Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about 2,000 kilometres off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island, as well as Rodrigues, Agaléga and St. Brandon. The islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues, along with nearby Réunion, are part of the Mascarene Islands. The main island of Mauritius, where most of the population is concentrated, hosts the capital and largest city, Port Louis. The country spans 2,040 square kilometres (790 sq mi) and has an exclusive economic zone covering 2,300,000 square kilometres.
The known history of Mauritius begins with its discovery by Arabs and Malays, followed by Europeans and its appearance on maps in the early 16th century. Mauritius was successively colonized by the Netherlands, France and Great Britain, and became independent in 12 March 1968.
The traditional music of Mauritius is known as sega music, though reggae, zouk, soukous and other genres are also popular, but the latter genres do not originate from Mauritius, despite famous local singers such as Kaya, who successfully combined Reggae Music to create Mauritian Seggae. Well-known traditional sega singers from Mauritius include Ti Frére, Marlene Ravaton, Serge Lebrasse, Michel Legris and Fanfan.
Mauritius is a multi-ethnic and multi-language society; it is also a plural society with its population mainly composed of four ethnic groups and four major religious groups; it is often depicted as a "rainbow nation". The island of Mauritius did not have any indigenous population; historically, it was characterized by successive waves of European colonization and multiple immigrations. Under the French rule between 1715 and 1810, slaves were imported on the island from mainland Africa and Madagascar; slavery were only abolished in 1835 under the British rule. Indian migrants from Pondicherry first came in Mauritius under the French rule in 1736; The 18th century also saw one the earliest influx of Chinese migrants in Mauritius, who mostly came from Fujian. Under the British rule, more Indian migrants came to Mauritius following the slave emancipation of 1835. Since the 1800s Chinese migrants from Southern China arrived in Mauritius since the 1800s first as indentured labourers and later as free merchants. Since 1860, Hakka immigration started and continued until they become the dominant Chinese population in Mauritius since the beginning of the 20th century. The co-existence of Mauritians of Indian, African, European, and Chinese ancestry eventually led to a sharing of values and cultures, a collective participation in festivals, and an increased understanding between people of different ethnic backgrounds. Mauritians from different cultural backgrounds are very distinct from each other, and it is also highly unpopular to encourage the dissolution of cultural boundaries in Mauritius. In present days, the Mauritian society continues to be culturally and linguistically French-dominated.
Agaléga is a dependency of Mauritius which consists of two outer islands located in the Indian Ocean, about 1,000 km (620 mi) North of Mauritius Island. Under the Constitution of Mauritius, Agaléga is a constituent island of the Republic of Mauritius. Although the island has been ceded to India on a basis that has not yet been revealed but appears to be military, it still remains, as explicitly defined by the Constitution of Mauritius, part of the Sovereignty of Mauritius, together with the following islands “Rodrigues, Tromelin, Cargados Carajos, Chagos Archipelago (…) Diego Garcia and other islands included in the State of Mauritius”.
Sega is one of the major music genres of Mauritius and Réunion. The other genres common in Mauritius are its fusion genre Seggae and Bhojpuri songs while in Réunion there is also seggae and maloya. It has origins in the music of slaves as well as their descendants Mauritian Creole people and is usually sung in Mauritian Creole or Réunionese Creole. Sega is also popular on the islands of Agaléga and Rodrigues as well as Seychelles, though the music and dances differ and it is sung in these islands' respective creole languages. In the past, the Sega music was made only with traditional instruments like ravanne and triangle, it was sung to protest against injustices in the Mauritian society, this particular version of the Sega is known as Santé engagé. Other types of Sega have been included in UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage lists.
Mauritians of Chinese origin, also known as Sino-Mauritians or Chinese Mauritians, are Mauritians who trace their ethnic ancestry to China.
Indo-Mauritians are Mauritians who trace their ethnic ancestry to Indian subcontinent or other parts of South Asia.
