The Republic of Mauritius is a group of islands in the South West of the Indian Ocean, consisting of the main island of Mauritius, Rodrigues and several outer islands located at distances greater than 350 km from the main island. Mauritius has been successively a Dutch, French and British colony. It became independent of Britain on 12th March 1968 and acceded to the status of Republic within the Commonwealth on 12th March 1992. The country has a Westminster type of Parliamentary government. The official language is English, but French is widely spoken. The population, estimated at 1.3 million, comprises Indo-Mauritians, General population, i.e, people of mixed European and African origin and Sino-Mauritians. The economy in 2011 grew by 4.0% and the Gross National Income per capita at market prices reached 253,335 rupees. Unemployment rate is estimated at about 7.9% while inflation stood at 6.5% in 2011.