Reunion is an island in the Indian Ocean is a part of metropolitan France. This island in the form of a tortoise located southeast of Madagascar and southwest of Mauritius. Reunion is an Overseas Department and region of France in 1946 which was administrated by France. It has representatives elected from central and several regional councils. An interesting fact is that France’s visa is not accepted to visit this island. Foreign visitors have to get special authorization permission from Paris to visit the island.This island does not have indigenous people or aboriginals. From the 16th century onwards, the island was inhabited. According to the island’s colonial history, the majority of populations are mixed races, and they referred to as Creoles. Ethnic groups are African, Indian, European, Malagasy, and Chinese. These ethnic groups are immigrants from Asia, Africa, and Europe. Among Indian, the largest community is Tamil.
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Land
Reunion has a total area of 2511 square kilometers. It contains a shielded volcano on its eastern end, namely Piton de la Fournaise. Reunion holds many tropical beaches with barbecue facilities. These beaches mostly have white sands with coconut and casuarina trees.
Population
As of Jan 2020, the population of Reunion is 859, 959 and its population density is 355 people per square kilometer. Of its total population, 18.5% of populations are under age 15, 64.7% are between 15 and 64, 16.8% of are above age 65. The life expectancy at birth of male was 76 years and female are 82.9 years. The sex ratio is 93.8 males per 100 females.
Religion
Reunions predominant religion is Christianity; hence Christians occupy more than half of its population. Some other religions of Reunion are Hinduism, Muslim, folk religion, and Buddhism.
| Religion | Percentage |
| Christianity | 87.6 |
| Islam | 4.5 |
| Hinduism | 4.2 |
| Folk religion or Chinese | 0.4 |
| Buddhism | 0.2 |
| Other | 3.1 |
Language
French is the official language, whereas Creole is spoken by a wide population in Reunion. Reunion is a multi-religion and multi-cultural nation, where various languages are spoken around the island. Malagasy was widely spoken by Malagasy’s people. Mandarin, Hakka, and Cantonese are spoken by Chinese people. Indians mainly speak Tamil and Gujarati. Urdu and Arabic have spoken by the Muslim community.
Economy
The economy of Reunion is based on agriculture. The major cash crop cultivated in this region is sugarcane. The gap between the rich and poor people was an insurmountable problem. On the other hand, unemployment became a significant problem. To reduce the unemployment rate, the Government wants to improve the tourist industry. Rum distillation takes part in the island’s economy, which is a France Product supplied all over the world. Today, Sugar export and tourism turned into essential revenue sources. In 2017, the total GDP was US$22.3 billion.
Reunion Country Code : RE
Reunion Dialing Code: +262
