Dhekelia (2008) | Mauritius (2006) | |
Administrative divisions | - | 9 districts and 3 dependencies*; Agalega Islands*, Black River, Cargados Carajos Shoals*, Flacq, Grand Port, Moka, Pamplemousses, Plaines Wilhems, Port Louis, Riviere du Rempart, Rodrigues*, Savanne |
Age structure | - | 0-14 years: 23.9% (male 149,486/female 147,621)
15-64 years: 69.5% (male 430,288/female 431,753) 65 years and over: 6.6% (male 31,939/female 49,740) (2006 est.) |
Agriculture - products | - | sugarcane, tea, corn, potatoes, bananas, pulses; cattle, goats; fish |
Airports | - | 6 (2006) |
Airports - with paved runways | - | total: 2
over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2006) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 4
914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 1 (2006) |
Area | total: 130.8 sq km
note: area surrounds three Cypriot enclaves |
total: 2,040 sq km
land: 2,030 sq km water: 10 sq km note: includes Agalega Islands, Cargados Carajos Shoals (Saint Brandon), and Rodrigues |
Area - comparative | about three-quarters the size of Washington, DC | almost 11 times the size of Washington, DC |
Background | By terms of the 1960 Treaty of Establishment that created the independent Republic of Cyprus, the UK retained full sovereignty and jurisdiction over two areas of almost 254 square kilometers - Akrotiri and Dhekelia. The larger of these is the Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area, which is also referred to as the Eastern Sovereign Base Area. | Although known to Arab and Malay sailors as early as the 10th century, Mauritius was first explored by the Portuguese in 1505; it was subsequently held by the Dutch, French, and British before independence was attained in 1968. A stable democracy with regular free elections and a positive human rights record, the country has attracted considerable foreign investment and has earned one of Africa's highest per capita incomes. Recent poor weather and declining sugar prices have slowed economic growth, leading to some protests over standards of living in the Creole community. |
Birth rate | - | 15.43 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Budget | - | revenues: $1.377 billion
expenditures: $1.77 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005 est.) |
Capital | name: Episkopi Cantonment (base administrative center for Akrotiri and Dhekelia); located in Akrotiri
geographic coordinates: 34 40 N, 32 51 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
name: Port Louis
geographic coordinates: 20 10 S, 57 30 E time difference: UTC+4 (9 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | temperate; Mediterranean with hot, dry summers and cool winters | tropical, modified by southeast trade winds; warm, dry winter (May to November); hot, wet, humid summer (November to May) |
Coastline | 27.5 km | 177 km |
Constitution | Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia Order in Council 1960, effective 16 August 1960, functions as a basic legal document | 12 March 1968; amended 12 March 1992 |
Country name | conventional long form: Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area
conventional short form: Dhekelia |
conventional long form: Republic of Mauritius
conventional short form: Mauritius local long form: Republic of Mauritius local short form: Mauritius |
Death rate | - | 6.86 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Debt - external | - | $3.246 billion (2005 est.) |
Dependency status | a special form of UK overseas territory; administered by an administrator who is also the Commander, British Forces Cyprus | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | chief of mission: Ambassador John PRICE
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, US Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-2450 telephone: [230] 202-4400 FAX: [230] 208-9534 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | chief of mission: Ambassador Usha JEETAH
chancery: 4301 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 441, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 244-1491, 1492 FAX: [1] (202) 966-0983 |
Disputes - international | - | Mauritius claims the Chagos Archipelago (UK-administered British Indian Ocean Territory), and its former inhabitants, who reside chiefly in Mauritius, were granted UK citizenship but no right to patriation in the UK; claims French-administered Tromelin Island |
Economic aid - recipient | - | $42 million (1997) |
Economy - overview | Economic activity is limited to providing services to the military and their families located in Dhekelia. All food and manufactured goods must be imported. | Since independence in 1968, Mauritius has developed from a low-income, agriculturally based economy to a middle-income diversified economy with growing industrial, financial, and tourist sectors. For most of the period, annual growth has been in the order of 5% to 6%. This remarkable achievement has been reflected in more equitable income distribution, increased life expectancy, lowered infant mortality, and a much-improved infrastructure. Sugarcane is grown on about 90% of the cultivated land area and accounts for 25% of export earnings. The government's development strategy centers on expanding local financial institutions and building a domestic information telecommunications industry. Mauritius has attracted more than 9,000 offshore entities, many aimed at commerce in India and South Africa, and investment in the banking sector alone has reached over $1 billion. Mauritius, with its strong textile sector, has been well poised to take advantage of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). |
