Reunion (overseas department of France)

§1. 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.

§2. Reunion 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: 2,512 kmē
  land: 2,502 kmē
  water: 10 kmē

Area - comparative:
  slightly smaller than Rhode Island

Land boundaries:
  0 km

Coastline:
  207 km

Maritime claims:
  exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 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: 17%
  permanent crops: 2%
  permanent pastures: 5%
  forests and woodland: 35%
  other: 41% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land:
  60 kmē (1993 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

§3. Reunion People

Population:
  732,570 (July 2001 est.)

Age structure:
  0-14 years: 32.07% (male 120,259; female 114,669)
  15-64 years: 62.25% (male 224,347; female 231,698)
  65 years and over: 5.68% (male 16,892; female 24,705) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate:
  1.57% (2001 est.)

Birth rate:
  21.26 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate:
  5.52 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate:
  0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 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: 0.97 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
  8.49 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
  total population: 72.93 years male: 69.53 years
  female: 76.49 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate:
  2.58 children born/woman (2001 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: 79%
  male: 76%
  female: 80% (1982 est.)

§4. Reunion 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 Robert POMMIES (since NA 1996)
  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 seven-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 (47 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 NA March 1994 (next to be held NA
    2000); Regional Council - last held 15 March 1998 (next to be held NA
    2004)
  election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats
    by party - PCR 12, PS 12, UDF 11, RPR 5, others 7; Regional Council -
    percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PCR 7, UDF 8, PS 6, RPR
    4, various right-wing candidates 15, various left-wing candidates 5
  note: Reunion elects three representatives to the French Senate; elections
    last held 14 April 1996 (next to be held NA 2001); results - percent of
    vote by party - NA%; seats by party - RPR 1, PCR 2; Reunion also elects
    five deputies to the French National Assembly; elections last held 25 May
    and 1 June 1997 (next to be held NA 2002); results - percent of vote by
    party - NA%; seats by party - PCR 3, PS 1, and RPR-UDF 1

Judicial branch:
  Court of Appeals or Cour d'Appel

Political parties and leaders:
  Communist Party of Reunion or PCR [Paul VERGES]; Rally for the Republic or
  RPR [Andre Maurice PIHOUEE]; Socialist Party or PS [Jean-Claude FRUTEAU];
  Union for French Democracy or UDF [Gilbert GERARD]

Political pressure groups and leaders:
  NA

International organization participation:
  FZ, InOC, WFTU

Diplomatic representation in the US:
  none (overseas department of France)

Diplomatic representation from the US:
  none (overseas department of France)

Flag description:
  the flag of France is used

§5. Reunion Economy

Economy - overview:
  The economy has traditionally been based on agriculture. 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 more than
  40% 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 - $3.4 billion (1998 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
  3.8% (1998 est.)

GDP - per capita:
  purchasing power parity - $4,800 (1998 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
  agriculture: NA% industry: NA%
  services: NA%

Population below poverty line:
  NA%

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  NA%

Labor force:
  261,000 (1995)

Labor force - by occupation:
  agriculture 8%, industry 19%, services 73% (1990)

Unemployment rate:
  42.8% (1998)

Budget:
  revenues: NA
  expenditures: NA

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

Industrial production growth rate:
  NA%

Electricity - production:
  1.1 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source:
  fossil fuel: 54.55% hydro: 45.45%
  nuclear: 0%
  other: 0% (1999)

Electricity - consumption:
  1.023 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports:
  0 kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports:
  0 kWh (1999)

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

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% (1994)

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% (1994)

Debt - external:
  $NA

Economic aid - recipient:
  $NA; note - substantial annual subsidies from France

Currency:
  French franc (FRF); euro (EUR)

Currency code:
  FRF; EUR

Exchange rates:
  euros per US dollar - 1.06594 (January 2001), 1.08540 (2000), 0.9386
  (1999); French francs per US dollar - 5.8995 (1998), 5.8367 (1997), 5.1155
  (1996)

Fiscal year:
  calendar year

§6. Reunion Communications

Telephones - main lines in use:
  236,500 (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
  85,000 (1999)

Telephone system:
  general assessment: adequate system; principal center is Saint-Denis
  domestic: modern open wire and microwave radio relay network
  international: radiotelephone communication to Comoros, France, Madagascar;
    new microwave route to Mauritius; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat
    (Indian Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations:
  AM 2, FM 55, shortwave 0 (1998)

Radios:
  173,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations:
  22 (plus 18 low-power repeaters) (1997)

Televisions:
  127,000 (1997)

Internet country code:
  .re

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
  1 (2000)

Internet users:
  10,000 (2000)

§7. Reunion Transportation

Railways:
  0 km

Highways:
  total: 2,724 km
  paved: 1,300 km (including 73 km of four-lane road)
  unpaved: 1,424 km
  note: 370 km of road are maintained by national authorities, 754 km by
    departmental authorities and 1600 km by local authorities (1994)

Waterways:
  none

Ports and harbors:
  Le Port, Pointe des Galets

Merchant marine:
  total: 1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 28,264 GRT/44,885 DWT
  ships by type: chemical tanker 1 (2000 est.)

Airports:
  2 (2000 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
  total: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
  914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2000 est.)

§8. Reunion Military

Military branches:
  French forces (Army, Navy, Air Force, and Gendarmerie)

Military manpower - military age:
  18 years of age

Military manpower - availability:
  males age 15-49: 190,846 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
  males age 15-49: 97,497 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
  males: 6,243 (2001 est.)

Military - note:
  defense is the responsibility of France

§9. Reunion Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:
  none
