Country name
conventional long form: Republic of Mauritius
conventional short form : Mauritius

Data code MP

Government type parliamentary democracy

National capital Port Louis

Administrative divisions 9 districts and 3 dependencies*; Agalega Islands*, Black River, CargadosCarajos*, Flacq, Grand Port, Moka, Pamplemousses, Plaines Wilhems, Port Louis,Riviere du Rempart, Rodrigues*, Savanne

Independence 12 March 1968 (from UK)

National holiday Independence Day, 12 March (1968)

Constitution 12 March 1968; amended 12 March 1992

Legal system based on French civil law system with elements of English common lawin certain areas

Suffrage 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
chief of state: President Cassam UTEEM (since 1 July 1992) and Vice President RabindranathGHURBURRUN (since 1 July 1992)
head of government: Prime Minister Navin RAMGOOLAM (since 27 December 1995) and Deputy PrimeMinister Paul BERENGER (since 27 December 1995)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the recommendationof the prime minister
elections: president and vice president elected by the National Assembly for five-yearterms; election last held NA June 1992 (next to be held NA 1997); prime ministerand deputy prime minister appointed by the president and are responsible tothe National Assembly
election results : Cassam UTEEM elected president and Rabindranath GHURBURRUN elected vicepresident; percent of vote by the National Assembly - NA

Legislative branch unicameral National Assembly (66 seats - 62 popularly elected, 4 appointed;members serve five-year terms); note - the election commission appoints fourmembers from the losing political parties to give representation to variousethnic minorities
elections: last held on 20 December 1995 (next to be held by December 2000)
election results: percent of vote by party - MLP/MMM 65%, MSM/RMM 20%, other 15%; seatsby party - MLP 35, MMM 25, allies of MLP and MMM on Rodrigues Island 2; appointedwere Rodrigues Movement 2, PMSD 1, Hizbullah 1

Judicial branch Supreme Court

Political parties and leaders
government coalition : MLP/MMM alliance, consisting of Mauritian Labor Party or MLP [NavinRAMGOOLAM] and Mauritian Militant Movement or MMM [Paul BERENGER]
opposition: MSM/MSR alliance consisting of the Militant Socialist Movement or MSM[Sir Anerood JUGNAUTH] and the Mauritian Militant Renaissance or MMR [Dr.Paramhansa NABABSING]; Organization of the People of Rodrigues or OPR [LouisSerge CLAIR]; Mauritius Social Democrat Party or PMSD [Xavier-Luc DUVAL];Hizbullah [Imam Mustapha BEEHARRY]

Political pressure groups and leaders various labor unions

International organization participation ACCT, ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM,IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO,ITU, NAM, OAU, PCA, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO,WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Chitmansing JESSERAMSING
chancery: Suite 441, 4301 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 244-1491, 1492
FAX: [1] (202) 966-0983

Diplomatic representation from the US
chief of mission : Ambassador Harold Walter GEISEL (8 July 1996)
embassy: 4th Floor, Rogers House, John Kennedy Street, Port Louis
mailing address: International Mail: P.O. Box 544, Port Louis; US Mail: American Embassy,Port Louis, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-2450
telephone : [230] 208-2347, 208-2354, 208-9763 through 9767
FAX: [230] 208-9534

Flag description four equal horizontal bands of red (top), blue, yellow, and green

NOTE: The information regarding Mauritius on this page is re-published from the 1997 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Mauritius Government 1997 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Mauritius Government 1997 should be addressed to the CIA.