Languages of Mauritius
languages of a geographic region
The Constitution of the Republic of Mauritius does not mention any official language. The Constitution contains one statement in Article 49 that states that "the official language of the Assembly shall be English but any member may address the chair in French" which indicate that French and English are official languages of the National Assembly (parliament) only.
While the lingua franca is Mauritian Creole, French is spoken by a majority of Mauritians and is used in the media while English is used in government and education.
English is used as the prime medium of instruction in public schools while French is also a common language in education and the dominant language of media. According to the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, 72.7% of the Mauritians were French speakers in 2005. Mauritius shares this distinction of being both French- and English-speaking with Canada, Cameroon, Dominica, Rwanda, Seychelles and Vanuatu. Being both a French-speaking and English-speaking nation, Mauritius is a member of both the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie.
Other languages spoken in Mauritius mainly include Bhojpuri, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi-Urdu, Arabic language and Chinese. The Mauritian Sign Language is the language of the deaf community. Most Mauritians are at least bilingual, if not trilingual or quadrilingual.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Languages of Mauritius” as languages of a geographic region. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as languages of a geographic region. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 22, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q6486861. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2005.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Languages of Mauritius”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Languages of Mauritius primary sources, Languages of Mauritius archive and Languages research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Languages of Mauritius”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Languages of Mauritius” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.