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Mauritians

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Mauritians
BERJAYA
Flag of Mauritius
Total population
c. 1.6 million
(Mauritian ancestry and citizenship worldwide)
Regions with significant populations
BERJAYA Mauritius1.3 million[1]
BERJAYA France46,200 (Including those naturalised French but excluding Mauritians born abroad)[2][3]
BERJAYA United Kingdom43,000 (2020 estimate)[4][5] [6]
BERJAYA Australia24,329[7][8][9]
BERJAYA Canada15,900[10]
BERJAYA South Africa14,043[11]
BERJAYA Belgium8,584[12]
BERJAYA Italy7,400[13]
BERJAYA Madagascar4,300[13]
BERJAYA Sri Lanka4,100[13]
BERJAYA Ireland3,200[13]
BERJAYA Seychelles1,000[14]
BERJAYA Luxembourg1,000[14]
BERJAYA New Zealand693[15]
BERJAYA Kenya500[13]
BERJAYA Norway160[13]
BERJAYA Japan112[16]
BERJAYA Denmark100[13]
BERJAYA Taiwan22[17]
Languages
Religion

Mauritians (singular Mauritian; French: Mauricien; Creole: Morisien) are nationals of the Republic of Mauritius and their descendants. Given its geographic location and colonial past, the people of Mauritius are diverse in ethnicity, culture, language and faith. Indo-Mauritians make up the bulk of the population with significant Creole, Sino-Mauritian and Franco-Mauritian minorities.[18][19]

The population is further divided into linguistic and religious categories. Mauritians having their roots from the Bhojpuri and Hindustani speaking regions of India account for around half the total population with significant Indo-Mauritian minorities from the Tamil, Telugu and Marathi speaking regions of the subcontinent.[20][21]

Creole Mauritians of African descent trace their roots to East Africa and Madagascar, thus with distant Austronesian ancestry, Chinese Mauritians have mostly Cantonese and Hakka ancestries while White Mauritians are mostly from France.[22][23][24][25]

It is the only country in Africa where Hinduism is the most practised religion with significant Christian and Muslim minorities.[26]

Since 1995, it no more possible to acquire Mauritian citizenship, automatically by birth, if one was born in Mauritius of foreign parents. A person born outside Mauritius is a citizen of Mauritius under section 20(3) and 23 of the Constitution if either of their parents is a citizen of Mauritius by birth. Thus, children born to Mauritians who were themselves born abroad are denied automatic citizenship.[27]

History

[edit]

Mauritian Creoles trace their origins to the plantation owners and slaves who were brought to work the sugar fields. When slavery was abolished on 1 February 1835, an attempt was made to secure a cheap source of adaptable labour for intensive sugar plantations in Mauritius. Indentured labour began with Indian, Chinese, Malay, African and Malagasy labourers, but ultimately, it was India which supplied the much needed labourers to Mauritius, mainly sugar cane workers. This period of intensive use of Indian labour took place during British rule, with many brutal episodes and a long struggle by the indentured for respect. The term applied to the indentured during this period, and which has since become a derogatory term for Mauritians of Asian descent, was coolie. The island soon became the key-point in the trade of indentured labourers, as thousands of Indians set forth from Calcutta or Karikal; not only did they modify the social, political and economic physiognomies of the island, but some also went farther, to the West Indies.

Indo-Mauritians are descended from Indian immigrants who arrived in the 19th century via the Aapravasi Ghat in order to work as indentured labourers after slavery was abolished in 1835. Included in the Indo-Mauritian community are Hindus (48.5% of the Mauritian population) and Muslims (17.2%) from the Indian subcontinent. The Franco-Mauritian elite controlled nearly all of the large sugar estates and was active in business and banking. As the Indian population became numerically dominant after independence from British rule and the voting franchise was extended, political and economic power shifted from the Franco-Mauritians and their Creole allies to the Indo-Mauritians.

The meeting of a mosaic of people from Europe, India, Africa and China began a process of hybridisation and intercultural frictions and dialogues, which poet Khal Torabully has termed "coolitude".[28] This social reality is a major reference for identity opened to otherness and is widely used in Mauritius where it represents a humanism of diversity.

Subsequent to a Constitutional amendment in 1982, there is no need for Mauritians to reveal their ethnic identities for the purpose of population census. Official statistics on ethnicity are not available. The 1972 census was the last one to measure ethnicity.[29][30] Statistics Mauritius compiles data on religious affiliation every ten years during census.[31]

Demographics of Mauritius

[edit]
Ethnic groups of Mauritius
Ethnic group[32] Percent of population
Indo-Mauritian
 
 67%
Creoles
 
 28%
Sino-Mauritian
 
 3%
Franco-Mauritian
 
 2%
Ethnic groups of Mauritius[32]
Ethnic group % of population
Indo-Mauritians 67%
Afro-Mauritians 28%
Sino-Mauritians 3%
Franco-Mauritians 2%

Mauritian diaspora

[edit]

The Mauritian diaspora consists of Mauritian emigrants and their descendants in various countries around the world, mainly Great Britain (United Kingdom), Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France, Ireland and Belgium.

