Port Louis.. Curepipe (1,850 feet above mean sea level) Maximum 32°C (89.6°F) Minimum 12°C (53.6°F) 7°C (44.6°F) A complete census of the population is made every ten years. The last census took place in 1962 and showed a population of 681,619. At 31st December 1969 the population was estimated at 807,030. The following table gives the ethnic distribution of the population in 1969. The term 'General Population' refers to people of European descent and of mixed and African descent. The population of Mauritius being made up of people of European, Indian, African and Chinese ancestry, the number of languages in use among the various ethnic groups is necessarily large. The 1962 census classified the population by mother tongue as follows: The number of live births during 1969 was 21,719, corresponding to a birth rate of 27.2 per thousand while deaths registered during the same year numbered 7,126, corresponding to a crude death rate of 8.0 per thousand. The official language of the country is English, but French may be used in the Legislative Assembly and in the lower courts of law. Creole is, however, the lingua franca. The capital of Mauritius is Port Louis, population 139,390, in the north west. Other important towns are: Curepipe, population 51,370; Beau Bassin-Rose Hill, population 70,640; Quatre Bornes, population 44,915; and VacoasPhoenix, population 48,320. The Public Sector Development Programme (1966-70) was prepared by the Economic Planning Unit under the direction of a Ministerial Economic Development and Planning Committee. (There is also a Development Advisory Council). The ceiling fixed for this four-year Plan was Rs 340 million. For the year ending 30th June 1969 capital expenditure was Rs 57.2 million. The project expenditure relates to schemes carried forward from the previous programme as well as new schemes initiated in the current programme. Of these schemes the most significant are tea development, the University of Mauritius, the completion of the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam National Hospital, harbour developments and sewerage and irrigation schemes. The projections in respect of firm, semi-firm and potential resources for the financing of the Public Sector Development Programme (1966-70) were as follows: In July 1970 the Mauritius Government enters into a new planning period for which a new programme of economic developments in the Public Sector is being prepared. Retail price indices for the period 1963-1969 are shown in the following table: (a) Three new indices were introduced in July 1962, with The main industry of the island is the growing of sugar as a plantation crop. Some 70,000 workers are employed in this industry during the harvest or 'crop' season, from July to December, and 60,000 during the intercrop season. The whole of the production with the exception of some 29,000 metric tons consumed locally, is exported, mainly to Britain, Canada and the U.S.A. In 1969 the production of sugar reached 668,672 metric tons obtained from a harvested area of about 196,500 acres. The average yield of cane per acre over the whole island was 29.6 metric tons. Sugar produced per acre was 3.40 metric tons. Although an important proportion of cane land is under peasant ownership, mostly Indo-Mauritian, the bulk of the sugar is produced on a plantation scale. The large plantations with factories produced about 60 per cent of the total crop. The smaller peasant owners, some 26,000 of whom cultivate altogether about 19 per cent of the land under cane, often work their land with the assistance of their families, employing extra labour only at peak periods such as planting and harvesting. Many of these small planters have grouped themselves into co-operative societies for the purpose of consigning their canes to factories. The whole of the sugar manufactured is marketed by the Mauritius Sugar Syndicate. In 1968 exports of molasses amounted to 169,200 metric tons. Alcohol of different strengths was produced, equivalent to a production of 1,405,000 litres of pure alcohol. The greater part of this production was used locally as rum and denatured spirits. Three other crops are grown industrially, but on a small scale compared with sugarcane. These are tea, tobacco and aloe fibre. Tea production rose from 5,054,579 lb in 1968 to 7,050,242 lb. in 1969. About 5,600,000 lb. of black tea were exported in 1969, 73.9 per cent of the total production, compared with about 2,480,625 lb. exported in 1965. 48.2 per cent of the tea exported was sold at the London auctions. Exports of tea to South Africa have increased considerably in recent years. (49.2 per cent in 1969). Tobacco was grown on 1,006 acres in 1969, a decrease of 329 acres compared with 1968. Total production amounted to 742,476 Kgs. compared with 528,308 Kgs. in 1968. The entire 1968 fibre crop was purchased by the Government sack factory for manufacture into sacks for bagging sugar. In addition, the sack factory imported 294 tons of jute cuttings. The commercial production of food crops and vegetables in 1969 was approximately 48,637 tons from a harvested area of about 10,554 acres. The production was higher than the year before mainly because of higher yields. The control of the Mauritius Fisheries is exercised by the Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources. About 2,750 fishermen with some 2,256 light fishing boats and a number of deep-sea pinnaces, together produce an annual catch of some 1,500 tons. Usually middlemen supply the boats and gear to the fishermen who in return bring in their catch at an agreed price. The middleman is expected to make advances during periods of enforced idleness occasioned by adverse weather. Loans are granted from Government funds either for the construction of boats or repairs to those damaged during cyclones. Local industries produce beer, cigarettes, matches, aloe-fibre bags for sugar, rum, aerated minerals, country liquor, leather, rubber, leather and plastic footwear, metal doors and windows, wooden and steel furniture, soap, toothpaste, margarine, spring mattresses, fibre glass manufactures, furniture