Mauritius

Mauritius A state consisting of the islands of Mauritius and Rodriguez, it was named after Prince Maurice of Nassau by the Dutch who controlled the island, 1598–1710. It came under French sovereignty in 1715, when African slaves were imported to work on sugar plantations. It became part of the British Empire in 1810. After the abolition of slavery in 1833, labour for the plantations was imported from India. The population of Mauritius became ethnically and religiously heterogeneous, with 69 per cent of Indian and 27 per cent of African descent. A minority of Whites, largely descendants of French planters, formed the country's commercial and political elite. Mauritius became independent on 12 March 1968, as a member of the Commonwealth. Ethnic tensions led to a series of riots in 1972, triggering the introduction of a state of emergency.

In 1982 the Mauritian Labour Party (MLP) and the Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM) failed in their attempt to establish a Marxist state. Anerood Jugnauth (b. 1930) proceeded to found the Mauritian Socialist Movement, which emerged as the strongest party after the 1983 elections. As Prime Minister, Jugnauth presided over a unique economic boom in which salaries increased by an annual average of 8.8 per cent over the next ten years. Unemployment vanished, and average annual income per head increased from $1,240 to $3,060 in 1994. The country profited particularly from the international economic blockade against the apartheid regime in South Africa. Foreign investors came to Mauritius instead of South Africa, while many South African businesses came to Mauritius to escape the international ban. However, prosperity led to a relative decline in productivity, so that the high average wages became untenable in the long run. Growing economic difficulties led to Jugnauth's defeat in the elections of 27 December 1995, when his rivals, the MMM and the MLP, won all of the parliamentary seats with 65.2 per cent of the popular vote. Jugnauth was re-elected in 2000, whereupon he embarked upon a campaign to overcome corruption in politics and public administration.