Given the island's importance for international shipping routes and limited opportunities locally, Mauritians settled internationally before some of these countries were founded as nations. For example, Mauritians settled on the continent of Australia before federation of the nation.[33] Their ancestors and more recent migrants are now known as Mauritian Australians.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ Ministry of Finance & Economic Development (January–June 2012). "Population and vital statistics Republic of Mauritius" (PDF). Government of Mauritius. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 November 2012. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  2. ↑ "L'essentiel sur... les immigrés et les étrangers | Insee". www.insee.fr. Retrieved 2026-07-14.
  3. ↑ Erwin Dopf. "Présentation de Maurice". diplomatie.gouv.fr. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  4. ↑ "Table 1.3: Overseas-born population in the United Kingdom by country of birth and sex, January 2020 to December 2020". Office for National Statistics. 17 September 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2022. Figure given is the central estimate. See the source for 95% confidence intervals.
  5. ↑ Erwin Dopf. "UN UK". un.org. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  6. ↑ Erwin Dopf. "Migration Observatory UK". migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  7. ↑ "Mauritius-born Community Information Summary - Historical Background" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-04-11.
  8. ↑ "Welcome to the Australian Mauritian Association". Archived from the original on 2018-12-26.
  9. ↑ "The Mauritius-born Community: Historical Background". Australian Government, Department of Immigration and Border Protection (2011 census). 19 November 2013. Archived from the original on 13 February 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  10. ↑ Immigration to Canada
  11. ↑ United Nations Population Division | Department of Economic and Social Affairs
  12. ↑ "Inwoners met migratieachtergrond per nationaliteit en gemeente". npdata.be. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Mauritian people group in all countries | Joshua Project". joshuaproject.net.
  14. 1 2 "Immigrant and Emigrant Populations by Country of Origin and Destination". migrationpolicy.org. February 10, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Loading..., Place and ethnic group summaries | Stats NZ". tools.summaries.stats.govt.nz.
  16. ↑ "法務省". www.moj.go.jp.
  17. ↑ Foreign Residents by Nationality
  18. ↑ "Religions in Africa | African Religions | PEW-GRF". www.globalreligiousfutures.org. Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  19. ↑ "The Global Religious Landscape". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 18 December 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  20. ↑ "Economic and Social Indicators" (PDF). Statistics Mauritius. 18 November 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
  21. ↑ "2011 Population Census – Main Results" (PDF). Statistics Mauritius. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  22. ↑ Fregel, Rosa; Seetah, Krish; Betancor, Eva; Suárez, Nicolás M.; Calaon, Diego; Čaval, Saša; Janoo, Anwar; Pestano, Jose (March 2014). "Multiple Ethnic Origins of Mitochondrial DNA Lineages for the Population of Mauritius". PLOS ONE. 9 (3) e93294. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...993294F. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0093294. hdl:10553/46959. PMC 3968120. PMID 24676463.
  23. ↑ Mathur, Raj. "Party cooperation and the electoral system in Mauritius" (PDF). Australian National University. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  24. ↑ Lau Thi Keng, Jean Claude; Fraisse, Geneviève (1991). Inter-ethnicité et politique à l'île Maurice. L'Harmattan. ISBN 978-2-7384-1046-7.[page needed]
  25. ↑ Virahsawmy, Dev. "Testament of A Hindocreole or Who Are We Really?". Defimedia. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  26. ↑ "Resident population by religion and sex" (PDF). Statistics Mauritius. p. 68. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  27. ↑ "Citizenship". dha.govmu.org. Retrieved 2026-07-14.
  28. ↑ Khal Torabully, Coolitude: An Anthology of the Indian Labour Diaspora (with Marina Carter, Anthem Press, London, 2002) ISBN 1-84331-003-1
  29. ↑ La Redaction (5 June 2008). "A critical appraisal of the Best Loser System". L'Express (Mauritius). Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  30. ↑ M. Rafic Soormally (10 September 2012). "Debate on Best Loser System". Le Défi Media Group. Archived from the original on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  31. ↑ "Population and Housing Census 2010 Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-05-14. Retrieved 2015-04-26.
  32. 1 2 "The World FactBook - Mauritius", The World Factbook, CIA, archived from the original on January 9, 2021, retrieved July 12, 2018Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  33. ↑ Museums Victoria (2017). "Mauritius. Immigration history from Mauritius to Victoria". origins.museumsvictoria.com.au. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
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