Country Profile: Mauritius

TJC Global Translation & Interpreting Services since 1985

Fact File

Capital

Port Louis

Other Cities

Bambous, Mahebourg, Triolet, Mapou, Souillac, Centre de Flacq

Official language

English

Other Languages & Dialects

Creole, French, Mauritian, Bhojpuri, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu

Area

Total 2,040 km2

Population

(2009est) 1,264,866

Currency

Mauritian Rupee

Overview

Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about 900 kilometres (560 mi) east of Madagascar. The island of Mauritius is renowned for having been the only known home of the dodo bird, which is now a human lesson in extinction, once the popular bird came in contact with humans, it would become extinct nearly 75 years later.

Dialects and Languages

English is the official language of Mauritius, it is used for all of the official government proceedings and procedures as well. Together with English, Mauritian Creole is also used in instructions in the educational system. However, all exams are taken in English as the education system follows the British education system. Despite this, French is the dominant language in the media world and in fact certain oriental languages are also becoming more dominant as students now are obligated to learn an oriental language is school.

Cultural Identity

Despite the dominace of English in Mauritius, especially amongst the Roman Catholics, The most widely-spoken language is Mauritian Creole, which has close ties with French pronunciation, but with a few marked differences. Mauritian Creole is considered to be the native tongue of the country in a practical sense. The Hindu population also has there own unique language and dailects, which includes Bhojpuri, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu speakers,

Business and Economics

Even though they are a small nation, Mauritius has a well balanced GDP and because of this, they are considered a developed nation. Since independence in 1968, Mauritius has developed from a low-income, agriculturally based economy to a middle income diversified economy with growing industrial, financial, and tourist sectors. These productive changes can be attributed to quality government created economic policies, superior infrastructure and a well managed tourism industry.

Tourism and Economic Impact

Mauritius knows that in order to compete with Singapore and Dubai, something must be done, Mauritius is gearing towards becoming a duty-free island within the next four years. Duty has been eliminated for several products and decreased for more than 1850 products including clothing, food, jewelry, photographic equipment, audio visual equipment and lighting equipment. Furthermore, the government has created new economic reform policies in order to attract more business to the island.

Future Outlook

Mauritius will look to continue to grow in the future, based off of its historical agricultural strengths, well balanced GDP, economic reform policies and booming tourism industry. Mauritius is also in the uniqu position culturally to assimilate the unique cultures of Asia, Africa and Europe. Over the next five years, Mauritius is expected to be on the fastest growing economies in Africa, mostly due to the expectations of their tourism industry.

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Some of the 180 languages for which we provide interpreters:

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For other languages, please visit our Multiple Language Services Interpreting page.