Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Mauritius See also: Hinduism in Mauritius, Christianity in Mauritius, and Islam in Mauritius Population pyramid of Mauritius according to 2011 census.

The population estimate (as of 1 July 2012) for the whole republic is 1,291,456. The female population outnumbered the male population by about 19,430. The population on the island of Mauritius only is 1,253,000, and that of Rodrigues island is 38,167. Agaléga and Saint Brandon had an estimated population of 289. Mauritius is a secular country and freedom of religion is a constitutional right. In 2011, Mauritius was ranked third in Africa in the Human Development Index and 78th out of 187 countries worldwide.

Language Main article: Languages of Mauritius

The Constitution of Mauritius mentions no official language. It only contains a statement in Article 49 that "The official language of the Assembly shall be English but any member may address the chair in French", implying that English and French are official languages of the National Assembly (parliament). French is also a common language in education and the dominant language of media. According to the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, 72.7% of the Mauritians were French speakers in 2005.

Both French and English are common languages on signs in Mauritius.

Being both an English-speaking and French-speaking nation, Mauritius is a member of both the Commonwealth of Nations and the Francophonie.

Mauritian Créole, which is spoken by 90% of the population, is considered to be the native language of the country and is used most often in informal settings. It was developed in the 18th century by slaves who used a pidgin language to communicate with each other as well as with their French masters, who did not understand the various African languages. The pidgin evolved with later generations to become a casual language. Mauritian Creole is a French-based creole due to its close ties with French pronunciation and vocabulary.

Mauritian Creole is similar in pronunciation to French, but with a few marked differences – Creole does not contain the post-alveolar fricatives and front rounded vowels that French does.

It is only in the Parliament that the official language is English but any member of the National Assembly can still address the chair in French. However, English is generally accepted as the official language of Mauritius and as the language of government administration and the court business.

In Mauritius, people switch languages according to the situation. Creole is used in informal settings while French and English, which have long enjoyed greater social status, are favored in educational and professional settings. Most newspapers and media communications are in French. American and other English-language movies and TV programmes shown in Mauritius are conventionally dubbed into French.

Education The University of Mauritius. Main article: Education in Mauritius

The government of Mauritius provides free education to its citizens from pre-primary to tertiary level. Since July 2005, the government introduced free transport for all students. For the year 2011, government expenditure on education was estimated at about Rs 11.7 billion, representing 12.5% of total expenditure. The education system in Mauritius consists of pre-primary, primary, secondary and tertiary sectors. The education structure consists of three years of pre-primary school, six years of primary schooling leading to the Certificate of Primary Education, followed by five years of secondary education leading to the School Certificate and a further two years of higher secondary ending with the Higher School Certificate. The O-Level and A-Level examinations are carried out by the University of Cambridge through University of Cambridge International Examinations. The Tertiary Education sector includes colleges, universities and other technical institutions in Mauritius. The country's two main public universities are the University of Mauritius and University of Technology. The Tertiary Education Commission's Strategic Plan envisages Mauritius as a regional knowledge hub and a centre for higher learning and excellence. It promotes open and distance learning to increase access to post-secondary education and lifelong learning locally and regionally.

Religion

Statistics on ethnicity are not available because such questions were removed from the population census. The people of Indian descent (Indo-Mauritian) follow mostly Hinduism and Islam. The Franco-Mauritians, Creoles and Sino-Mauritians follow Christianity. A minority of Sino-Mauritians also follow Buddhism and other Chinese-related religions. According to the 2011 census made by Statistics Mauritius, Hinduism is the major religion at 49%, followed by Christianity 32%, Islam 17% and Buddhist 0.4% in terms of number of adherents.