Port Louis District

Isle de France (Modern French: Île de France) was a French colony in the Indian Ocean from 1715 to 1810, comprising the island now known as Mauritius and its dependent territories. It was governed by the French East India Company and formed part of the French colonial empire. Under the French, the island witnessed major changes. The increasing importance of agriculture led to the "import" of slaves and the undertaking of vast infrastructural works that transformed the capital Port Louis into a major port, warehousing, and commercial centre.During the Napoleonic Wars, Isle de France became a base from which the French navy, including squadrons under Rear Admiral Linois or Commodore Jacques Hamelin, and corsairs such as Robert Surcouf, organised raids on British merchant ships. The raids (see Battle of Pulo Aura and Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811) continued until 1810 when the British sent a strong expedition to capture the island. The first British attempt, in August 1810, to attack Grand Port resulted in a French victory, one celebrated on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. A subsequent and much larger attack launched in December of the same year from Rodrigues, which had been captured a year earlier, was successful. The British landed in large numbers in the north of the island and rapidly overpowered the French, who capitulated (see Invasion of Isle de France). In the Treaty of Paris (1814), the French ceded Isle de France together with its territories including Agaléga, the Cargados Carajos Shoals, the Chagos Archipelago, Rodrigues, Seychelles, and Tromelin Island to the United Kingdom. The island then reverted to its former name, 'Mauritius'.

The 1968 Mauritian riots or Bagarre raciale Plaine Verte refers to a number of violent clashes that occurred in the Port Louis neighbourhoods of Cité Martial, Bell Village, Roche Bois, St. Croix, Cité Martial and Plaine Verte as well as in the village of Madame Azor near Goodlands in Mauritius over a period of ten days, six weeks before the country's declaration of independence on 12 March 1968. The riot manifested as an open communal conflict between Creoles and Indo-Mauritian Muslims, and had its roots in gang rivalry, communal tensions caused by politicians, and uncertainties about the country's future given the imminence of independence from Britain.

The Champ de Mars Racecourse (French: Hippodrome du Champ de Mars) is a thoroughbred horse race track in Port Louis, Mauritius. The Racecourse was inaugurated on 25 June 1812, by The Mauritius Turf Club (MTC) which was founded earlier the same year by Edward Alured Draper, who served in different capacities, namely as Chief of Police, Colonial Secretary, Collector of Customs, Civil engineer, Registrar of Slaves, Magistrate and Colonial Treasurer. The Mauritius Turf Club is the oldest horse-racing club in the Southern Hemisphere and the second oldest in the world. The race track follows a very selective right hand oval path and is relatively small in size, with a circumference of 1,298 meters (4,258.5 ft) and width between 12 and 14 meters (39 and 46 feet). The home-straight extends uphill and is 225 meters (738 ft) long. When Mauritius gained independence on 12 March 1968, the event including the flag hoisting ceremony was held here. Since then and for many years, the racecourse has seen the annual celebration of the accession to independence. Today, the Champ de Mars attracts tens of thousands of people on each racing day during the racing season from late March to early December and has become the ultimate meeting place for racing fanatics from all over the island and even from abroad. The track has also played a fundamental role in propelling horse racing as the most popular sport and form of entertainment among the local population.

The Diocese of Port-Louis (Latin: Portus Ludovici; French: Diocèse de Port-Louis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church located in the city of Port Louis, the capital city of Mauritius.

St. Louis Cathedral (French: Cathédrale Saint-Louis de Port-Louis, Mauritian Creole: Katedral Sin Lwi) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Port Louis, Mauritius, the seat of the bishop of Port-Louis.Several churches have been built in succession at this location. Between 1752 and 1756, Joseph-François Charpentier de Cossigny built the first, which soon fell apart, and then was hit by a cyclone in 1760. A new church collapsed again on April 9, 1773 as a result of another cyclone. A further reconstruction in 1782 soon ended in collapse. Subsequently, the building was restored in 1814 by Sir Robert Townsend Farquhar, the first British governor, until the same recurring structural problems reappeared in 1819. Bishop Jacques Leen rebuilt the structure from 1930 to 1933, and a final restoration was completed in 2007.

Port Louis (French: Port-Louis, [pɔʁ lwi] ; Mauritian Creole: Polwi or Porlwi, [poːlwi]) is the capital city of Mauritius. It is 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, and the most populous city. 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.

The Municipal City Council of Port Louis (French: Conseil Municipal de Port Louis), also known as Municipality, is the local authority responsible for the administration of the city of Port Louis, Port Louis District, Mauritius. The Lord Mayor is Daniel Laurent and the Deputy Lord Mayor Marie Désiré Audie Paul Travailleur.

St. François Xavier Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Port Louis, Port Louis District, Mauritius. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of AS Port-Louis 2000. The stadium holds 2,500 people.

The Jummah Mosque (Arabic: مسجد جمعة) formerly "Mosque of the Arabs", is a mosque in Port Louis, Mauritius dating from the 1850s. The building combines Indian, Creole and Islamic architecture. The Jummah Mosque houses the remains of Jamal Shah (a pir from Kutch, India) in a marble tomb next to the mosque.

The Bank of Mauritius Tower (also known as Bank of Mauritius Building or Bank of Mauritius Headquarters) is a skyscraper in Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, and a home to Bank of Mauritius. It is the tallest building of the country. When measured to roof, it stands at 98 m (321 ft) and to pinnacle at 124 m (407 ft). The 16,834 m² reinforced concrete structure reached its final height in May 2006. The 22-storey building towers over the Citadel (a hill-top fortification in Port Louis) and is constructed in an area where highrises were once prohibited. It is also the second tallest structure in Mauritius after the much taller 183 m (600 ft) Bigara Station Transmitter (guyed mast) in the upper Plaines Wilhems. Its construction took nearly 30 months and is resistant to seasonal hurricanes. Owing to its function, it is among the most technically advanced building in Mauritius.Other tall buildings in Mauritius are the Telecom Tower with its twin lightning rods pointing at 101 m, the 82 m State Bank Tower and the Air Mauritius Centre with a helipad at 79 m. Outside Port Louis, the Ebene Cyber Tower is 72 m tall. Malherbes Station Transmitter (guyed mast) in Curepipe is 97 m tall.

The National Assembly (French: Assemblée nationale) is Mauritius's unicameral legislature, which was called the Legislative Assembly from 1968 until 1992, when the country became a republic. Prior to 1968 and under British rule it was known as the Legislative Council. The Constitution of Mauritius provides for the parliament of Mauritius to consist of the President and the National Assembly. The parliament of Mauritius is modelled after the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy, where members of parliament are voted in at regular general elections, on the basis of a first past the post system. The working language of the National Assembly is English. It consists of 70 members, 62 directly elected for five-year terms in multi-member constituencies and 8 additional members, known as "best losers", appointed by the Electoral Supervisory Commission to ensure that ethnic and religious minorities are equitably represented. The Government is primarily responsible to the National Assembly and the prime minister stays in office with the confidence of a majority of its members.

The Natural History Museum is a museum in Port Louis, Mauritius.