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"I
come from a small island called Mauritius, in the
middle of the Indian Ocean." |
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Those
are the first words I've been telling everyone ever
since I came to college in the United States. But,
let me tell you a little bit more about where I come
from.
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Facts
about Mauritius
: |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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| Background
: |
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Discovered by the Portuguese
in 1505, Mauritius was subsequently held by the Dutch,
French, and British before independence was attained
in 1968. A stable democracy with regular free elections
and a positive human rights record, the country has
attracted considerable foreign investment and has earned
one of Africa's highest per capita incomes. Recent poor
weather and declining sugar prices have slowed economic
growth, leading to some protests over standards of living
in the Creole community. |
| GEOGRAPHY |
|
|
| Location
: |
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Southern
Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar |
| Coordinates
: |
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20 17 S,
57 33 E |
| Area : |
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Total:
2,040 sq km
L and: 2,030 sq km
W ater: 10 sq km
N ote: includes Agalega Islands, Cargados Carajos Shoals
(Saint Brandon), and Rodrigues |
| Comparative
: |
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Almost 11 times the size
of Washington, DC |
| Climate : |
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Tropical,
modified by southeast trade winds; warm, dry winter
(May to November); hot, wet, humid summer (November
to May) |
| Terrain : |
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Small coastal plain rising
to discontinuous mountains encircling central plateau |
| Natural Resources
: |
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Arable land, fish |
| Land use
: |
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Arable
land: 49.26%
P ermanent crops: 2.96%
O ther: 47.78% (2001) |
| Natural hazards
: |
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Cyclones (November to
April); almost completely surrounded by reefs that may
pose maritime hazards |
| PEOPLE |
|
|
| Population
: |
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1,230,602 (July 2005
est.) |
| Age structure
: |
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0-14 years: 24.4% (male
151,043/female 148,847)
15-64 years: 69.1% (male 424,472/female 425,974)
65 years and over: 6.5% (male 31,506/female 48,760)
(2005 est.) |
| Median age
: |
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Total:
30.5 years
Male: 29.65 years
Female: 31.46 years (2005 est.) |
| Sex ratio
: |
|
At
birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
U nder 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.65 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
| Nationality
: |
|
Noun:
Mauritian(s)
A djective: Mauritian |
| Ethnic groups
: |
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Indo-Mauritian 68%, Creole
27%, Sino-Mauritian 3%, Franco-Mauritian 2% |
| Religions
: |
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Hindu 52%, Christian
28.3% (Roman Catholic 26%, Protestant 2.3%), Muslim
16.6%, other 3.1% |
| Languages
: |
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English (official), Creole,
French (official), Hindi, Urdu, Hakka, Bhojpuri |
| ECONOMY |
|
|
| Overview : |
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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.
For most of the period, annual growth has been in the
order of 5% to 6%. This remarkable achievement has been
reflected in more equitable income distribution, increased
life expectancy, lowered infant mortality, and a much-improved
infrastructure. Sugarcane is grown on about 90% of the
cultivated land area and accounts for 25% of export
earnings. The government's development strategy centers
on expanding local financial institutions and building
a domestic information telecommunications industry.
Mauritius has attracted more than 9,000 offshore entities,
many aimed at commerce in India and South Africa, and
investment in the banking sector alone has reached over
$1 billion. Mauritius, with its strong textile sector,
has been well poised to take advantage of the Africa
Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). |
| |
| This page was last
updated on 14 June, 2005, quote from CIA
- The World Factbook |
| |
| [+MY
HOME+]
All
my life, I lived in a coastal village, called Baie
du Tombeau, which literally means, the "Bay
of the graves". You can imagine what happens
at that bay... Just kidding, it has a really nice
beach. I lived there with my extended family including
my four uncles and my grandmother in an "apartment-like"
building.
If
you want to get a feel of how it looked like to be
living at my house, click on the small red dot on
the picture.
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| For
those who missed the dot >> here |
The
Teng family is involved in the restaurant business in
Mauritius. It's a family business where we have been
providing services to Maritius for the last two decades.
We have developed into a chain of three restaurants,
the famous Ocean
Restaurants, located on the west coast and the north
coast of the island. Last year, my family inaugurated
the upscale Ocean Mei Yan along with a new shopping
complex, Pasadena Village, also owned by my family.
At the same time, we got involved in nite life industry
by opening a night club, Arena
Private Club, in the same complex.
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