Eastern Africa · MUS
Mauritius
The story · 9 chapters
How it was drawn
An uninhabited island settled by the Dutch, French and British in turn, peopled from Africa, Madagascar and India, independent since 1968 and finally recovering the Chagos Archipelago.
Play the story Take the first lessonThrough the ages
Rivals in history
The kingdoms, empires and states Mauritius fought or stood against, from the first to today.
- British Empire1793 to 1810
French privateers from Port Louis, such as Robert Surcouf, prey on British East India Company ships during the wars with Britain. The British answer with a blockade and, despite their defeat at Grand Port, take the island in December 1810.
Britain detaches the Chagos Archipelago in 1965 and expels its people for the Diego Garcia base. After the 2019 ICJ opinion and a 2021 ruling by an international tribunal, the two sides signed a treaty in May 2025 returning sovereignty to Mauritius.
Mauritius claims Tromelin, a tiny island north of Réunion, held by France. A 2010 agreement on joint management of the island and its waters was never ratified by the French parliament, and the dispute remains open.
- Maldives2019 to 2023
Mauritius and the Maldives both claimed the sea between the Maldives and the Chagos Archipelago. In 2023 a special chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea drew a boundary, splitting the overlapping zone between them.
Today
Mauritius now
Although known to Arab and European sailors since at least the early 1500s, the island of Mauritius was uninhabited until 1638 when the Dutch established a settlement named in honor of Prince Maurits van NASSAU. Their presence led to the rapid disappearance of the flightless dodo bird that has since become one of the most well-known examples of extinction in modern times. The Dutch abandoned their financially distressed settlement in 1710, although a number of formerly enslaved people remained.
- Capital
- Port Louis
- Government
- parliamentary republic
- Head of government
- Pravind Jugnauth
- Head of state
- Dharam Gokhool
- Languages
- English, French
- Area
- 2,010 km²
Through time
Then and now
- Population1.3 million2023 · 525,600 in 1950
- Life expectancy74.9 years2023 · 51.9 years in 1950
- GDP per person$20,6432022 · $3,942 in 1950
- Living in cities39%2025 · 34% in 1950
- Literacy94%2023 · 53% in 1950
- Political regimeElectoral democracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950
- Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950
- Military spending0.2% of GDP2025
- War deathsNone2025
Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.
Relations
Close partners and tensions
Close partners
- India
- United Kingdom
- United States
- France
- Australia
Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.