Reunion is an overseas region France (an island in the Indian Ocean somewhat east of Madagascar ).
The capital is Saint-Denis. The official language is French.
The climate is tropical, trade wind. Reunion is located above the southern tropic, so it has a tropical and humid climate. Precipitation and temperature may vary by location. There are often cyclones.
The island’s ethnic groups include people of European, African, Malagasy, Indian and Chinese ancestry, as well as many mixed-race descendants. It is not known exactly how many people belong to each ethnic group, since there is a ban on ethnic censuses in France, which rules the island. It is estimated that whites make up about a quarter of the population, Indians also about a quarter, and people of Chinese ancestry about 3%. There are no accurate estimates of how many people are of mixed race and how many people are of Malagasy descent. There are also people of Vietnamese origin, although they are very few.
The main products are rice, meat, fish, beans and lentils. In addition to sugar cane, coconuts, lychees, papaya, pineapples, cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes and vanilla are grown here.
According to Justinshoes.net, the government is promoting the development of the tourism industry to reduce the high unemployment rate, which is over 40%. The gap between the rich and the poor is large and is the reason for constant social tension. The outbreak of violent unrest in February 1991 showed the gravity of these socio-economic tensions. However, this wealth gap between the rich and the poor has narrowed somewhat over the past 15 years.
Interesting Facts
The main agricultural export crop is sugar cane. Sugar and rum are mainly produced from sugar cane.
Most likely, the first who accidentally discovered the island of Reunion were Arab traders. In ancient times, Arab sailors called this cozy island Dina Morgabin (Western Island). When, at the beginning of the 16th century, Portuguese sailors (the first Europeans to visit the island) discovered this uninhabited island in 1513, and named it Santa Apollonia. In 1642, the Frenchman Jacques Prony exiled 12 rebels from Madagascar to Santa Apollonia and declared it a possession of France by decision of Louis XIII.
In 1649, it was renamed Bourbon Island, in honor of the French royal dynasty. During the French Revolution of 1793, it was renamed Reunion Island, marking the unification of the Parisian National Guard with the revolutionaries of Marseille. In 1801, the island was renamed in honor of Napoleon Bonaparte – lle Bonaparte. The British, who occupied the island in 1810, used the old name – Bourbon. Returned to France by the decision of the Congress of Vienna, the island remained with this name until the final overthrow of the Bourbons in 1848, as it began to be called Réunion again.
In the early 60s of the XVII century, France founded a colony here. Coffee and sugar plantations began to be planted on the island, where slaves brought by ships from East Africa worked. After slavery was abolished in 1848, the French government sent workers here, mainly from India and Southeast Asia. The colorful population of the modern island is largely descended from these people. From the 19th century, coffee production slowly declined, and sugarcane was the main export from here. The island became an overseas department of France in 1946 and an overseas region in 1972.