Chinois, also referred to by the Réunion Creole name Sinwa or Sinoi, are ethnic Chinese residing in Réunion, a French overseas department in the Indian Ocean. As of 2000, roughly 25,000 or more lived on the island, making them one of the region's largest Chinese communities along with Chinese South Africans, Chinese people in Madagascar, and Sino-Mauritians.
Franco-Mauritians are an ethnic group from Mauritius who trace their ethnic ancestry to France and ethnic French people. Franco-Mauritians make up approximately 2% of the country's population.
The island of Mauritius is home to many languages, and Mauritian literature exists in French, English, Creole and Indian languages. Major themes in Mauritian literature include exoticism, multiracialism and miscegenation, racial and social conflicts, indianocéanisme, and—more recently—post-modernism and post-structuralism currents, such as coolitude.
Maloya is one of the two major music genres of Réunion, usually sung in Réunion Creole, and traditionally accompanied by percussion and a musical bow. Maloya is a new form that has origins in the music of African and Malagasy slaves and Indian indentured workers on the island, as has the other folk music of Réunion, séga. World music journalists and non-specialist scholars sometimes compare maloya to the American music, the blues, though they have little in common. Maloya was considered such a threat to the French state that it was banned in the 1970s.
Issa Asgarally is a Mauritian doctor in linguistics and a professor at the Mauritius Institute of Education. He is regarded as a leading intellectual figure on the island and is influential in literature and the media. His native language is Mauritian Creole, though he is fluent in French and English as well.
Nowadays, no one could still claim his pure race status. Ethnic, social and linguistic differences become each day more and more present and marked all over the world. Time, history and continuous population intermingling across boundaries led to create cosmopolitan beings, that is to say world citizens who, in spite of their singularity, manage to bring themselves together in order to create a unique and single nation. Among the nations most affected by this cross-fertilization is notably found Mauritius. The social and linguistic diversity of this country makes it unique and contribute to its wealth. It arouses curiosity, urges us to deepen our knowledge on the subject and is, to this extent, worth being studied.
The cuisine of Mauritius is heavily influenced by the tropical location of the island as well as the cultural diversity which characterizes the country. Mauritian cuisine is a blend of African, Chinese, European and Indian influences in the history of Mauritius. Most of the dishes and culinary traditions are inspired by French culture, former African slaves, and Indian workers and Chinese migrants arriving during the 19th century. Over the years, communities found in Mauritius have adapted and mixed each other's cuisine to their liking, resulting in the development of Mauritian cuisine. While some popular dishes and desserts are consumed by Mauritians of all ethnic groups or communities, there are also form of cuisines which remain distinctly ethnic and are unique to a specific ethnic community due to their ancestral cultural and historical connections. Local food which varies depending on ethnic communities therefore reflects the strong traditional, cultural, and historical influences of each community.
Joseph Tsang Mang Kin, born 12 March 1938, is a Mauritian poet, political scientist, philosopher and biographer. A former diplomat and ex-politician; Secretary General of the Mauritius Labor Party, Member of the Parliament and Minister of Arts and Culture, he currently operates as a panel member of the African Peer Review Mechanism, African Union.
Mauritian Australians are Australians of Mauritian descent, or who were born in Mauritius.
Mauritian Creole or Morisien is a French-based creole language spoken in Mauritius. English words are included in the standardized version of the language. In addition, the slaves and indentured servants from cultures in Africa and Asia left a diverse legacy of language in the country. The words spoken by these groups are also incorporated into contemporary Morisien.
The Truth and Justice Commission of Mauritius was an independent truth commission established in 2009, which explored the impact of slavery and indentured servitude in Mauritius. The Commission was tasked to investigate the dispossession of land, and “determine appropriate measures to be extended to descendants of slaves and indentured laborers.” It was “unique in that it [dealt] with socio-economic class abuses" and explored the possibility of reparations. The inclusion of reparations, whether for individuals or communities, was a controversial decision within the country which aimed to correct inequality. The Commission attempted to cover more than 370 years, the longest period of time that a truth commission has ever covered.
