Port Louis (redirected from Port Louis, Mauritius)

Port Louis, city (1996 est. pop. 135,371), capital of Mauritius, NW Mauritius, a port on the Indian Ocean. It is the nation's largest city and its economic and administrative center. Its economy is dominated by its well-sheltered port, which handles Mauritius's international trade; there are extensive facilities for processing and storing sugar, the main export. Port Louis is connected with the interior of the country by railroads and roads and has an international airport. Manufacturing is dominated by garments and textiles, but also includes chemicals, plastics, and pharmaceuticals. Tourism is important, as are high-tech services. Port Louis was founded in 1735 by Bertrand François Mahé de La Bourdonnais, governor of the French colony on Mauritius (then called Île de France). The population of Port Louis is now largely made up of the descendants of laborers who immigrated from India in the 19th cent. The hill-top Citadel (1838) dominates the city, which is laid out in a rectangular pattern. The Mauritius Institute (1880), which studies the island's flora and fauna and operates a natural history and an art museum, is in Port Louis.

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Port Louis

City (pop., 2003 est.: 147,688), capital, and main port of Mauritius. It was founded c. 1736 by the French as a port for ships rounding the Cape of Good Hope to and from Asia and Europe. With the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, the city's importance declined. It is the principal commercial centre of the island of Mauritius; its primary exports are textiles and sugar. Manufacturing and service industries, including tourism, are also based in the city. Aapravasi Ghat, an immigration depot used from 1849 to 1923 and designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2006, is located there.

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Port Louis

the capital and chief port of Mauritius, on the NW coast on the Indian Ocean. Pop.: 146 876 (2002 est.)

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Port Louis 

the capital of the independent island of Mauritius and the country’s political, economic, and cultural center. Situated on the northwestern coast of the island, Port Louis was founded circa 1736. The climate is tropical, with a mean February temperature of 26°C, a mean August temperature of 19°C, and an annual precipitation of 2,000 mm. Population (with suburbs), 150,000 (1973).

A port on the Indian Ocean, Port Louis has an annual freight turnover of about 2 million tons. The city is a highway junction. It has sugar, vegetable-oil, and tobacco industries and exports sugar and tea. Educational and cultural institutions include a university, the Mauritius Institute, the Mauritius Institute Public Library, the City Library, the Carnegie Library, the Port Louis Museum, the Historical Museum, the Art Gallery, and the Mauritius Herbarium.