| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 2% of the population of Mauritius | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Mauritius,South Africa,Australia | |
| Languages | |
| French,Mauritian Creole | |
| Religion | |
| Majority:Catholicism |
| Part ofa series of articles on the |
| French people |
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Africa Asia Middle East Europe
North America South America Oceania 1Overseas parts of France properMigration of minorities inFrance (i.e.Basques) can be considered as separate (ethnically) or French migration (by nationality). |
Franco-Mauritians (French:Franco-Mauriciens) form an ethnic group ofwhite people inMauritius who trace their ethnic ancestry toFrance and ethnicFrench people. Franco-Mauritians make up approximately 2% of the country's population. Other than documented European ancestry, it is theirskin colour which distinguishes Franco-Mauritians from the rest of ethnic groups in Mauritius, where they are also known asblancs orblanches.[1]
The first French settlers arrived in Mauritius (thenIsle de France) in 1722, after the previous attempts of settlement by the Dutch had failed, and the island had once again become abandoned. They lived and prospered on the island, ruling it until the British invasion of 1810. The French by now strongly identified with the island, and the terms of capitulation allowed the settlers to live on as a distinct Francophone ethnic group for the next 158 years under British rule before Mauritius attained independence. By 1920 the French Mauritian population on the island was between 70,000 and 80,000, around 20% of the total population.[2]
Not all Franco-Mauritians have pure French lineage; many also have British or other European ancestors that came to Mauritius and were absorbed in the Franco-Mauritian community or thegens de couleur (Coloureds). Within the Afro-Creole community, a significant proportion of them have some degree of French lineage.[3]
Franco-Mauritians comprise 2% of the population of Mauritius and own many of the largest businesses in the country.[4] Most Franco-Mauritians are Roman Catholic.
The Franco-Mauritian group was conceptualized as a dominant minority by French political analystCatherine Boudet. According to the researcher, the Franco-Mauritians minority sought to legitimize its dominant position and maintain its identity threatened under the challenge of decolonisation, by resorting to emigration to South Africa. The designation of the group as « Franco-Mauritian » indicates a plurality of social meanings and reveals the ambivalent positioning of the group within the multiethnic society of Mauritius after the shattering of the colonial order by independence. Dominant ethnicity in Mauritius traces its roots in the system ofslavery of the 18th century which conferred to the minority of French descent a structural dominant position based on race in the colonial society. The economic and political hegemony of the group was further strengthened by its acquisition of the monopoly over the sugar industry throughout the 19th century. As a French colony until the early 1800s the application of the decreeCode Noir on the island limited activities offree people of color, forced conversion of slaves toCatholicism, and it defined the various forms of punishments meted out by Franco-Mauritians.[5] However, group identification shifted from a racially-based to an ethnically based following the massive introduction of Indian immigrants. The Franco-Mauritian domination was eventually challenged by the rise of economic and political elites within the other groups of the Mauritian plural society, and by the independence granted in 1968 when the political power went to the Hindu majority. Emigration to South Africa then appeared as the ultimate strategy for many Franco-Mauritians to allow them retain their dominant position and identity.[6][7]
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