conventional long form: Department of Réunion
conventional short form: Réunion
local long form: none
local short form: Île de la Réunion
former: Bourbon Island
2,512 km²
Saint-Denis
euro (EUR)
note: on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by financial institutions of member countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday transactions within the member countries
262
.re
French (official), Creole widely used
Roman Catholic, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist
793,000
republic
Unofficial, local flag designed to emphasize solidarity among the people of Reunion; the field is divided vertically with three narrow stripes of blue, white, and red along the hoist edge representing the French national flag; the remainder of the field is divided diagonally into four triangles colored (clockwise from the hoist side) blue, golden yellow, red, and green; in the center, the apexes of the triangles are surmounted by a white disk; the only official flag is the national flag of France.
Réunion is an overseas department of France.
The Portuguese discovered the uninhabited island in 1513. From the 17th to the 19th centuries, French immigration, supplemented by influxes of Africans, Chinese, Malays, and Malabar Indians, gave the island its ethnic mix. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 cost the island its importance as a stopover on the East Indies trade route.
tropical, but temperature moderates with elevation; cool and dry (May to November), hot and rainy (November to April)
