Muslims consitiute over 16.6% of Mauritius

Mauritius

Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...

 population. Nearly all Muslims of Mauritius are South Asia

South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...

ns.

The 1968 constitution of Mauritius

Mauritius

Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...

 recognized four religious categories: Hindus, Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

s, Sino-Mauritians, and the general population. According to a 1989 estimate of a total population of 1,080,000, Muslims constituted about 16 percent (179,280).

Recent statistics are not available because questions on religious affiliations have been removed from the population census.

Approximately 95 percent are Sunni Muslims having an understanding of the Urdu language.