Mauritius - Maurice - Moris (MU)

1. Language information / Données sur les langues

1.1 Languages spoken / Langues parlées

a) Official / Officielle(s) :

French and English. English has the role of special status in the Parliament.

b) National, indigenous / Nationale(s), indigène(s) :

Most of the population speaks Mauritian Creole, Morisyen (French-based).

Ethnologue lists 6 languages at http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=MU

c) Relevant pages in the Major Languages section of this report / Pages appropriées dans la section de ce rapport sur les Langues principales :

Isle de France Creole

1.2  Policy / Politique

a) Laws/legislation / Lois/législation :

The site L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde has a page on Mauritius at http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/afrique/maurice.htm

b) Agencies / Agences :

Mahatma Ghandi Institute
MOKA
(Source: UNESCO, 1985)

c) Languages in education/literacy / Langues dans l'éducation/l'alphabétisation :

UNDP (2006) gives a literacy figure (without reference to which language[s]) of: 84.4%

1.3 Writing in national/indigenous languages / Ecriture en langues nationales/indigènes

a) Orthographies / Orthographes :

The Latin alphabet is used.

In 2005, Professor Vinesh Hookoomsing of the University of Mauritius published the report "Grafi Larmoni" which seeks to harmonize the different ways of writing Mauritian Creole in Mauritius. (Wikipedia)

b) Print publications / Editions imprimées :

1.4  Other comments / Autre commentaire

The Creole of Mauritius is somewhat similar to that of the Seychelles and to a lesser degree that of Reunion.

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2. ICT situation / Situation des TIC

2.1 Infrastructure / Infrastructure

a) Telephones / Téléphones :

• Fixed lines: Telephone mainlines: 257 per 1000 people (APC)
• Mobile subscriptions: 463,000 (37.9 per 100 people) (ITU 2004 cited in Vodafone 2005)

b) Radio stations / Stations de radio :

c) Connectivity / Connectivité :

• International internet bandwidth / Bande passante internationale d'internet :
• ISPs / FSI :
• Geographic coverage / Couverture géographique :

2.2  Computer & internet access / Accès aux ordinateurs et à l'internet

a) Computers & points of access / Ordinateurs et lieux d'accès :

• Number of computers / Nombre d'ordinateurs: 109.1 per 1000 people (APC)
• Cybercafés / Cybercafés:
• Project telecentres / Télécentres de projets:

b) Internet / Internet :

• Dial-up subscribers / Abonnés par ligne téléphonique :
• Internet users / Utilisateurs de l'internet : 180,000 Internet users as of Sept/05, 14.1% of the population, per ITU (Internet World Stats)

c) Other / Autre :

• Digital Opportunity Index (DOI): 0.48 (ITU 2006)

2.3 Policy / Politique

The APC page, "ICT Policy in Mauritius," has some information and links:

• In English: http://rights.apc.org/africa/index.shtml?apc=s21814e_1
• En français: http://afrique.droits.apc.org/index.shtml?apc=s21814e_1

2.4 ICT4D/E & ICT training / TIC pour le développement/éducation, et formation en TIC

2.5 Resources / Ressources

ICT info http://www.emich.edu/ict_usa/MAURITIUS.HTM

Internet Society Chapter of Mauritius (ISOC chapter) http://www.isoc-mu.org/

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3. Localisation situation / Situation de localisation

3.1 Country web content / Contenu web du pays

http://www.kreol.mu/

3.2 Web content in indigenous languages / Contenu web en langues indigènes

(See also specific language pages.)

3.3 Software localisation / Localisation de logiciel

(See also specific language pages.)

3.4 Projects & organisations / Projets et organisations

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4. References / Références

APC, "ICT Policy in Mauritius," Africa ICT Policy Monitor, http://rights.apc.org/africa/index.shtml?apc=s21814e_1 ("Politiques de TIC en/au Maurice (Île)," Observatoire des politiques des TIC en Afrique, http://afrique.droits.apc.org/index.shtml?apc=s21814e_1 )

Hookoomsing, Vinesh Y, 2004. A harmonized writing system for the Mauritian Creole Language: Grafi-larmoni. http://www.gov.mu/portal/site/education/menuitem.4b83e1c0ffc5b504631e691048a521ca/?content_id=b55b800e57af7010VgnVCM100000ca6a12acRCRD

International Telecommunications Union (ITU). 2006. World Information Society Report 2006. Geneva: ITU. http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/publications/worldinformationsociety/2006/wisr-web.pdf

______. 2004. African Telecommunication Indicators 2004. Geneva: ITU.

Internet World Stats: Africa. 2006. http://internetworldstats.com/africa.htm

Leclerc, Jacques. L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde, "Ile Maurice," http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/afrique/maurice.htm

SIL International, Ethnologue: Languages of the World, "Languages of Mauritius," http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=MU

UNDP. 2006. ''Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis. Human Development Report 2006.'' New York: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). [Human development index Adult literacy rate (% ages 15 and older) (HDI) http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/statistics/indicators/3.html ]

UNESCO Regional Office for Education in Africa. 1985. African Community Languages and Their Use in Literacy and Education: A Regional Survey. Dakar: UNESCO.

Vodafone. 2005. "Africa: The Impact of Mobile Phones." The Vodafone Policy Paper Series, Number 3, March 2005. http://www.vodafone.com/assets/files/en/GPP%20SIM%20paper.pdf

Wikipedia, "Maurice," http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice

______, "Mauritius," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauritius

______, "Mauritian Creole", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauritian_creole

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