Discover
The identity of the nation
Mauritius is a small island nation in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, known for bringing together descendants of India, Africa, Europe and China on a single island. This mix of peoples has shaped a society that prides itself on living out religious diversity in peace: Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Buddhists have shared the same territory for generations, each community preserving much of the faith and customs brought by their ancestors.
The majority of the population is Hindu, a legacy of the indentured workers who came from India in the nineteenth century to replace enslaved labor on the sugarcane plantations. Alongside them live Muslim communities, also of Indian origin, and Christians, mainly Catholics, descended from French colonizers and enslaved Africans and Malagasy who arrived earlier. This historical origin still largely defines each family’s religion: changing faith often means breaking with one’s own community.
Christianity in Mauritius is long established, but largely nominal, meaning many identify as Catholic out of tradition inherited from their parents without living a personal, living faith. Among Hindu, Muslim and Chinese communities, few families have ever heard the gospel presented from within their own culture, and the evangelical church is still small relative to the overall population. At the same time, popular beliefs such as longanis, a type of local sorcery, cross the different religions and reveal a search for spiritual protection that only Christ can truly answer.
The prosperity brought by tourism, finance and the textile industry has given Mauritius a standard of living well above the African average, but this same wealth fuels materialism and can turn hearts away from spiritual seeking. Even so, religious freedom is broad and protected by law, which opens real space for Christian witness, coexistence among communities and care for those who have not yet heard the gospel in their own language and culture.
Praying for Mauritius means asking that peace among the communities go beyond mere tolerance and become a real bridge to the gospel, that nominal Christians find a living and personal faith, and that the Hindu, Muslim and Chinese peoples of the island come to know Jesus without needing to stop being who they are.
- 1507 Portuguese navigators sight the then uninhabited island and name it Cirne
- 1598 The Dutch land and name the island Mauritius, in honor of Prince Maurice of Nassau
- 1710 The Dutch abandon the colony after decades of failed attempts at occupation
- 1715 France takes possession of the island and renames it Isle de France
- 1735 Governor Mahe de La Bourdonnais founds Port Louis and develops the colony as a naval base
- 1810 The United Kingdom conquers the island, which reverts to the name Mauritius
- 19th century About half a million indentured workers arrive from India to replace enslaved labor on the sugar plantations
- 1968 Independence from the United Kingdom
- 1992 Mauritius becomes a republic
- Today One of the most stable democracies in Africa, with a diversified economy and strong tourism
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EnglishOfficial language of government, law and schools, though rarely spoken at home
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FrenchWidely used in media, commerce and social life, a legacy of French colonization
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Mauritian Creole (Kreol Morisien)Mother tongue of most of the population, spoken in the streets, markets and homes
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BhojpuriSpoken by part of the community of Indian origin, descended from indentured workers
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Hindi, Urdu, Tamil, Telugu and MarathiLanguages tied to the religious traditions of the different communities of Indian origin
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Hakka and MandarinSpoken by part of the community of Chinese origin
Mauritius is a small volcanic island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, about 2,000 km from the southeast coast of Africa and east of Madagascar. Together with the islands of Reunion and Rodrigues, it forms the Mascarene Islands group. The main territory covers a little over 2,000 km2, almost entirely surrounded by a coral reef that forms calm lagoons along the coast. The center of the island is a raised plateau, the remnant of an extinct volcano, with its highest point at Black River Peak (Piton de la Petite Riviere Noire), 828 meters high. Besides the main island, the country administers other, more distant smaller islands, such as Rodrigues, Agalega and the Saint Brandon archipelago.
Major cities
- Port LouisCapital, the country's main port and financial and commercial center
- CurepipeFormer commercial hub in the higher, cooler part of the central plateau
- Quatre BornesKnown as the city of flowers, home to one of the country's largest public markets
- Vacoas-PhoenixTwin city in the center of the island, spanning industrial and residential districts
- Beau Bassin-Rose HillOne of the country's largest cities, with a strong school and cultural life
- MahebourgFormer port town in the southeast, shaped by naval history and fishing
Climate and temperature
Dholl puri
Thin flatbread made from ground split peas, filled with curry and sauces, considered the country's most popular dish
Gato piment
Fried fritter of split peas and chili, one of the most common street snacks
Rougaille
Tomato sauce with fish, chicken or sausage, a staple of everyday Creole cooking
Boulettes
Fish, chicken or vegetable dumplings steamed and served in hot broth
Briani
Rice seasoned with spices and meat, a dish of Indian origin served on special occasions
Napolitana
Sweet biscuit filled with jam between two layers, a classic bakery dessert
Alouda
Chilled drink of milk with sweet basil seeds and pieces of colored gelatin
Understand
Culture and spirituality
2a · The culture
Sega
Dance and music born among the enslaved people on the sugarcane fields, now recognized by Unesco as the country's cultural heritage
Aapravasi Ghat
Former immigration depot in Port Louis through which nearly half a million workers from India passed between 1834 and 1920
Le Morne Brabant