Electricity - consumption | - | 1.805 billion kWh (2003) |
Electricity - exports | - | 0 kWh (2003) |
Electricity - imports | - | 0 kWh (2003) |
Electricity - production | - | 1.941 billion kWh (2003) |
Elevation extremes | - | lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mont Piton 828 m |
Environment - current issues | netting and trapping of small migrant songbirds in the spring and autumn | water pollution, degradation of coral reefs |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to: 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 |
Ethnic groups | - | Indo-Mauritian 68%, Creole 27%, Sino-Mauritian 3%, Franco-Mauritian 2% |
Exchange rates | Cypriot pounds per US dollar - NA (2007), 0.46019 (2006), 0.4641 (2005), 0.4686 (2004), 0.5174 (2003) | Mauritian rupees per US dollar - 29.496 (2005), 27.499 (2004), 27.902 (2003), 29.962 (2002), 29.129 (2001) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952)
head of government: Administrator Air Vice-Marshal Richard LACEY (since 26 April 2006); note - reports to the British Ministry of Defense elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the administrator is appointed by the monarch |
chief of state: President Sir Anerood JUGNAUTH (since 7 October 2003) and Vice President Abdool Raouf BUNDHUN (since 25 February 2002)
head of government: Prime Minister Navinchandra RAMGOOLAM (since 5 July 2005) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: president and vice president elected by the National Assembly for five-year terms (eligible for a second term); election last held 25 February 2002 (next to be held in 2007); prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the president, responsible to the National Assembly election results: Karl OFFMANN elected president and Raouf BUNDHUN elected vice president; percent of vote by the National Assembly - NA%; note - Karl OFFMANN stepped down on 30 September 2003 |
Exports | - | NA bbl/day |
Exports - commodities | - | clothing and textiles, sugar, cut flowers, molasses |
Exports - partners | - | UK 32.3%, France 20.7%, US 11.7%, Madagascar 6.2%, Italy 5.3% (2005) |
Fiscal year | - | 1 July - 30 June |
Flag description | the flag of the UK is used | four equal horizontal bands of red (top), blue, yellow, and green |
GDP - composition by sector | - | agriculture: 5.9%
industry: 29.8% services: 64.3% (2005 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | - | 2.5% (2005 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 34 59 N, 33 45 E | 20 17 S, 57 33 E |
Geography - note | British extraterritorial rights also extended to several small off-post sites scattered across Cyprus; of the Sovereign Base Area land 60% is privately owned and farmed, 20% is owned by the Ministry of Defense, and 20% is SBA Crown land | the main island, from which the country derives its name, is of volcanic origin and is almost entirely surrounded by coral reefs |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | - | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | - | minor consumer and transshipment point for heroin from South Asia; small amounts of cannabis produced and consumed locally; significant offshore financial industry creates potential for money laundering, but corruption levels are relatively low and the government appears generally to be committed to regulating its banking industry |
Imports | - | NA bbl/day |
Imports - commodities | - | manufactured goods, capital equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals |
Imports - partners | - | France 12.1%, South Africa 11%, India 7.2%, Finland 6.1%, China 6%, Germany 5.3%, Bahrain 5.2%, Singapore 4.1% (2005) |
Independence | - | 12 March 1968 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | - | 8% (2000 est.) |
Industries | none | food processing (largely sugar milling), textiles, clothing, chemicals, metal products, transport equipment, nonelectrical machinery, tourism |
Infant mortality rate | - | total: 14.59 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 17.23 deaths/1,000 live births female: 11.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | - | 5% (2005 est.) |
International organization participation | - | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, C, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, InOC, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIF, OPCW, PCA, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO |
Irrigated land | - | 220 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | - | Supreme Court |
