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Port Louis
Port Louis (French: Port-Louis, [pɔʁ lwi] ⓘ; Mauritian Creole: Porlwi, [poːlwi]) is the capital and most populous city of Mauritius, mainly located in the Port Louis District, with a small western part in the Black River District. Port Louis is the country's financial and political centre. It is administered by the Municipal City Council of Port Louis. According to the 2018 census conducted by Statistics Mauritius, the population was 147,066.
Port Louis was used as a harbour by the Dutch settlers from 1606, when they started to refer to the area as Harbour of Tortoises. In 1736, under French government, it became the administrative centre of Mauritius and a major reprovisioning halt for French ships during their passage between Asia and Europe, around the Cape of Good Hope. The port is named in honour of King Louis XV. During this period of French colonization, Mauritius was known as Ile de France. The French governor at that time, Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais, contributed to the development of the city. Since Port Louis was relatively well-protected from strong winds during cyclones by the Moka Mountain Range, Port Louis was selected to house both the main harbor and fort for the island.[citation needed] The value of the port continued during the British occupation of the island during the Napoleonic Wars (1800–15), and helped Britain control the Indian Ocean.[citation needed] However, port calls of ships fell drastically following the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. Activity in the port increased during the seven-year closure of the Suez Canal (starting in 1967). Modernization of the port in the late 1970s has helped it maintain its role as the central point for all imports and exports from Mauritius.[citation needed] While Port Louis continues to be the business and administrative capital of Mauritius, expansion of the tourism industry in the late 1990s[citation needed] led to considerable development in Port Louis, with many shops, hotels, and restaurants being built in the Caudan Waterfront area.[citation needed]
Raouf Oderuth, the Mauritian Artist provides a 1930s scene depicting the waterfront when motorised transportation hardly existed.[citation needed] Place D'Armes is still recognisable despite high-rise buildings, heavy traffic jams, and crowds of pedestrians.
The local governance of Port Louis is overseen by a municipal city council. The City Council of Port Louis was first established in 1830 and is currently one of five municipal councils responsible for the urban areas in Mauritius, as organized under Local Government Act 2011.[citation needed] The municipal city council has 32 members. The city is electorally divided into eight wards that each return four councillors. Councillors then elect a Lord Mayor and a Deputy Lord Mayor. Functions of the council are performed through Departments of Administration, Finance, Land Use and Planning, Public Infrastructure, Public Health, Welfare, Parks and Gardens, and the City Library. Services delivered by the local government include preschool, kindergarten, and vocational schools, health protection, housing regulation, road services, refuse collection, cemeteries, some environmental and consumer protection services, and economic promotion activities. Other services are provided to the city by the central government. These include police services through the Mauritius Police Force, which maintains two divisions responsible for the Port Louis area (Metropolitan Divisions North and South). There is also a specific Port Police, composed of the Harbour Police and Bulk Sugar Terminal Police. Their roles include providing security to cargo and facilities in the port area and enforcing laws related to harbour regulations, customs, quarantine, immigration, and drug trafficking.
Port Louis is divided into different suburbs including but not limited to:
During the 2025 municipal elections, Alliance du Changement won 31 of the 32 council seats, while an independent secured one. Following the election, the council elected Aslam Hosenally of the Mauritian Militant Movement as lord mayor, who previously held the role from 2012 to 2013, and the Labour Party's Giovanni Laclé as deputy lord mayor.
Owing to its location in the rain shadow of the southeast trade winds, Port Louis features a tropical savanna climate (Aw) under Köppen's climate classification. Its wettest months are from December through April where on average 80 mm (3.1 in) (or more) of rainfall occurs each month. The remaining months form Port Louis' dry season. The city also shows a noticeable but small range of average temperatures. Port Louis' coolest temperatures are seen mid-year where average high temperatures are around 27 °C or 80.6 °F. During the height of the wet season, the city sees its highest temperatures where average high temperatures are usually around 31 °C or 88 °F.
The economy of the city is mostly dominated by its financial centre, port facilities, tourism, and the manufacturing sector which includes textiles, chemicals, plastics and pharmaceuticals. Port Louis is home to the biggest port facility in the Indian Ocean region and one of Africa's major financial centres.
