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Mauritians (singular Mauritian; french: Mauricien; Creole: ''Morisien'') 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 South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, ...
(notably
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n),
Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
n (
Mauritian Creoles 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 ninetee ...
),
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an (European Mauritians), and
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
descent, as well those of a mixed background from any combination of the aforementioned ethnic groups.


History

Mauritian Creoles trace their origins to the plantation owners and people who were captured via the slave trade and brought to work the sugar fields. Plantation owners were predominantly of European ancestry while the enslaved people mostly had ancestry from continental Africa. When
slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
was abolished on 1 February 1835, an attempt was made to secure a cheap source of adaptable labour for intensive sugar plantations in Mauritius.
Indenture An indenture is a legal contract that reflects or covers a debt or purchase obligation. It specifically refers to two types of practices: in historical usage, an indentured servant status, and in modern usage, it is an instrument used for commercia ...
d labour began with Indian, Chinese, Malay, African and Malagasy labourers, but ultimately, it was India which supplied the much needed labourers to Mauritius, mainly sugar cane workers. This period of intensive use of Indian labour took place during British rule, with many brutal episodes and a long struggle by the indentured for respect. The term applied to the indentured during this period, and which has since become a derogatory term for Mauritians of Asian descent, was coolie. The island soon became the key-point in the trade of indentured labourers, as thousands of Indians set forth from
Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
or Karikal; not only did they modify the social, political and economic physiognomies of the island, but some also went farther, to the
West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
. Indo-Mauritians are descended from Indian immigrants who arrived in the 19th century via the Aapravasi Ghat in order to work as indentured labourers after slavery was abolished in 1835. Included in the Indo-Mauritian community are
Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
s (48.5% of the Mauritian population) and
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s (17.2%) from the Indian subcontinent (figures are from 2011). Christians make up 28% of the population and this figure corresponds to the size of the Mauritian Creole population which is predominantly Christian. The
Franco-Mauritian 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. Origins The first French settlers arrived in Maurit ...
elite controlled nearly all of the large sugar estates and was active in business and banking. As the Indian population became numerically dominant after independence from British rule and the voting franchise was extended, political and economic power shifted from the Franco-Mauritians and their Creole allies to the Indo-Mauritians. The meeting of a mosaic of people from Europe, India, Africa and China began a process of hybridisation and
intercultural Cross-cultural communication is a field of study that looks at how people from differing cultural backgrounds communicate, in similar and different ways among themselves, and how they endeavor to communicate across cultures. Intercultural communic ...
frictions and dialogues, which poet
Khal Torabully Khal Torabully is a Mauritian poet. Born in Mauritius in 1956, in the capital city Port Louis, his father was a Trinidadian sailor and his mother was a descendant of migrants from India and Malaya. Work Khal Torabully left for Lyon in 1976, t ...
has termed "coolitude". This social reality is a major reference for
identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), ...
opened to otherness and is widely used in
Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...
where it represents a
humanism Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...
of diversity. Subsequent to a Constitutional amendment in 1982, there is no need for Mauritians to reveal their ethnic identities for the purpose of population census. Official statistics on ethnicity are not available. The 1972 census was the last one to measure ethnicity.
Statistics Mauritius Statistics Mauritius formerly known as the Central Statistics Office (CSO) is the national statistical agency of Mauritius. It operates under the aegis of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and is responsible for all statistical a ...
compiles data on religious affiliation every ten years during census.


Demographics of Mauritius


Mauritian diaspora

The Mauritian diaspora consists of Mauritian
emigrants Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...
and their descendants in various countries around the world, mainly France, Great Britain (
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
),
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland and Belgium. Given the island's importance for international shipping routes and limited opportunities locally, Mauritian Creole people settled internationally before some of these countries were founded as nations. For example, Mauritians settled on the continent of Australia before federation of the nation. Their ancestors and more recent migrants are now known as
Mauritian Australians Mauritian Australians are Australians of Mauritian descent, or who were born in Mauritius. The Census in 2011 recorded 23 280 Mauritius-born people in Australia, an increase of 28.1 percent from the 2006 Census. The 2011 distribution by state ...
. Aboriginal people from islands south of the continent likewise settled in Australia.


See also

* Demographics of Mauritius *
List of Mauritians This is a list of prominent Mauritians. Political figures * Seewoosagur Ramgoolam (1900–1985), first Prime Minister and former Governor-General * Navin Ramgoolam (1947–), ex-Prime Minister, leader of the Labour Party (Mauritius) * Shake ...


References

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