Labor force | - | 570,000 (2005 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | - | agriculture and fishing 14%, construction and industry 36%, transportation and communication 7%, trade, restaurants, hotels 16%, finance 3%, other services 24% (1995) |
Land boundaries | total: 103 km (approximately)
border countries: Cyprus 103 km (approximately) |
0 km |
Land use | - | arable land: 49.02%
permanent crops: 2.94% other: 48.04% (2005) |
Languages | English, Greek | Creole 80.5%, Bhojpuri 12.1%, French 3.4%, English (official; spoken by less than 1% of the population), other 3.7%, unspecified 0.3% (2000 census) |
Legal system | the Sovereign Base Area Administration has its own court system to deal with civil and criminal matters; laws applicable to the Cypriot population are, as far as possible, the same as the laws of the Republic of Cyprus | based on French civil law system with elements of English common law in certain areas; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations |
Legislative branch | - | unicameral National Assembly (70 seats; 62 elected by popular vote, 8 appointed by the election commission to give representation to various ethnic minorities; members serve five-year terms)
elections: last held on 3 July 2005 (next to be held in 2010) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - AS 38, MSM/MMM 22, OPR 2; appointed seats - AS 4, MSM/MMM 2, OPR 2 |
Life expectancy at birth | - | total population: 72.63 years
male: 68.66 years female: 76.66 years (2006 est.) |
Literacy | - | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 85.6% male: 88.6% female: 82.7% (2003 est.) |
Location | on the southeast coast of Cyprus near Famagusta | Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar |
Map references | Middle East | Political Map of the World |
Maritime claims | - | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin |
Merchant marine | - | total: 6 ships (1000 GRT or over) 22,386 GRT/23,214 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 2, passenger/cargo 2, refrigerated cargo 2 foreign-owned: 4 (India 2, Switzerland 2) (2006) |
Military - note | includes Dhekelia Garrison and Ayios Nikolaos Station connected by a roadway | - |
Military branches | - | no regular military forces; National Police Force, Special Mobile Force, National Coast Guard |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $12.04 million (2005 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 0.2% (2005 est.) |
National holiday | - | Independence Day, 12 March (1968) |
Nationality | - | noun: Mauritian(s)
adjective: Mauritian |
Natural hazards | - | cyclones (November to April); almost completely surrounded by reefs that may pose maritime hazards |
Natural resources | - | arable land, fish |
Net migration rate | - | -0.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | - | Alliance Sociale or AS; Hizbullah [Cehl Mohamed FAKEEMEEAH]; Mauritian Labor Party or MLP [Navinchandra RAMGOOLAM]; Mauritian Militant Movement or MMM [Paul BERENGER] (in coalition with MSM); Mauritian Social Democrat Party or PMSD [Charles Xavier-Luc DUVAL]; Militant Socialist Movement or MSM [Pravind JUGNAUTH] (the governing party); Rodrigues Movement or MR [Joseph (Nicholas) Von MALLY]; Rodrigues Peoples Organization or OPR [Serge CLAIR] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | - | various labor unions |
Population | approximately 15,700 live on the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia including 7,700 Cypriots, 3,600 Service and UK Based Contract personnel, and 4,400 dependents | 1,240,827 (July 2006 est.) |
Population below poverty line | - | 10% (2001 est.) |
Population growth rate | - | 0.82% (2006 est.) |
Radio broadcast stations | AM NA, FM 1 (located in Akrotiri), shortwave NA (British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides Radio 1 and Radio 2 service to Akrotiri, Dhekelia, and Nicosia) (2006) | AM 4, FM 9, shortwave 0 (2002) |
Religions | - | Hindu 48%, Roman Catholic 23.6%, other Christian 8.6%, Muslim 16.6%, other 2.5%, unspecified 0.3%, none 0.4% (2000 census) |
Sex ratio | - | at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.64 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2006 est.) |
Suffrage | - | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | - | general assessment: small system with good service
domestic: primarily microwave radio relay trunk system international: country code - 230; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean); new microwave link to Reunion; HF radiotelephone links to several countries; fiber optic submarine cable (SAT-3/WASC/SAFE) provides connectivity to Europe and Asia |
Telephones - main lines in use | - | 359,000 (2005) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | - | 713,300 (2005) |
Television broadcast stations | 0 (British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides multi-channel satellite service to Akrotiri, Dhekelia, and Nicosia) (2006) | 2 (plus several repeaters) (1997) |
Terrain | - | small coastal plain rising to discontinuous mountains encircling central plateau |
Total fertility rate | - | 1.95 children born/woman (2006 est.) |
Unemployment rate | - | 9.6% (2005 est.) |