Isolated mountain that served as a refuge for runaway slaves, a symbol of the fight for freedom
Coexistence among religions
Hindu temples, mosques and churches share the same neighborhood, often just a few meters apart
Pamplemousses Garden
One of the oldest botanical gardens in the southern hemisphere, created back in French colonial times
Holidays of every community
The national calendar brings together Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Chinese festivals throughout the year
- Asking what ethnic group someone belongs to right at the start of a conversation Mauritian identity is plural, and the question can sound reductive
- Comparing Mauritius to India, Africa or France The country has its own identity, distinct from the origins of each community
- Joking about Mauritian Creole (Kreol) or the local accent The mother tongue of the majority deserves respect, not to be treated as an informal version of French
- Taking photos inside Hindu temples, mosques or churches without asking permission These are sacred spaces for each community
- Using the left hand to hand over food or objects In families of Indian and Muslim origin, the left hand is considered improper for this gesture
- Treating religious diversity as something shallow or automatic Peaceful coexistence is the fruit of decades of effort, not mere coincidence
2b · The field
Areas of spiritual battle and cultural captivity to cover in prayer. Tap each point to understand:
Devotion to the gods brought by Indian ancestors, passed down from generation to generation
The Muslim faith is closely tied to the identity and loyalty of the community itself
Many identify as Catholic out of family tradition, without living a personal faith
Belief in longanis, a kind of local witchcraft, cuts across all of the island's religions
Marrying or changing religion outside one's own ethnic group still carries a heavy social cost
The wealth generated by tourism and finance can take the place that belongs to God
The younger generation is drifting away from their parents' faith without finding anything to replace it
Traditional Chinese religious practices still followed by part of the Sino-Mauritian community
Many young people leave the island in search of work, fragmenting families and churches
The island's reputation for religious coexistence can breed complacency and a lack of spiritual urgency
Religious freedom in Mauritius is broad and protected by law: the Constitution guarantees everyone the right to change their faith, practice their religion and speak about it openly, and the different Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Buddhist communities have lived side by side for generations without organized religious violence.
The greatest challenge for Christians does not come from the law but from social structure: each ethnic community historically carries a religion associated with it, so that changing faith, especially leaving Hinduism or Islam for Christianity, can mean breaking family ties and being seen as abandoning one’s own cultural identity. Newer evangelical churches also report difficulty obtaining official state recognition for decades, which limits, for example, the registration of members and pastors’ access to hospitals and prisons.
Even so, there is no violent persecution, imprisonment on religious grounds or police restriction on worship. The church’s greatest challenge is internal: a largely nominal Christianity that needs to become a living faith capable of reaching, with respect, its Hindu, Muslim and Chinese neighbors on the island.
The persecution score runs from 0 to 100: the higher it is, the greater the pressure on Christians.
Mauritius has 12 catalogued ethnic groups, five of which are considered unreached people groups, nearly 90,000 people in total. They are mostly communities of Indian origin tied to Hinduism, Islam and Judaism, such as Hindi, Panjabi, Telugu and Bengali speakers, along with a small Marathi-speaking Jewish community. These groups preserve the language and faith brought by ancestors who came from India as indentured workers in the nineteenth century, and still have little or no contact with a church within their own culture. Most of the population, who speak Creole, already have access to the gospel, but the boundary between ethno-religious communities still limits the passage of faith from one group to another.
- 88K Unreached 7,2%
- 0 Minimally reached 0%
- 4K Superficially reached 0,3%
- 155K Partially reached 12,7%
- 976K Significantly reached 79,8%
- 5 Unreached 41,7%
- 0 Minimally reached 0%
- 2 Superficially reached 16,7%
- 4 Partially reached 33,3%
- 1 Significantly reached 8,3%
Source of people group data: Joshua Project (joshuaproject.net). Estimates, may vary.
Judeu de língua marati Frontier
Sul-asiático de fala bengali
Hindi
Punjabi
Sul-Asiático
Sul-Asiático de Fala Telugu
Chineses
Source: Joshua Project. Estimates, may vary.
Pray
Intercede for this nation
Every nation carries a redemptive purpose. Marks that seem woven into the identity God desires to restore:
Go
Practical details for those who want to go
Local time
Cost of living
higher than the African average, but well below Europe
Cost by city
Reference values (source: Numbeo). Confirm before traveling.
Practical points for those who go
- Kreol Morisien is the everyday language; a few kind words in this language open doors quickly.
- English and French are well understood in cities and in commerce.
- Respect dress codes when visiting temples, mosques and churches: shoulders and knees covered.
- Hospitality is genuine; accepting an invitation to eat at someone's home is a sign of friendship.
- Avoid the left hand when handing over objects or food in Indian and Muslim contexts.
- Traffic during rush hour between Port Louis and the central plateau can be slow and time-consuming.
- Tropical cyclones can occur between November and April; follow local warnings.
- The country is small, but public transport can be slow off the main routes.
Send and sustain
Not everyone goes, everyone takes part
Not everyone goes. Everyone takes part.
Behind every worker among these peoples stands a network of people who pray without ceasing, care for the family left behind, and faithfully sustain the work. Sending is mission too.
Start with your church: introduce this nation, adopt it in ongoing prayer, and walk alongside those God is raising up to go.