Mauritians of African origin, also known as Creole, are Mauritian people whose ancestors are from African countries, mainly from Madagascar and Mozambique.
Contents
Origins
Brought in as slaves to work the plantations of Mauritius (as well as Réunion and Seychelles), the slaves were Africans mostly brought from East African Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Madagascar and Zambia with numbers from Africa and India.
Within the larger Creole community includes also the Coloureds (Mostly European in origin mixed with some African or Indian admixture). The Creole community also includes Christian Indians that have adopted a European/Creole way of life. 52% of Creoles are largely African with considerable Indian admixture, refer to in the Mauritian context as Afro-Creoles. 18% are Coloureds (mostly European) while around 30% are largely Christian Indians with some having African admixtures. Creoles make up 30% of the Mauritian population. Since independence over 90% of Coloureds have left Mauritius, hence Creole is generally refer to as an African person as a pose before independence Creole was usually referred to a mixed-race person of mostly European background.
Demographical factors
The majority of Creoles are Roman Catholic. There is also a non-religious minority as well as some Islamic converts. Due to increased connection with other African diaspora most notably from the Caribbean there are some Rastafarians. The mother tongue of Mauritians is the Mauritian Creole, French and English are also spoken as second or third language.