Moka
Template:About Template:Infobox settlement Moka (Template:IPA) is a village in Mauritius located mainly in the Moka District. The western part of the village lies in the Plaines Wilhems District.<ref name="housing census">Template:Cite journal</ref> Since 1967 it forms part of Constituency No. 8 Quartier Militaire and Moka.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The village is administered by the Moka Village Council under the aegis of the Moka District Council.<ref name="LGact">Template:Cite journal</ref> According to the census made by Statistics Mauritius in 2011, the population was at 8,846.<ref name="Pop">Template:Cite journal</ref> The elevation is 203 meters and can be up to 425 meters in some places. Moka is directly on the other side of the Moka Range from Port Louis. The village is close to the mountain Le Pouce and the town Beau-Bassin Rose-Hill. Réduit is a suburb of the village where the State House and University of Mauritius is situated. The village is also home to the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation and the Mahatma Gandhi Institute.
History
Housing boom
Moka is centrally located in Mauritius and as such has experienced a real estate development boom in the past few years. This was mainly encouraged by the development of the CyberCity two kilometres away in Ebene. Another contributing factor to this property business was that since Mauritius will not benefit from preferential prices for its sugar by the European Community and World Trade Organization, sugar estates quickly started real estate business units that would convert the land under sugar cane culture to residential lands. From 2004 to 2006, Moka saw five property estate developments.
Weather
Moka has a tropical wet climate. Since it is in the Southern Hemisphere, February is the warmest month and August is the coolest. Temperatures normally can range from Template:Convert in February to Template:Convert at night in August. The dry season is in October, the wet season is in February. Temperature is somewhat constant.<ref name="Chinchi"/>
Places
Schools
Schools in Moka include Le Bocage International School,<ref>"Home." Le Bocage International School. Retrieved on May 4, 2015.</ref> Mahatma Gandhi Institute, Mahatma Gandhi Secondary School, St. Mary Roman Catholic School,Template:Citation needed and Ecole du Centre.<ref>"École du Nord." AEFE. Retrieved on May 4, 2015.</ref>
University
University of Mauritius
Charles Telfair Institute
Other
Other important institutions in Moka are the:
- Agricultural Marketing Board (AMB) which stocks vegetables (mainly potatoes) for local consumption
- Subramaniam Bharati Eye Centre (AKA Moka Eye Hospital) which is the country's only specialized eye hospital.
- Catholic Church
Notable people
- Jean Louis Brue du Garoutier, French soldier later retrieving the rank of Maréchal de Camp (Brigade General) under Napoleon and serving as commander of the 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division during the Waterloo Campaign.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Thomas Shadrach James (Peersahib), teacher, linguist and herbalist in Australia<ref>Template:Cite Australian Dictionary of Biography</ref>
- Fabrice Lapierre, Mauritian-born Australian long jumper
- Reza Shah, exiled penultimate Shah of Iran who lived in Chateau Val Ory for 7 months after he was deposed during the 1941 Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Capt Joshua Slocum. It was in Moka, in September 1897, that Capt Joshua Slocum visited the then existing Moka Flower conservatory during his legendary solo sailing trip around the world. During that visit, he was honored to have a plant named after him, which is today known as the Joshua Slocum day-lily and is commercially available.