Factbook
Histoire de Maurice — Chronologie
Dates clés de l'histoire de Maurice, d'après le Factbook Magna et l'Encyclopédie universelle.
1638Although known to Arab and European sailors since at least the early 1500s, the island of Mauritius was uninhabited until 1638 when the Dutch established a settlement named in honor of Prince Maurits van NASSAU.
1710The Dutch abandoned their financially distressed settlement in 1710, although a number of formerly enslaved people remained.
1722In 1722, the French established what would become a highly profitable settlement focused on sugar cane plantations that were reliant on the labor of enslaved people brought to Mauritius from other parts of Africa.
1810Britain captured the island in 1810 as part of the Napoleonic Wars but kept most of the French administrative structure, which remains to this day in the form of the country’s legal codes and widespread use of the French Creole language.
1835The abolition of slavery in 1835 -- later than most other British colonies -- led to increased reliance on contracted laborers from the Indian subcontinent to work on plantations.
1968Independence: 12 March 1968 (from the UK).
1968Mauritius gained independence from the UK in 1968 as a Parliamentary Republic and has remained a stable democracy with regular free elections and a positive human rights record.
1968Seewoosagur RAMGOOLAM (1968-76) was Mauritius’ first prime minister, and he was succeeded by Anerood JUGNAUTH (1982-95, 2000-03, 2014-17); his son Navin RAMGOOLAM (1995-2000, 2005-14); and Paul Raymond BERENGER (2003-05), the only non-Hindu prime minister of post-independence Mauritius.
2011Languages: Creole 86.5%, Bhojpuri 5.3%, French 4.1%, two languages 1.4%, other 2.6% (includes English, one of the two official languages of the National Assembly, which is spoken by less than 1% of the population), unspecified 0.1% (2011 est.) Religions: Hindu 48.5%, Roman Catholic 26.3%, Muslim 17.3%, other Christian 6.4%, other 0.6%, none 0.7%, unspecified 0.1% (2011 est.) Urban population: 40.9% of total population (2023).
2017In 2017, Pravind JUGNAUTH became prime minister after his father stepped down short of completing his term, and he was elected in his own right in 2019.
2017Since 2017, Mauritius has secured favorable UN General Assembly resolutions and an International Court of Justice advisory opinion relating to its sovereignty dispute with the UK.
2018Major urban areas: 149,000 PORT LOUIS (capital) (2018) upper middle-income Indian Ocean island economy; diversified portfolio; investing in maritime security; strong tourism sector decimated by COVID-19; expanding in information and financial services; environmentally fragile Inflation: 3.6% (2024 est.).
2023Generation mix — fossil fuels: 82.4% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); solar: 4.6% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); wind: 0.3% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); hydroelectricity: 2.9% of total installed capacity (2023 est.) Energy use: 60.188 million Btu/person (2023 est.).
2023Industries: food processing (largely sugar milling), textiles, clothing, mining, chemicals, metal products, transport equipment, nonelectrical machinery, tourism Agriculture: sugarcane, chicken, pumpkins/squash, tomatoes, eggs, potatoes, cabbages, bananas, onions, cucumbers/gherkins (2023) Electricity access: 100% (2022 est.).