polish, louvre windows, paints, retread tyres, nails, chain link fencing, welding electrodes, confectionery and car batteries. The bulk of the needs of the territory are met by importation from other countries. Imports of rice, the staple food of Mauritius, were 61,548 metric tons in 1968. Flour was imported mainly from Australia and France, beef on the hoof from Madagascar, and considerable quantities of foodstuffs from Britain, South Africa and Australia. Port Louis, the capital is also the only port. It can accommodate eleven oceangoing vessels at any one time and six smaller vessels. The island is served by an international airport situated at Plaisance, some five miles from Mahébourg. It is managed and operated by the Department of Civil Aviation of the Mauritius Government. There are no other airfields nor are there any locally registered aircraft or operators. Scheduled air services are operated by Air France, Qantas, South African Airways, B.O.A.C., Air India, Air Madagascar, Lufthansa, East African Airways and Zambia Airways. The Island has an excellent system of road communications. The broadcasting service in Mauritius is now run by an independent body, the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation, which has a monopoly in the territory. The station at Malherbes operates on 439 metres, 9,710 and 4,850 kc/s with powers of 10 kW in both cases. In February 1965 a television service was introduced. The main transmitters, (5 kW vision and 1 kW sound) at Malherbes operate on Channel 4. To provide full coverage over the island three repeater stations have been erected at Jurançon (Channel 9), Fort George (Channel 7) and Motte Therese (Channel 11). In December 1969 there were 77,675 radio and 14,739 T.V. sets duly licensed. The main sources of recurrent revenue are income tax and customs and excise duties, mainly on imports; there is also an export tax on sugar. Free primary education is provided for all children between the ages of five and twelve, but it is not compulsory. Secondary education is almost exclusively of the grammar school type leading to the School Certificate and Higher School Certificate. Apart from school libraries, there are extensive public library services in most townships. The Natural History Museum in Port Louis is mainly regional in character and contains representative collections of the fauna, flora and geology of Mauritius and of the neighbouring islands. The Historical Museum devoted to local history is at Mahébourg in the south east. HISTORY Mauritius was probably first visited by Arab sailors and Malays during the Middle Ages. During the early sixteenth century Portuguese sailors visited the island several times and the first European to discover it is believed to have been Domingos Fernandez. The Portuguese used it merely as a port of call without making any settlement. The first settlers were the Dutch who landed in 1598 and gave the island the name Mauritius in honour of their ruler, Prince Maurice of Nassau. Settlements were established from 1638 onwards but did not prosper and the island was abandoned in 1710. In 1715 the island was formally taken possession of by the French. A small first contingent of colonists was sent in 1721 from the neighbouring island of Réunion (then called Bourbon), but it was not actually occupied until 1722 when a small party of colonists was sent out on behalf of the French East India Company. The island was then named Isle de France. From 1722 until about 1767 it was governed by that Company. From 1767 to 1810, apart from the brief period of independence under the Colonial Assembly during the French Revolution, it was in charge of officials appointed by the French Government. During the long war between England and France, French men-of-war and privateers based on the Isle de France were a source of great mischief to the English merchant vessels. The British Government decided to capture the island and in 1810 a strong British expedition was eventually successful. The former name of Mauritius was then restored to it, and, with its dependencies, including Rodrigues, it was ceded to Great Britain by the Treaty of Paris in 1814. It was from Mauritius in 1642 that Tasman set out on his most important voyage of Australian discovery. CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT From 1810 to 1903 Mauritius and Seychelles were administered as a single British colony. The administration at first consisted of a Governor, assisted by a number of British officials. In 1825 a Council of Government was established which consisted of the Governor and four officials nominated by him. In 1832 an equal number of officials and non-officials were appointed to the Council. The constitution was amended in 1885 and in 1886 elections were held on a limited franchise for a Council of Government in which there were 8 officials, 9 other members (some of them officials) chosen by the Governor, and 10 members elected by the various districts of the island. Elections were subsequently held every five years until 1936. Seychelles became a separate colony in 1903. In 1947 a new constitution granted a wide measure of enfranchisement on the basis of a 'simple literacy' requirement. A general election was held in August 1948 and the first Legislative Council met on 1st September. In 1957 the Governor appointed a Speaker to preside in the Legislative Council. In the same year a ministerial system was introduced. In 1958 the constitution was amended again to provide for universal suffrage and following elections in 1959 the Legislative Council was expanded. In the last few years constitutional development in Mauritius has proceeded rapidly and at a constitutional conference held in London in September 1965 the Secretary of State for the Colonies announced that it was right that Mauritius should be independent and take her place among the sovereign nations of the world. It was then decided that after a general election had been held and a new Government formed, Her Majesty's Government would be prepared to fix a date and take the necessary steps to declare Mauritius independent after a |