from
CIA World Factbook 2006
Reunion
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 21 06 S, 55 36 E
coordinates:
Map World
references:
Area: total: 2,517 sq km
land: 2,507 sq km
water: 10 sq km
Area - slightly smaller than Rhode Island
comparative:
Land 0 km
boundaries:
Coastline: 207 km
Maritime territorial sea: 12 nm
claims: exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Climate: tropical, but temperature moderates with elevation;
cool and dry (May to November), hot and rainy (November
to April)
Terrain: mostly rugged and mountainous; fertile lowlands along
coast
Elevation lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
extremes: highest point: Piton des Neiges 3,069 m
Natural fish, arable land, hydropower
resources:
Land use: arable land: 13.94%
permanent crops: 1.59%
other: 84.47% (2005)
Irrigated 120 sq km (2003)
land:
Natural periodic, devastating cyclones (December to April);
hazards: Piton de la Fournaise on the southeastern coast is an
active volcano
Environment - NA
current
issues:
Geography - this mountainous, volcanic island has an active
note: 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: 787,584 (July 2006 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 29.8% (male 120,147/female 114,589)
15-64 years: 64% (male 248,895/female 255,156)
65 years and over: 6.2% (male 19,847/female 28,950)
(2006 est.)
Median age: total: 26.9 years
male: 25.7 years
female: 28.1 years (2006 est.)
Population 1.34% (2006 est.)
growth rate:
Birth rate: 18.9 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate: 5.49 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
rate:
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Infant total: 7.63 deaths/1,000 live births
mortality male: 8.37 deaths/1,000 live births
rate: female: 6.85 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life total population: 74.18 years
expectancy at male: 70.78 years
birth: female: 77.75 years (2006 est.)
Total 2.45 children born/woman (2006 est.)
fertility
rate:
HIV/AIDS - NA
adult
prevalence
rate:
HIV/AIDS - NA
people living
with HIV/AIDS:
HIV/AIDS - NA
deaths:
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 overseas department of France
status:
Government NA
type:
Capital: name: Saint-Denis
geographic coordinates: 20 52 S, 55 28 E
time difference: UTC+4 (9 hours ahead of Washington, DC
during Standard Time)
Administrative none (overseas department of France); there are no
divisions: 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 Bastille Day, 14 July (1789)
holiday:
Constitution: 4 October 1958 (French Constitution)
Legal system: French law
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive chief of state: President Jacques CHIRAC of France
branch: (since 17 May 1995), represented by Prefect
Pierre-Henry MACCIONI (since 28 August 2006)
head of government: President of the General Council
Nassimah DINDAR (since NA March 2004) 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 unicameral General Council (49 seats; members are
branch: 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 in 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 in 2001 (next to be
held in 2006); results - percent of vote by party - NA;
seats by party - PRC 1, UDF 1, UMP 1; Reunion also
elects five deputies to the French National Assembly;
elections last held 9 June-16 June 2002 (next to be
held in 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA;
seats by party - UMP 3, PS 1, independent 1
Judicial Court of Appeals or Cour d'Appel
branch:
Political Communist Party of Reunion or PCR [Elie HOARAU]; Rally
parties and for the Republic or RPR [Andre Maurice PIHOUEE];
leaders: Socialist Party or PS [Michel VERGOZ]; Union for French
Democracy or UDF [Gilbert GERARD]; Union for a Popular
Movement or UMP
Political NA
pressure
groups and
leaders:
International InOC, UPU, WFTU
organization
participation:
Diplomatic none (overseas department of France)
representation
in the US:
Diplomatic none (overseas department of France)
representation
from the US:
Flag unofficial, local flag designed to emphasize solidarity
description: 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
Economy
Economy - The economy has traditionally been based on
overview: 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 illustrated the seriousness of
socioeconomic tensions. The economic well-being of
Reunion depends heavily on continued financial
assistance from France.
