East Africa

Mauritius Travel Podcast with Ravi Beeharry

Hosted by Ravi Beeharry — a new episode every day from Mauritius.

Mauritius Travel Podcast with Ravi Beeharry is a slow, place-based guide to the island. Travelling here means moving between the coastal plain, the coral-fringed shore and the central plateau, where local life is shaped by Creole, French and English in the same conversation. The podcast treats Mauritius as a country to live in, not just a beach stop.

Over time Ravi covers Port Louis, the capital, where urban density is high; Rodrigues Island, whose population is fairly evenly spread, with a slightly denser cluster on the north coast; and Black River Gorges, the forested highland park. Each place appears through its own weather and rhythm.

The show unfolds across Mauritian seasons over a couple of years. Ravi returns to places as the dry winter gives way to the hot, wet summer, watching how markets, roads and stretches of coast change. Knowing Mauritius properly becomes a matter of accumulated detail, not a checklist of sights.

Listen and subscribe

The basics

Mauritius at a glance

Capital

Port Louis

Population 2025

1,243,741

Area

2,040 sq km

Languages

Creole 86.5%, Bhojpuri 5.3%, French 4.1%

Time zone

UTC+4

Currency

Mauritian rupees (MUR)

GDP per capita 2025

$12,991

Life expectancy 2024

73.8 years

Urban population 2025

39.0%

Inflation 2025

3.7%

Internet users 2024

73.3%

Government

Parliamentary republic

Country file

Mauritius in depth

Reference data on the country — geography, people, history, economy and transport.

Geography and climate

Location

Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, about 800 km (500 mi) east of Madagascar

Terrain

Small coastal plain rising to discontinuous mountains encircling central plateau

Climate

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

Elevation

Highest point: Mont Piton 828 m
Lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m

Area

Total: 2,040 sq km
Land: 2,030 sq km
Water: 10 sq km

Size comparison

Almost 11 times the size of Washington, D.C.

Coastline

177 km

Land borders

Total 0 km

Natural resources

Arable land, fish

Land use

Agricultural land: 43% (2023 est.)
Arable land: 37.6% (2023 est.)
Permanent crops: 2% (2023 est.)
Permanent pasture: 3.5% (2023 est.)
Forest: 19.2% (2023 est.)
Other: 37.8% (2023 est.)

Natural hazards

Cyclones (November to April); almost completely surrounded by reefs that may pose maritime hazards

Note

The main island, from which the country derives its name, is of volcanic origin and is almost entirely surrounded by coral reefs; former home of the extinct dodo, a large flightless bird related to pigeons

People and society

Population

Total: 1,311,375 (2025 est.)
Male: 639,707
Female: 671,668

Nationality

Noun: Mauritian(s)
Adjective: Mauritian

Ethnic groups

Indo-Mauritian (compose approximately two thirds of the total population), Creole, Sino-Mauritian, Franco-Mauritian

Languages

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.)

Median age

Total: 40 years (2025 est.)
Male: 38.1 years
Female: 41 years

Life expectancy

Total population: 75.4 years (2024 est.)
Male: 72.6 years
Female: 78.4 years

Urbanisation

Urban population: 40.9% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization: 0.28% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Where people live

Population density is one of the highest in the world; urban clusters are found throughout the main island, with a greater density in and around Port Luis; the population on Rodrigues Island is fairly evenly spread, with a slightly denser cluster on the north coast, as shown in this population distribution map

Largest cities

149,000 PORT LOUIS (capital) (2018)

Background and government

Background

Although 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. Their presence led to the rapid disappearance of the flightless dodo bird that has since become one of the most well-known examples of extinction in modern times. The Dutch abandoned their financially distressed settlement in 1710, although a number of formerly enslaved people remained. In 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. In the 1790s, the island had a brief period of autonomous rule when plantation owners rejected French control because of laws ending slavery that were temporarily in effect during the French Revolution. Britain 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. The 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. Today their descendants form the majority of the population. Mauritius remained a strategically important British naval base and later an air station, and it played a role during World War II in anti-submarine and convoy operations, as well as in the collection of signals intelligence.

Mauritius 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. The country also attracted considerable foreign investment and now has one of Africa's highest per capita incomes. Mauritius’ often-fractious coalition politics has been dominated by two prominent families, each of which has had father-son pairs who have been prime minister over multiple, often nonconsecutive, terms. Seewoosagur 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. In 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.

Mauritius claims the French island of Tromelin and the British Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory). Since 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.

Government

Parliamentary republic

Capital

Port Louis

Time zone

UTC+4 (9 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

Local name

Republic of Mauritius

Independence

12 March 1968 (from the UK)

National day

Independence and Republic Day, 12 March (1968, 1992)

Economy and cost of living

Overview

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