Moka () is a village in

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

located mainly in the Moka District. The western part of the village lies in the Plaines Wilhems District. Since 1967 it forms part of Constituency No. 8 Quartier Militaire and Moka. The village is administered by the Moka Village Council under the aegis of the Moka District Council. According to the census made by

Statistics Mauritius Statistics Mauritius, formerly known as the Central Statistics Office (CSO) until 2000, 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 ...

in 2011, the population was at 8,846. The elevation is 203 meters and can be up to 425 meters in some places. Moka is directly on the other side of the Moka Range from

Port Louis Port Louis (, ; or , ) is the capital and most populous city of Mauritius, mainly located in the Port Louis District, with a small western part in the Black River District. Port Louis is the country's financial and political centre. It is admi ...

. The village is close to the mountain Le Pouce and the town Beau-Bassin Rose-Hill. Réduit is a suburb of the village where the State House and

University of Mauritius The University of Mauritius (UoM) () is the national university of Mauritius. It is the oldest and largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and the curriculum offered. The public university's main campus is located at Réd ...

is situated. The village is also home to the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation and the Mahatma Gandhi Institute.

History

Housing boom

Moka is centrally located in Mauritius and as such has experienced a real estate development boom in the past few years. This was mainly encouraged by the development of the CyberCity two kilometres away in Ebene. Another contributing factor to this property business was that since Mauritius will not benefit from preferential prices for its sugar by the European Community and

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...

, sugar estates quickly started real estate business units that would convert the land under sugar cane culture to residential lands. From 2004 to 2006, Moka saw five property estate developments.

Weather

Moka has a tropical wet climate. Since it is in the southern hemisphere, February is the warmest month and August is the coolest. Temperatures normally can range from in February to at night in August. The dry season is in October, the wet season is in February. Temperature is somewhat constant.

Places

Schools

Schools in Moka include Le Bocage International School, Mahatma Gandhi Institute, Mahatma Gandhi Secondary School, St. Mary Roman Catholic School, and Ecole du Centre. University

Charles Telfair Institute Cropped-cropped-image-campus-final

Other

Other important institutions in Moka are the: * Agricultural Marketing Board (AMB) which stocks vegetables (mainly potatoes) for local consumption * Subramaniam Bharati Eye Centre (AKA Moka Eye Hospital) which is the country's only specialized eye hospital. * Catholic Church

Notable people

*Jean Louis Brue du Garoutier, French soldier later retrieving the rank of

Maréchal de Camp ''Maréchal de camp'' (sometimes incorrectly translated as field marshal) was a general officer rank used by the French Army until 1848. The rank originated from the older rank of sergeant major general ( French: ''sergent-major général'') ...

(Brigade General) under

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

and serving as commander of the 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division during the

Waterloo Campaign The Waterloo campaign, also known as the Belgian campaign (15 June – 8 July 1815) was fought between the French Army of the North (France), Army of the North and two War of the Seventh Coalition, Seventh Coalition armies, an Anglo-allied arm ...

. *

Thomas Shadrach James Thomas Shadrach James (1 September 1859 – 9 January 1946), born Thomas Shadrach Peersahib, was a Methodist lay preacher, linguist and herbalist. However, it was as a teacher, first at Maloga Aboriginal Mission and later at Cummeragunja Reserve, ...

(Peersahib), teacher, linguist and herbalist in Australia *

Fabrice Lapierre Fabrice Lapierre (born 17 October 1983 in Réduit, Mauritius) is a Mauritian-born Australian long jumper. Lapierre placed 4th at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Germany, behind another Australian, Mitchell Watt, who took th ...

, Mauritian-born Australian long jumper *

Reza Shah Reza Shah Pahlavi born Reza Khan (15 March 1878 – 26 July 1944) was shah of Iran from 1925 to 1941 and founder of the roughly 53 years old Pahlavi dynasty. Originally a military officer, he became a politician, serving as minister of war an ...

, exiled penultimate

Shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

who lived in ''Chateau Val Ory'' for 7 months after he was deposed during the 1941

Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran The Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran, also known as the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Persia, was the joint invasion of the neutral Imperial State of Iran by the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union in August 1941. The two powers announced that they w ...

. * Capt Joshua Slocum. It was in Moka, in September 1897, that Capt Joshua Slocum visited the then existing Moka Flower conservatory during his legendary solo sailing trip around the world. During that visit, he was honored to have a plant named after him, which is today known as the Joshua Slocum day-lily and is commercially available.

References

{{Authority control Moka District Populated places in Mauritius