Mauritius Today

Today Mauritius is a republic within the Commonwealth with a population of 1.2 million. Being a multi-cultural society, the Mauritian polulation enjoy a rich ethnic background, consisting of Hindus, Muslims, Tamils, Blacks of African and Madagascan descents, Whites of French descents, Mulattos and Chinese. The main religions are Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. However other religious denominations also flourish. This is a small country where religious festivals, rituals, customs and traditions abound in all their splendours. With such a diversity in the cultural fabric of a society, Mauritius is often described as a miniature representation of the world itself, where 'East meets West'.

Mauritius is a success story in terms of its Constitution: it is a democracy based on the Westminster model. There education and the health service are free. The literacy rate, at over 95%, is one of the highest in the world. Although English is the official language the majority of the Mauritian population speak Creole patois (a sort of a native dialect) in their daily lives, together with French if need be. English is used as a medium of education and for official and administrative purposes mainly. Apart from English, French and Creole patois, which most Mauritians use, each ethnic community have their own languages such as Hindi, Bhojpoori, Urdu, Tamil, Telegu, Chinese, etc.