location--131.json

{
    "id": "location--131",
    "name": "Mauritius",
    "background": "Although known to Arab and Malay sailors as early as the 10th century, the uninhabited island of Mauritius was first explored by the Portuguese in the 16th century and subsequently settled by the Dutch - who named it in honor of Prince Maurits van NASSAU - in the 17th century. The French assumed control in 1715, developing the island into an important naval base overseeing Indian Ocean trade, and establishing a plantation economy of sugar cane. The British captured the island in 1810, during the Napoleonic Wars. Mauritius remained a strategically important British naval base, and later an air station, playing an important role during World War II for anti-submarine and convoy operations, as well as the collection of signals intelligence. Independence from the UK was attained in 1968. A stable democracy with regular free elections and a positive human rights record, the country has attracted considerable foreign investment and has one of Africa's highest per capita incomes. Mauritius claims the French island of Tromelin and the British Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory).",
    "coordinates": "20 17 S, 57 33 E",
    "region": "Africa",
    "total_area": "2,040 sq km",
    "land_area": "2,030 sq km",
    "water_area": "10 sq km",
    "land_boundary": "0 km",
    "neighbors": "Unknown",
    "climate": "tropical, modified by southeast trade winds; warm, dry winter (May to November); hot, wet, humid summer (November to May)",
    "coastline": "177 km",
    "natural_hazards": [
        "cyclones (November to April)",
        "almost completely surrounded by reefs that may pose maritime hazards"
    ],
    "terrain": "small coastal plain rising to discontinuous mountains encircling central plateau",
    "population_distribution": "population density is one of the highest in the world; urban cluster are found throught the main island, with a greater density in and around Port Luis; population on Rodrigues Island is spread across the island with a slightly denser cluster on the north coast as shown in this population distribution map",
    "natural_resources": [
        "arable land",
        "fish"
    ],
    "population": "1,379,365",
    "nationality": "Mauritian(s)",
    "ethnic_groups": [
        "Indo-Mauritian",
        "Creole",
        "Sino-Mauritian",
        "Franco-Mauritian"
    ],
    "languages": {
        "Creole": "86.5%",
        "Bhojpuri": "5.3%",
        "French": "4.1%",
        "two languages": "1.4%",
        "other": "2.6%",
        "unspecified": "0.1%"
    },
    "religions": {
        "Hindu": "48.5%",
        "Roman Catholic": "26.3%",
        "Muslim": "17.3%",
        "other Christian": "6.4%",
        "other": "0.6%",
        "none": "0.7%",
        "unspecified": "0.1%"
    },
    "government_type": "parliamentary republic",
    "national_symbol": "dodo bird, Trochetia Boutoniana flower",
    "national_colors": [
        "red",
        "blue",
        "yellow",
        "green"
    ],
    "gdp": "$13.33 billion",
    "agriculture": [
        "sugarcane",
        "tea",
        "corn",
        "potatoes",
        "bananas",
        "pulses",
        "cattle",
        "goats",
        "fish"
    ],
    "industries": [
        "food processing (largely sugar milling)",
        "textiles",
        "clothing",
        "mining",
        "chemicals",
        "metal products",
        "transport equipment",
        "nonelectrical machinery",
        "tourism"
    ],
    "exports": [
        "clothing and textiles",
        "sugar",
        "cut flowers",
        "molasses",
        "fish",
        "primates (for research)"
    ],
    "imports": [
        "manufactured goods",
        "capital equipment",
        "foodstuffs",
        "petroleum products",
        "chemicals"
    ],
    "broadband_subscriptions": "274,200",
    "internet_users": "799,470",
    "mobile_subscriptions": "1,918,000",
    "internet_country_code": ".mu",
    "military_and_security_forces": "no regular military forces; Mauritius Police Force includes a Special Mobile Force (a paramilitary force formed as a mobile infantry battalion) and the National Coast Guard",
    "percent_GDP_on_military": "0.16%",
    "pipelines": [
        "Unknown"
    ],
    "ports_and_terminals": {
        "major seaport(s)": "Port Louis"
    },
    "waterways": "Unknown",
    "number_of_airports": "5",
    "international_disputes": "Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Islands; claims French-administered Tromelin Island",
    "terrorism": "None/Unknown"
}