Reunion ( Bourbon Island) is a country in Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar. Reunion geographic coordinates 21 06 S, 55 36 E; area 2,507 sq km; area comparative slightly smaller than Rhode Island; land boundaries 0 km; coastline 207 km; maritime claims exclusive economic zone:<; climate tropical, but temperature moderates with elevation; cool and dry from May to November, hot and rainy; terrain mostly rugged and mountainous; fertile lowlands along coast; elevation extremes Piton des Neiges 3,069 m; natural resources fish, arable land, hydropower; land use 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; 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;

introduction

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. 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;

people

Reunion population 776,948 (July 2005 est.); age structure 6.1% (male 19,234/female 28,097) (2005 est.); median age 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 0.98 male(s)/female (2005 est.); infant mortality rate 8.52 deaths/1,000 live births; life expectancy at birth 77.52 years (2005 est.); total fertility rate 2.47 children born/woman (2005 est.); hiv adult rate NA%; hiv people with aids NA; hiv deaths NA; nationality Reunionese; ethnic groups French, African, Malagasy, Chinese, Pakistani, Indian; religions Roman Catholic 86%, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist (1995); languages French (official), Creole widely used; literacy 90.8% (2003 est.);

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