Réunion

Réunion is a French island, overseas department and overseas region in the southwestern Indian Ocean. It forms part of the Mascarene archipelago, lying east of Madagascar and southwest of Mauritius. The island is constitutionally integrated into France under Article 73 of the French Constitution, meaning that French law generally applies there as it does in metropolitan France, subject to adaptations permitted for local circumstances. Réunion is also one of the European Union's outermost regions and uses the euro. The island's administrative capital and largest urban centre is Saint-Denis. Its landscape is dominated by volcanic mountains, deeply eroded cirques, tropical forests and coastal plains. The active volcano Piton de la Fournaise is one of the island's best-known natural features. This combination of geological variety, biodiversity and tropical scenery supports tourism, outdoor recreation and scientific activity, while agriculture remains important in several rural areas. Before permanent European settlement, Réunion was apparently uninhabited, although Arab navigators knew of an island in the western Indian Ocean and Portuguese sailors may have sighted or visited it in the early sixteenth century. France claimed the island in the seventeenth century and began permanent colonisation in 1665 through the French East India Company. It was first known under French rule as Île Bourbon, a name associated with the Bourbon dynasty. During the French Revolution it was renamed Réunion in 1793, briefly became Isle Bonaparte under Napoleon, and returned to the name Réunion in 1848. The colonial economy was based initially on coffee and later increasingly on sugarcane. Plantation production depended on enslaved labour brought from Africa and Madagascar, alongside people from other regions of the Indian Ocean. Slavery was abolished on the island on 20 December 1848. After emancipation, the plantation economy recruited large numbers of indentured workers from India, China, Southeast Asia and other parts of the region. These successive migrations helped create the culturally and ethnically diverse society associated with Réunion today. French is the official language, while Réunion Creole is widely spoken in everyday life. Réunion was occupied by British forces during the Napoleonic Wars and was restored to France in 1814. Its economy experienced major changes during the nineteenth century. Coffee cultivation declined after cyclones and floods, while sugarcane expanded. The discovery by Edmond Albius of a practical method for pollinating vanilla transformed the island into a leading vanilla-producing centre. Roads, a railway and the port at Pointe des Galets were also developed, although the colony remained marked by economic inequality and dependence on plantation agriculture. During the Second World War, Réunion was initially administered by the Vichy authorities before Free French forces took control in November 1942. On 19 March 1946, it became a French overseas department. Regional institutions were later established in the framework of France's decentralisation reforms. Public investment, social transfers, infrastructure and integration with the French state substantially changed living standards and the economic structure, although unemployment, inequality, high consumer prices and dependence on imports remain persistent concerns. Since the late twentieth century, services, public administration, construction, retail, tourism and transport have become increasingly important alongside sugar and other agricultural activities. Tourism draws on volcanic landscapes, hiking routes, beaches, Creole culture and marine environments. Réunion also has strategic importance for France in the Indian Ocean and hosts French military and maritime capabilities. Its development remains shaped by exposure to cyclones, volcanic activity, epidemics and other climate-related risks. In 2025, Cyclone Garance caused deaths, extensive power outages, flooding, landslides and disruption to transport and communications.

Réunion's early history is uncertain. Arab geographical traditions appear to have known of an island in the western Indian Ocean, and Portuguese navigators probably encountered the island or its surrounding waters during the early sixteenth century. No permanent indigenous population is known to have existed before European colonisation. France claimed the island in 1642 and named it Île Bourbon in 1649. Permanent settlement began in 1665 under the French East India Company. The colonial economy developed around plantation agriculture. Coffee was initially significant, followed by sugarcane, which became dominant after severe weather damaged coffee cultivation in the early nineteenth century. Plantation production relied heavily on enslaved people transported from Madagascar, East Africa and other Indian Ocean locations. Enslaved labour, French settlement and later migration from India, China, Southeast Asia and neighbouring islands produced the population's complex cultural composition. The island was renamed Réunion during the French Revolution in 1793, changed to Isle Bonaparte under Napoleon in 1806, and was restored to the Bourbon name after British forces captured it in 1810 during the Napoleonic Wars. France regained the island under the 1814 Treaty of Paris. The name Réunion was definitively restored in 1848 following the fall of the July Monarchy and the establishment of the Second Republic. Abolition of slavery was proclaimed on Réunion on 20 December 1848. Plantation owners subsequently relied on indentured labour, especially from India, while clandestine trafficking also continued in parts of the western Indian Ocean. During the nineteenth century, vanilla became an important export after Edmond Albius developed a method of hand-pollinating vanilla flowers. Sugar remained the central economic activity, while the construction of roads, a railway and the port of Pointe des Galets improved internal and external connections. Réunion remained under Vichy control during the early part of the Second World War. Free French forces took control after landing on the island in November 1942. On 19 March 1946, Réunion became an overseas department of France. The later creation of regional institutions gave it the dual departmental and regional status it retains today. Postwar integration brought extensive French public investment, expanded education and healthcare, improved infrastructure and broader access to social protection. At the same time, the territory continued to face structural unemployment, inequality and high dependence on imported goods. Between 1963 and 1982, a state-backed programme moved 1,630 children from Réunion to rural metropolitan France. The programme, later known as the Children of Creuse affair, became a major controversy because of allegations that children were removed without meaningful consent and were exposed to neglect or abuse. From the 1990s, services and tourism expanded alongside agriculture. Volcanic scenery, hiking, tropical forests, Creole heritage and coastal environments became central to the island's visitor economy. Environmental and energy initiatives also sought to adapt buildings to tropical conditions and reduce cooling demand. Réunion has continued to experience natural and public-health emergencies, including the 2005–2006 chikungunya epidemic and severe cyclones. Its present identity combines French citizenship and institutions, European economic integration, a distinctive Creole society and a strategic position in the Indian Ocean.

