endemic to the country. The main island was the only known home of the dodo, which became extinct soon after human settlement. Other endemic animals, such as the echo parakeet, the Mauritius kestrel and the pink pigeon, have survived and are subject to intensive and successful ongoing conservation efforts.

Did You Know?

• Mauritius is the only country in Africa where Hinduism is the most practised religion.
• The dodo, now extinct, was only known to live on the main island of Mauritius.
• The International Court of Justice ordered the return of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, leading to a 2025 bilateral agreement.