 Reunion — (rē yōōn´yən) |
About The People
Did You Know...... Slaves from Madagascar and mainland Africa were brought in to work the island's coffee plantations. »» More
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Reunion History
The Portuguese discovered the uninhabited island in 1513. French colonists arrived on the island, then known as Bourbon, in the 1640s. Slaves from Madagascar and mainland Africa were brought in to work the island’s coffee plantations. 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.
The island was ruled as a colony until 1946, when it was made a "departement", or administrative unit, of France. The Reunionese are French citizens and many of them wish »» More | Statistics, Graphs, Charts, & Data Tables
Capital Cities... Saint-Denis »» History of Saint-Denis
Population: 787,584
GDP: $4,790,000,000 (USD)
Total Area: 2,517 (sq km) 972 (sq mi)
Currency: euro
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