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Port Louis
Port Louis (French: Port-Louis, [pɔʁ lwi] ⓘ; Mauritian Creole: Porlwi, [poːlwi]) is the capital and most populous city of Mauritius, mainly located in the Port Louis District, with a small western part in the Black River District. Port Louis is the country's financial and political centre. It is administered by the Municipal City Council of Port Louis. According to the 2018 census conducted by Statistics Mauritius, the population was 147,066.
Port Louis was used as a harbour by the Dutch settlers from 1606, when they started to refer to the area as Harbour of Tortoises. In 1736, under French government, it became the administrative centre of Mauritius and a major reprovisioning halt for French ships during their passage between Asia and Europe, around the Cape of Good Hope. The port is named in honour of King Louis XV. During this period of French colonization, Mauritius was known as Ile de France. The French governor at that time, Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais, contributed to the development of the city. Since Port Louis was relatively well-protected from strong winds during cyclones by the Moka Mountain Range, Port Louis was selected to house both the main harbor and fort for the island.[citation needed] The value of the port continued during the British occupation of the island during the Napoleonic Wars (1800–15), and helped Britain control the Indian Ocean.[citation needed] However, port calls of ships fell drastically following the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. Activity in the port increased during the seven-year closure of the Suez Canal (starting in 1967). Modernization of the port in the late 1970s has helped it maintain its role as the central point for all imports and exports from Mauritius.[citation needed] While Port Louis continues to be the business and administrative capital of Mauritius, expansion of the tourism industry in the late 1990s[citation needed] led to considerable development in Port Louis, with many shops, hotels, and restaurants being built in the Caudan Waterfront area.[citation needed]
Raouf Oderuth, the Mauritian Artist provides a 1930s scene depicting the waterfront when motorised transportation hardly existed.[citation needed] Place D'Armes is still recognisable despite high-rise buildings, heavy traffic jams, and crowds of pedestrians.
The local governance of Port Louis is overseen by a municipal city council. The City Council of Port Louis was first established in 1830 and is currently one of five municipal councils responsible for the urban areas in Mauritius, as organized under Local Government Act 2011.[citation needed] The municipal city council has 32 members. The city is electorally divided into eight wards that each return four councillors. Councillors then elect a Lord Mayor and a Deputy Lord Mayor. Functions of the council are performed through Departments of Administration, Finance, Land Use and Planning, Public Infrastructure, Public Health, Welfare, Parks and Gardens, and the City Library. Services delivered by the local government include preschool, kindergarten, and vocational schools, health protection, housing regulation, road services, refuse collection, cemeteries, some environmental and consumer protection services, and economic promotion activities. Other services are provided to the city by the central government. These include police services through the Mauritius Police Force, which maintains two divisions responsible for the Port Louis area (Metropolitan Divisions North and South). There is also a specific Port Police, composed of the Harbour Police and Bulk Sugar Terminal Police. Their roles include providing security to cargo and facilities in the port area and enforcing laws related to harbour regulations, customs, quarantine, immigration, and drug trafficking.
Port Louis is divided into different suburbs including but not limited to:
During the 2025 municipal elections, Alliance du Changement won 31 of the 32 council seats, while an independent secured one. Following the election, the council elected Aslam Hosenally of the Mauritian Militant Movement as lord mayor, who previously held the role from 2012 to 2013, and the Labour Party's Giovanni Laclé as deputy lord mayor.
Owing to its location in the rain shadow of the southeast trade winds, Port Louis features a tropical savanna climate (Aw) under Köppen's climate classification. Its wettest months are from December through April where on average 80 mm (3.1 in) (or more) of rainfall occurs each month. The remaining months form Port Louis' dry season. The city also shows a noticeable but small range of average temperatures. Port Louis' coolest temperatures are seen mid-year where average high temperatures are around 27 °C or 80.6 °F. During the height of the wet season, the city sees its highest temperatures where average high temperatures are usually around 31 °C or 88 °F.
The economy of the city is mostly dominated by its financial centre, port facilities, tourism, and the manufacturing sector which includes textiles, chemicals, plastics and pharmaceuticals. Port Louis is home to the biggest port facility in the Indian Ocean region and one of Africa's major financial centres.
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