General Population (or ''Population Générale'') on the island of

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 ...

refers to the community of inhabitants who belong to the ethnic groups Mauritian Creoles and Franco-Mauritians. Within the General Population there is further division based on skin colour and social status. It also includes most of the inhabitants of

Rodrigues Rodrigues (french: Île Rodrigues, link=yes ; Creole: ) is a autonomous outer island of the Republic of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, about east of Mauritius. It is part of the Mascarene Islands, which include Mauritius and Réunion. R ...

as well as

Chagossians The Chagossians (also Îlois or Chagos Islanders) are a currently exiled Creole ethnic group native to the Chagos Islands, specifically Diego Garcia, Peros Banhos, and the Salomon island chain, as well as other parts of the Chagos Archipelago ...

who usually identify as Mauritian Creoles. According to the

Constitution of Mauritius The Constitution of the Republic of Mauritius (french: La Constitution de Maurice) is the supreme law of Mauritius, according to Chapter I, Section 2 of the constitution, if any other law is inconsistent with this Constitution, that other law shal ...

there are 4 distinct communities on the island for the purposes of representation in the National Assembly. Schedule I, Paragraph 3(4) of the Constitution states that ''The population of Mauritius shall be regarded as including a Hindu community, a Muslim community, and a Sino-Mauritian community, and every person who does not appear, from his way of life, to belong to one or other of those three communities shall be regarded as belonging to the General Population, which shall itself be regarded as a fourth community.'' Thus each ethnic group in Mauritius falls within one of the four main communities known as

Hindus 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 ...

, General Population,

Muslims 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 ...

and Sino-Mauritians.

Origins

In 1829 an Ordinance in Council abolished racial discrimination for free subjects of all ethnic groups on the island. This new law was in preparation for the Abolition of Slavery by the British rulers. As a result the inhabitants could no longer be officially described as "blacks" or "whites". Thus all blacks, coloured and white were grouped as ''General Population''. During the census of 1846 the distinct groups were defined as "General Population", "Ex-apprentices (freed slaves)", and "Indian and other immigrant labourers". People of Indian origins who embraced Christianity became classified as General Population by 1931. By 1944 the island's population was further divided on religious grounds: Christians in the General Population and Indians into Hindus and Muslims. The People Representation Ordinance of 1958 was introduced by the Secretary of State to ensure representation of the 3 main sections of the population (Hindus, General Population and Muslims) in the legislature in numbers that were proportional to the population as a whole.

References

{{authority control Ethnic groups in Mauritius Politics of Mauritius

Origins

See also

References