), and Rodrigues

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 177 km

Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

International disputes: claims UK-administered Chagos Archipelago,
which includes the island of Diego Garcia in UK-administered British
Indian Ocean Territory; claims French-administered Tromelin Island

Climate: tropical, modified by southeast trade winds; warm, dry winter
(May to November); hot, wet, humid summer (November to May)

Terrain: small coastal plain rising to discontinuous mountains
encircling central plateau

Natural resources: arable land, fish

Land use:
arable land: 54%
permanent crops: 4%
meadows and pastures: 4%
forest and woodland: 31%
other: 7%

Irrigated land: 170 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment:
current issues: water pollution
natural hazards: cyclones (November to April); almost completely
surrounded by reefs that may pose maritime hazards
international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law
of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer
Protection

@Mauritius:People

Population: 1,127,068 (July 1995 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 28% (female 152,892; male 158,891)
15-64 years: 66% (female 376,049; male 372,910)
65 years and over: 6% (female 39,088; male 27,238) (July 1995 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.89% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 18.91 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 6.38 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: -3.64 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 17.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 70.84 years
male: 66.9 years
female: 74.95 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.2 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Mauritian(s)
adjective: Mauritian

Ethnic divisions: Indo-Mauritian 68%, Creole 27%, Sino-Mauritian 3%,
Franco-Mauritian 2%

Religions: Hindu 52%, Christian 28.3% (Roman Catholic 26%, Protestant
2.3%), Muslim 16.6%, other 3.1%

Languages: English (official), Creole, French, Hindi, Urdu, Hakka,
Bojpoori

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
total population: 80%
male: 85%
female: 75%

Labor force: 335,000
by occupation: government services