Islam in Mauritius: history and Muslim population data

History of Islam in Mauritius

The Republic of Mauritius is an island nation with area 2,040 sq km, consisting of Mauritius (1,865 sq km) and its dependent islands of Rodrigues (104 sq km), Agalega Archipelago (70 sq km) and St. Brandon Rocks (1 sq km). The latter also known as Cargados Carajos Shoals, consist of sixteen islands and islets 300Km northeast of Mauritius that are mainly fishing outposts with no permanent residents. Agalega consists of two islands 1,000 km east of Mauritius with a population of around 300. The Island of Rodrigues has 3% of the population and is located 560 km east of the Island of Mauritius. A map of these islands is presented in Figures 3.3.7a and 3.3.7b. Mauritius was sighted by the by the Portuguese in 1507 who claimed possession of it nearly the whole of the sixteenth century. The first who made any settlement in it were the Dutch, in 1598, who named it Mauritius, in honor of their Prince Maurice. It was abandoned by them in 1710, and afterwards taken possession by the French in 1715, which lost it to the British in 1810. The Islands gained its independence from the UK in 1968. Islam entered here in early eighteenth century with immigrant workers from India brought by the French. The first mosque was established in 1805.

After the British took over, they continued bringing workers from India as part of the British indentured workers system. The 1891 and 1901 censuses show that about 13% and 16% of all Indian population was Muslim, respectively. Thus, inferring religious adherence from ethnic affiliation from ethnic census data, we assume that 13% of Indians before 1871 were Muslims. This leads to the estimated increase in the Muslim population from 7,000 or 4.4% in 1846, to 10,000 or 5.5% in 1851, to 25,000 or 8.1% in 1861.

According to census data, the Muslim population changed from 42,000 or 13.1% in 1871, to 35,000 or 9.8% in 1881, to 35,000 or 9.4% in 1891, to 41,000 or 10.9% in 1901, to 39,000 or 10.5% in 1911. The Muslim population continued to increase since then to 45,000 or 11.8% in 1921, to 51,000 or 12.6% in 1931, to 58,000 or 13.4% in 1944, to 77,000 or 15.2% in 1952, to 0.11 million or 16.2% in 1962, to 0.14 million or 16.6% in 1972, to 0.16 million or 15.0% in 1983, to 0.17 million or 16.3% in 1990, to 0.20 million or 16.7% in 2000, and 0.21 million or 17.3% in 2011. Thus, assuming that the percentage of Muslims will continue to increase by a half of a percentage point per decade; then the Muslim population is expected to remain over 0.2 million throughout this century, reaching 19.5% of the total population by 2050 and 22% by 2100.

Almost all the Muslim population lives in the Island of Mauritius. On the Island of Rodrigues and per census data as shown in Table 3.3.7b, the Muslim population increased from none in 1871, to 34 or 1.1% in 1901, to 71 or 0.6% in 1944, to 72 or 0.5% in 1952, to 82 or 0.5% in 1962, to 90 or 0.4% in 1972, to 140 or 0.4% in 1983, to 184 or 0.5% in 1990, to 301 or 0.8% in 2000, and 386 or 1.0% in 2011.

Historical Muslim population dataset for Mauritius

The figures below are from the CoMPS historical dataset. Population values are expressed in thousands; 2100 is a modelled projection, not a present-day count.

For the full time series and visualisation, use the interactive map above.