Mauritius has a population estimated at 1,179,368 people, with about 35 663 on Rodrigues island, a small dependency which forms part of Mauritius.
The percentage rate of population growth is 1.1 per annum and the density is approximately 578 per square kilometre.

Mauritius has a young educated population, which is remarkable for its ethnic diversity with Mauritians of Indian, African, European and Chinese origin.
This has produced a brew of languages, religions and customs.
English is the official language but almost everyone speaks or understands French or reads it in the newspapers.
Oriental languages, especially Bhojpuri, Hindi and Hakka figure prominently but Creole remains the "Lingua Franca".

Population 1,179,368 (July 2000 est.)

Age structure 0-14 years:26% (male 153,385; female 149,451) 15-64 years:68% (male 401,032; female 403,295) 65 years and over:6% (male 28,981; female 43,224) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate 1.1% (2000 est.)

Birth rate 16.66 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate 6.83 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate -0.93 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Sex ratio at birth:1 male(s)/female under 15 years:1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years:0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over:0.67 male(s)/female total population:0.98 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate 17.73 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth total population:70.98 years male:66.98 years female:75.04 years (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate 2.02 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Nationality noun:Mauritian(s) adjective:Mauritian

Ethnic groups Indo-Mauritian 68%, Creole 27%, Sino-Mauritian 3%, Franco-Mauritian 2%

Religions Hindu 52%, Christian 28.3% (Roman Catholic 26%, Protestant 2.3%), Muslim 16.6%, other 3.1%

Languages English (official), Creole, French, Hindi, Urdu, Hakka, Bojpoori

Literacy definition:age 15 and over can read and write total population:82.9% male:87.1% female:78.8% (1995 est.)