GDP $4.79 billion (2005 est.)
(purchasing
power parity):
GDP (official NA
exchange
rate):
GDP - real 2.5% (2005 est.)
growth rate:
GDP - per $6,200 (2005 est.)
capita (PPP):
GDP - agriculture: 8%
composition by industry: 19%
sector: services: 73% (2000 est.)
Labor force: 299,000 (2002)
Labor force - agriculture: 13%
by occupation: industry: 12%
services: 75% (2000)
Unemployment 31% (2002)
rate:
Population NA%
below poverty
line:
Household lowest 10%: NA%
income or highest 10%: NA%
consumption by
percentage
share:
Inflation rate NA%
(consumer
prices):
Budget: revenues: $554.7 million
expenditures: $554.7 million; including capital
expenditures of $NA (1998)
Agriculture - sugarcane, vanilla, tobacco, tropical fruits,
products: vegetables, corn
Industries: sugar, rum, cigarettes, handicraft items, flower oil
extraction
Industrial NA%
production
growth rate:
Electricity - 1.19 billion kWh (2003)
production:
Electricity - fossil fuel: 55.5%
production by hydro: 44.5%
source: nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001)
Electricity - 1.107 billion kWh (2003)
consumption:
Electricity - 0 kWh (2003)
exports:
Electricity - 0 kWh (2003)
imports:
Oil - 0 bbl/day (2003 est.)
production:
Oil - 18,500 bbl/day (2003 est.)
consumption:
Oil - exports: NA bbl/day
Oil - imports: NA bbl/day
Natural gas - 0 cu m (2003 est.)
production:
Natural gas - 0 cu m (2003 est.)
consumption:
Exports: $248.5 million f.o.b. (2002)
Exports - sugar 63%, rum and molasses 4%, perfume essences 2%,
commodities: lobster 3%
Exports - France 74%, Japan 6%, Comoros 4% (2004)
partners:
Imports: $3.306 billion c.i.f. (2002)
Imports - manufactured goods, food, beverages, tobacco, machinery
commodities: and transportation equipment, raw materials, and
petroleum products
Imports - France 64%, Bahrain 3%, Germany 3%, Italy 3% (2004)
partners:
Debt - $NA
external:
Economic aid - $NA; note - substantial annual subsidies from France
recipient: (2001 est.)
Currency euro (EUR)
(code):
Currency code: EUR
Exchange euros per US dollar - 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004),
rates: 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones - 300,000 (2001)
main lines in
use:
Telephones - 579,200 (2004)
mobile
cellular:
Telephone general assessment: adequate system; principal center
system: 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 AM 2, FM 55, shortwave 0 (2001)
broadcast
stations:
Radios: 173,000 (1997)
Television 35 (plus 18 low-power repeaters) (2001)
broadcast
stations:
Televisions: 127,000 (1997)
Internet .re
country code:
Internet 29 (2006)
hosts:
Internet 1 (2000)
Service
Providers
(ISPs):
Internet 200,000 (2005)
users:
Transportation
Airports: 2 (2006)
Airports - total: 2
with paved 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
runways: 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2006)
Roadways: total: 1,214 km (including 88 km of four-lane roads)
(2001)
Merchant registered in other countries: 1 (Bahamas 1) (2006)
marine:
Ports and Le Port
terminals:
Military
Military no regular indigenous military forces; French forces
branches: (includes Army, Navy, Air Force, and Gendarmerie)
(2005)
Military 18 years of age (2004)
service age
and
obligation:
Manpower males age 18-49: 183,421
available for females age 18-49: 185,606 (2005 est.)
military
service:
Manpower fit males age 18-49: 142,578
for military females age 18-49: 154,273 (2005 est.)
service:
Manpower males age 18-49: 7,339
reaching females age 18-49: 7,007 (2005 est.)
military
service age
annually:
Military - defense is the responsibility of France
note:
Transnational
Issues
Disputes - none
international: