Mauritian Sign Language

Last updated
Mauritian Sign Language
Native to Mauritius
Native speakers
1,000 (2021 DBS/DOOR/SIL) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 lsy
Glottolog maur1240

Mauritian Sign Language (MSL) is the indigenous deaf sign language of Mauritius.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mauritius</span> Island nation in the Indian Ocean

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Mauritius</span>

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Mauritius, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

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.

Mauritians of Chinese origin, also known as Sino-Mauritians or Chinese Mauritians, are Mauritians who trace their ethnic ancestry to China.

South Asian ethnic groups are an ethnolinguistic grouping of the diverse populations of South Asia, including the nations of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka. While Afghanistan is variously considered to be part of both Central Asia and South Asia, Afghans are generally not included among South Asians.

Indo-Mauritians are Mauritians who trace their ethnic ancestry to Indian subcontinent or other parts of South Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mauritians</span> Citizens or residents of Mauritius

Mauritians are nationals or natives of the Republic of Mauritius and their descendants. Mauritius is a multi-ethnic society, with notable groups of people of South Asian, Sub-Saharan African, European, and Chinese descent, as well those of a mixed background from any combination of the aforementioned ethnic groups.

Mauritian Creoles are the people on the island of Mauritius and in the wider overseas Mauritian diaspora who trace their roots to continental and Malagasy Africans who were brought to Mauritius under slavery from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century. It can also refer to and include members of the island's mixed race or Métis community especially if they happen to be christian. In government records, creoles along with Franco-Mauritians form part of the broader group known as Population Générale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation</span> Public broadcaster of the Republic of Mauritius

The Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) is the national public broadcaster of the Republic of Mauritius, that is the islands of Mauritius, Rodrigues, and Agaléga. The headquarters of the MBC is found at Réduit, Moka, it also operates a station in Rodrigues. The MBC programmes are broadcast in 12 languages, notably French, Creole, English, Hindi, Urdu, Bhojpuri, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Mandarin/Cantonese, and Hakka, it provides 17 television channels in Mauritius, 4 in Rodrigues and 2 in Agaléga and 7 radio channels.

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.

Rodriguan Creole is a dialect of Mauritian Creole, a French-based creole language, spoken on the island of Rodrigues in the Indian Ocean. It is spoken by virtually all 40,000 inhabitants of the island. On Rodrigues, like in the rest of the republic of Mauritius, English is the administrative language and French is also widely spoken, even more commonly than English.

Agalega creole is a creole language influenced by French spoken in Agalega. It has been heavily influenced by both Mauritian Creole and Seychellois Creole, as well as Malagasy. The population of speakers number just under 1,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Mauritius</span> British colony in Africa from 1810 to 1968

Mauritius was a Crown colony off the Southeast coast of Africa. Formerly part of the French colonial empire, British rule in Mauritius was established de facto with the Invasion of Isle de France in November 1810, and de jure by the subsequent Treaty of Paris. British rule ended on 12 March 1968, when Mauritius became independent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Mauritius</span>

The Constitution of Mauritius mentions no official language. It only contains a statement in Article 49 that "The official language of the Assembly shall be English but any member may address the chair in French" implying that English and French are official languages of the National Assembly (parliament). It is only in the Parliament that the official language is English but any member of the National Assembly can still address the chair in French. English and French are generally accepted as the official languages of Mauritius and as the languages of government administration and the court business, while the lingua franca is Creole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">India–Mauritius relations</span> Bilateral relations

India–Mauritius are the historical, political, economic, military, social and cultural connections between the Republic of India and the Republic of Mauritius. Connections between India and Mauritius date back to 1730, diplomatic relations were established in 1948, before Mauritius became independent state. The cultural affinities and long historical ties between the two nations have contributed to strong and cordial relations between the two nations. More than 68% of the Mauritian population are of Indian origin, most commonly known as Indo-Mauritians. India and Mauritius co-operate in combating piracy, which has emerged as a major threat in the Indian Ocean region and Mauritius supports India's stance against terrorism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamil Mauritians</span>

Tamil Mauritians are the descendants of Tamil people who migrated, from the South Indian regions corresponding to the modern state of Tamil Nadu, to the island of Mauritius.

Mauritius is a religiously diverse nation, with Hinduism being the most widely professed faith. People of Indian descent (Indo-Mauritian) follow mostly Hinduism and Islam. The Franco-Mauritians, Creoles and Sino-Mauritians follow Christianity. A minority of Sino-Mauritians also follow Buddhism and other Chinese-related religions. According to the 2011 census made by Statistics Mauritius, Hinduism is the major religion at 48.54%, followed by Christianity at 32.71%, followed by Islam 17.30% and Buddhism 0.18% in terms of number of adherents.

Mauritian Australians are Australians of Mauritian descent, or who were born in Mauritius.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mauritian Creole</span> French-based creole language spoken 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Hindi Secretariat</span>

World Hindi Secretariat (WHS),, is an international organisation of nations and regions where Hindi is the first or customary language with significant proportion of population consisting of Hindi speakers and/or with notable affiliation with North Indian culture. WHS is focused on promoting Hindi as an international language and furthering the cause of recognition of Hindi as an official language of the United Nations. India has been trying to get 129 votes at the United Nations to make Hindi an official language of the UN. WHS is head quartered at Vacoas-Phoenix city in Plaines Wilhems District of Mauritius.

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