Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation located in the Indian Ocean off the coast of East Africa. It has an area of 2,040 square kilometers and a population of nearly 1.3 million people. The capital and largest city is Port Louis. Mauritius is bordered by the French overseas departments of Réunion and Mayotte to the northwest and Seychelles to the northeast. The official language of Mauritius is English while French and Mauritian Creole are also widely spoken as second languages. The country’s economy relies heavily on tourism which accounts for roughly 15% of its GDP, followed by manufacturing (mainly textiles) and financial services which account for 12% each. Other major industries include agriculture (sugar cane, tea, tobacco, etc.), fishing, mining (mainly titanium ore), and oil production. The RM stands for République de Maurice in French which translates to Republic of Mauritius in English. This abbreviation is used by international organizations such as the United Nations (UN) when referring to this nation in official documents or meetings. Other common abbreviations for Mauritius include MUS for its ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code and MRIU for its International Olympic Committee code. Despite having a number of natural resources such as oil reserves, many citizens still live below the poverty line due to lack of employment opportunities and inadequate infrastructure investment from the government. As a result, many rely on foreign aid from international organizations such as UNICEF or USAID in order to survive economically. In recent years there have been efforts made by both local authorities and international partners to improve living conditions in Mauritius with varying success rates. See agooddir for Mauritius Modern History. Mauritius is home to a number of newspapers, most of which are published in English and French. The largest newspaper by circulation is the Mauritius Times, which was founded in 1959 and has an estimated circulation of over 10,000. It publishes weekly and covers both local news as well as national news. Other major newspapers include Le Mauricien, L’Express de Maurice, and L’Hebdo du Jeudi. Le Mauricien is a daily paper that focuses on current events in Mauritius with an estimated circulation of around 5,000. L’Express de Maurice is another weekly newspaper that covers political news as well as current events with an estimated circulation of around 3,000. Finally, L’Hebdo du Jeudi is a weekly publication that covers politics as well as current events with an estimated circulation of around 2,000. All these newspapers are available online for readers to access from anywhere in the world. Check simplyyellowpages for other media in the country of Mauritius.