The Republic of Mauritius is constituted of the main island of Mauritius and several outlying islands. The second largest island is Rodrigues with an area of 108 km2 and situated 560 km to the east of Mauritius. With a population of about 38,167, its economy is based mainly on fishing, cattle rearing and a developing tourism sector. The twin islands of Agalega have a total land area of 2,600 hectares situated some 1,000 km to the north of Mauritius. Agalega has a population of about 300 inhabitants and its economy is based primarily on coconut exploitation. St. Brandon is an archipelago comprising a number of sand-banks, shoals and islets. It is situated some 430 km to the north-east of Mauritius and is mostly used as a fishing base.
Mauritius harbours approximately 900 species of plants of which 311 have been identified as being endemic. Out of the 311 species, 113 are classified as endangered. 50 of the 113 species are threatened which means that they are represented by less than 10 in the wild.
Mauritius has a wide range of animal species found nowhere upon earth. It is home to 25 species of indigenous land vertebrates. These endemic land vertebrates include mammals, birds, reptiles, insects and molluscs.
There were at least 18 native land birds of which the following 7 are now extinct, with the approximate extinction date shown in brackets: the dodo Raphus cucullatus (1662), the large parrot Lophopssittacus mauritianus (1680), the red rail Aphanapteryx bonasia (1760), the parrot bensoni (1770), the fruit pigeon or Dutch pigeon Alectruenas nitidissima (1840), the owl Otus commerson (1650) and the owl Tylosauzieri (1850).
Environment
agricultural land: 43.8%
arable land 38.4%; permanent crops 2%; permanent pasture 3.4%
forest: 17.3%
other: 38.9% (2011 est.)
Irrigated land: 190 sq km (2012)
Total renewable water resources: 2.75 cu km (2011)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): total: 0.73 cu km/yr (30%/3%/68%); per capita: 568.2 cu m/yr (2003)
Threatened species (2014): 250
Forested area (% of land area) (2012): 17.3
Proportion of terrestrial and marine areas protected (%) (2014): 0.0
Population using improved drinking water sources (%) (2012): 100.0
Population using improved sanitation facilities (%) (2012): 91.0
CO2 emission estimates (000 metric tons and metric tons per capita) (2011): 3916/3.2
Energy supply per capita (Gigajoules) (2012): 51.0
Environment – international agreements:
party to: Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Economic indicators
GDP: Gross domestic product (million current US$) (2013): 11938
GDP per capita (current US$) (2013): 9593.3
GNI: Gross national income per capita (current US$) (2013): 9604.5
Agricultural production index (2004-2006=100) (2013): 94
Social indicators
Population growth rate (average annual %) (2010-2015): 0.4 (Including Agalega, Rodrigues and Saint Brandon)
Urban population growth rate (average annual %) (2010-2015): -0.1 (Including Agalega, Rodrigues and Saint Brandon)
Rural population growth rate (average annual %) (2010-2015): 0.7 (Including Agalega, Rodrigues and Saint Brandon)
Urban population (%) (2014): 39.8 (Including Agalega, Rodrigues and Saint Brandon)
Source