Country · Africa
Mauritius
Republic of Mauritius
Mauritius is a country in Eastern Africa. Its capital city is Port Louis. About 1.3 million people live there, in an area of 2 040 square kilometres.
Picture credit: Simisa (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Martin Falbisoner (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Ludovic Lubeigt (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Arne Müseler (CC BY-SA 3.0 de) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Mauritius?
Mauritius lies in Eastern Africa, on the continent of Africa.
It sits in the southern half of the world, roughly 2 258 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 177 km long.
It has no land neighbours — every border it has is with the sea.
How big is Mauritius?
Mauritius covers 2 040 square kilometres.
Switzerland is about 20 times bigger.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 168th largest.
Spread out evenly, that is roughly 620.2 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Mauritius?
About 1.3 million people live in Mauritius.
That is the 153rd biggest population in the world.
People here speak English, French and Mauritian Creole.
They pay with the Mauritian rupee (₨).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 71 years.
The land of Mauritius
Its coast runs for about 177 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 9 days.
It lies inside the tropics, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Mauritius different?
Websites from here often end in .mu.
Mauritius and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about 0.2 live in Mauritius.
It takes up about 0 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Africa it is the 51st largest of 54 countries, and the 48th most populated.
That is busier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Where this country lands in the record lists
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Mauritius?
The capital of Mauritius is Port Louis. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Mauritius?
About 1.3 million people live in Mauritius, which makes it the 153rd most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
How big is Mauritius?
Mauritius covers 2 040 square kilometres, making it the 168th largest country in the world. Switzerland is about 20 times bigger.
Which continent is Mauritius in?
Mauritius is in Africa, in the part called Eastern Africa.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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