Introduction

 
Background: 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.

Geography

Location: Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar

Geographic coordinates: 21 06 S, 55 36 E

Map references: World

Area: total: 2,517 sq km; land: 2,507 sq km; water: 10 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Rhode Island

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 207 km

Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm; exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate: tropical, but temperature moderates with elevation; cool and dry from May to November, hot and rainy from November to April

Terrain: mostly rugged and mountainous; fertile lowlands along coast

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m; highest point: Piton des Neiges 3,069 m

Natural resources: fish, arable land, hydropower

Land use: arable land: 13.6%; permanent crops: 1.2%; other: 85.2% (2001)

Irrigated land: 120 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: periodic, devastating cyclones (December to April); Piton de la Fournaise on the southeastern coast is an active volcano

Environment - current issues: NA

Geography - note: this mountainous, volcanic island has an active volcano, Piton de la Fournaise; there is a tropical cyclone center at Saint-Denis, which is the monitoring station for the whole of the Indian Ocean

People

Population: 776,948 (July 2005 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 30.4% (male 120,698/female 115,108); 15-64 years: 63.6% (male 243,668/female 250,143); 65 years and over: 6.1% (male 19,234/female 28,097) (2005 est.)

Median age: total: 26.72 years; male: 25.53 years; female: 27.92 years (2005 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.38% (2005 est.)

Birth rate: 19.26 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate: 5.48 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female; under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female; 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female; 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female; total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 7.78 deaths/1,000 live births; male: 8.52 deaths/1,000 live births; female: 6.99 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 73.95 years; male: 70.55 years; female: 77.52 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.47 children born/woman (2005 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: NA%

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA

Nationality: noun: Reunionese (singular and plural); adjective: Reunionese

Ethnic groups: French, African, Malagasy, Chinese, Pakistani, Indian

Religions: Roman Catholic 86%, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist (1995)

Languages: French (official), Creole widely used

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write; total population: 88.9%; male: 87%; female: 90.8% (2003 est.)

Government

Country name: conventional long form: Department of Reunion; conventional short form: Reunion; local long form: none; local short form: Ile de la Reunion; former: Bourbon Island

Dependency status: overseas department of France

Government type: NA

Capital: Saint-Denis

Administrative divisions: none (overseas department of France); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 4 arrondissements, 24 communes, and 47 cantons

Independence: none (overseas department of France)

National holiday: Bastille Day, 14 July (1789)

Constitution: 28 September 1958 (French Constitution)

Legal system: French law

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995), represented by Prefect Laurent CAYREL (since 16 July 2005); head of government: President of the General Council Jean-Luc POUDROUX (since NA March 1998) and President of the Regional Council Paul VERGES (since NA March 1993); cabinet: NA; elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of the Interior; the presidents of the General and Regional Councils are elected by the members of those councils

Legislative branch: unicameral General Council (49 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve six-year terms) and a unicameral Regional Council (45 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve six-year terms); elections: General Council - last held 15 and 22 March 1998 (next to be held NA); Regional Council - last held 28 March 2004 (next to be held NA 2010); election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - various right-wing candidates 13, PCR 10, PS 10, UDF 8, RPR 6, other left-wing candidates 2; Regional Council (second round) - percent of vote by party - PCR 44.9%, UMP 32.8%, PS-Greens 22.3%; seats by party - PCR 27, UMP 11, PS-Greens 7

note: Reunion elects three representatives to the French Senate; elections last held NA 2001 (next to be held NA 2006); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; Reunion also elects five deputies to the French National Assembly; elections last held 9 June-16 June 2002 (next to be held NA 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - UMP-RPR 1, UMP 1, PCR 1

Judicial branch: Court of Appeals or Cour d'Appel

Economy

Economy - overview: The economy has traditionally been based on agriculture, but services now dominate. Sugarcane has been the primary crop for more than a century, and in some years it accounts for 85% of exports. The government has been pushing the development of a tourist industry to relieve high unemployment, which amounts to one-third of the labor force. The gap in Reunion between the well-off and the poor is extraordinary and accounts for the persistent social tensions. The white and Indian communities are substantially better off than other segments of the population, often approaching European standards, whereas minority groups suffer the poverty and unemployment typical of the poorer nations of the African continent. The outbreak of severe rioting in February 1991 illustrates the seriousness of socioeconomic tensions. The economic well-being of Reunion depends heavily on continued financial assistance from France.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $4.57 billion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 2.5% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $6,000 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 8%; industry: 19%; services: 73% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 309,900 (2000)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 13%, industry 12%, services 75% (2000)

Unemployment rate: 36% (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA%; highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%

Budget: revenues: $1.26 billion; expenditures: $2.62 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (1998)

Agriculture - products: sugarcane, vanilla, tobacco, tropical fruits, vegetables, corn

Industries: sugar, rum, cigarettes, handicraft items, flower oil extraction

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity - production: 1.166 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - consumption: 1.084 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2002)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2002)

Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption: 18,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports: NA

Oil - imports: NA

Exports: $214 million f.o.b. (1997)

Exports - commodities: sugar 63%, rum and molasses 4%, perfume essences 2%, lobster 3%, (1993)

Exports - partners: France 74%, Japan 6%, Comoros 4% (2000)

Imports: $2.5 billion c.i.f. (1997)

Imports - commodities: manufactured goods, food, beverages, tobacco, machinery and

transportation equipment, raw materials, and petroleum products

Imports - partners: France 64%, Bahrain 3%, Germany 3%, Italy 3% (2000)

Debt - external: $NA

Economic aid - recipient: NA; note - substantial annual subsidies from France (2001 est.)

Currency (code): euro (EUR)

Exchange rates: euros per US dollar - 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 300,000 est (2001)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 489,800 (2002)

Telephone system: general assessment: adequate system; principal center is Saint-Denis; domestic: modern open-wire and microwave radio relay network; international: country code - 262; radiotelephone communication to Comoros, France, Madagascar; new microwave route to Mauritius; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean); fiber optic submarine cable (SAT-3/WASC/SAFE) provides connectivity to Europe and Asia

Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 55, shortwave 0 (2001)

Television broadcast stations: 35 (plus 18 low-power repeaters) (2001)

Internet country code: .re

Internet users: 150,000 (2002)

Transportation

Highways: total: 1,214 km (including 88 km of four-lane roads) (2001)

Ports and harbors: Le Port, Pointe des Galets

Merchant marine: total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 28,264 GRT/44,885 DWT; by type: chemical tanker 1; foreign-owned: 1 (France 1); registered in other countries: 1 (2005)

Airports: 2 (2004 est.)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 2; 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1; 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.)

Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: none.