• 2025

  Cyclone Garance strikes Réunion

  [1]Réunionen.wikipedia.org

  Cyclone Garance caused fatalities and widespread damage to electricity, water, communications, buildings and transport.

• 2005

  Chikungunya epidemic begins

  [3]Chikungunyaen.wikipedia.org

  Réunion experienced a severe chikungunya epidemic that continued into 2006 and affected a large part of the population.

• 1998

  Pierrefonds Airport opens

  [1]Réunionen.wikipedia.org

  The opening of Pierrefonds Airport near Saint-Pierre supported the expansion of tourism and improved regional connectivity.

• 1946

  Réunion becomes an overseas department

  [1]Réunionen.wikipedia.org

  On 19 March 1946, Réunion became a département d'outre-mer of France.

• 1942

  Free French forces take control

  [1]Réunionen.wikipedia.org

  Free French forces landed in November 1942, ending the Vichy administration of the island.

• 1848

  Slavery is abolished

  [1]Réunionen.wikipedia.org

  The abolition of slavery took effect on 20 December 1848, a date commemorated annually as a major public and cultural occasion.

• 1848

  The name Réunion is restored

  [1]Réunionen.wikipedia.org

  Following the French Revolution of 1848, the island's current name was restored by the republican authorities.

• 1810

  British occupation during the Napoleonic Wars

  [1]Réunionen.wikipedia.org

  British forces captured the island in July 1810 and restored the name Isle Bourbon during their administration.

• 1793

  The island is renamed Réunion

  [1]Réunionen.wikipedia.org

  During the French Revolution, Île Bourbon was renamed Réunion to distance the territory from the Bourbon monarchy.

• 1665

  Permanent French colonisation begins

  [1]Réunionen.wikipedia.org

  The French East India Company sent the first permanent settlers, establishing the foundation of the colonial plantation society.

• 1642

  French claim to the island

  [1]Réunionen.wikipedia.org

  France formally claimed the previously uninhabited island during the seventeenth-century expansion of French influence in the Indian Ocean.

A culturally diverse, volcanic and tropical French territory combining European public institutions with an Indian Ocean identity and significant natural, agricultural and tourism assets.

• Agriculture and food

  Sugarcane and sugar

  Sugarcane has been the foundation of Réunion's modern agricultural economy since the nineteenth century. Cultivation occupies substantial areas of the lower slopes and coastal plains, and the sector supports sugar production, rum distillation, animal feed and related rural employment. Although services and public administration now play larger economic roles, sugarcane remains one of the territory's most important export-oriented activities.

• Agriculture and specialty food

  Réunion vanilla

  Vanilla became a distinctive Réunion product after Edmond Albius developed a practical hand-pollination technique in the nineteenth century. The crop helped establish the island as a major vanilla-producing centre and remains associated with local agriculture, culinary products and heritage tourism.

• Beverages

  Réunion rum

  Rum is produced from the island's sugarcane economy and is part of Réunion's agricultural and culinary identity. Distilleries and associated products connect sugar production with tourism, local gastronomy and regional export markets.

• Travel and tourism

  Tourism

  Réunion's tourism offering is centred on volcanic landscapes, hiking, tropical forests, mountain cirques, beaches, marine environments and Creole culture. The sector expanded strongly from the 1990s and complements agriculture and public services as a major component of the island's economy.

• 2002

  Children of Creuse affair

  The relocation of 1,630 children from Réunion to rural areas of metropolitan France between 1963 and 1982 became a major public controversy. Former children and advocates alleged that the programme separated minors from their families without adequate consent and that some experienced neglect, exploitation or abuse. Litigation against the French state followed, although the principal claims were ultimately unsuccessful in French and European courts.

  Source

Read more

• 1998

  Expansion of tourism infrastructureStrategy

  Background

  Réunion was diversifying away from an economy dominated by sugarcane and agriculture.

  Action taken

  Pierrefonds Airport opened near Saint-Pierre, improving access to the south and supporting visitor growth.

  Aftermath

  Tourism became a more important economic activity, particularly around natural landscapes and Creole heritage.

  Source

• 1946

  Departmental integration into FranceStrategy

  Background

  Postwar France reorganised several colonies and territories within a closer constitutional relationship to the French state.

  Action taken

  Réunion became an overseas department on 19 March 1946 and later also received regional status.

  Aftermath

  The change expanded the application of French public institutions, social services and law while preserving adaptations for overseas conditions.

  Source

• 1848

  Abolition of slaveryStrategy

  Background

  The French Second Republic abolished slavery in its colonies after the Revolution of 1848.

  Action taken

  Slavery was abolished in Réunion effective 20 December 1848.

  Aftermath

  Plantation agriculture continued by recruiting indentured workers from India and other parts of the Indian Ocean, while the island's social composition changed substantially.

  Source

• 1793

  Revolutionary renaming to RéunionStrategy

  Background

  The revolutionary government sought to remove the island's association with the Bourbon monarchy.

  Action taken

  The territory was renamed Réunion.

  Aftermath

  The island later received other names under Napoleon and British occupation before permanently returning to Réunion in 1848.

  Source

1. 1Réunionen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Children of Creuseen.wikipedia.org
3. 3Chikungunyaen.wikipedia.org
4. 4Conseil régional de La Réunionregionreunion.com