Réunion is a French overseas département and région in the Mascarene Islands. The island is in the western Indian Ocean, about 420 miles (680 km) east of Madagascar and 110 miles (180 km) southwest of Mauritius. Réunion is of volcanic origin and consists mostly of rugged mountains. The west-central area has a mountain massif with three summits exceeding 9,000 feet (2,740 meters), including the Piton des Neiges (10,069 feet [3,069 meters]). The island was first settled in the 17th century by French colonists. Slave laborers were brought in from East Africa to work on plantations. Today, the greatest proportion of the population is of mixed African, European, and South Asian descent. The estimated population of Réunion as of 2025 is 893,100. The capital is Saint-Denis, on the northern coast.

What country does Réunion belong to?

Réunion, located in the western Indian Ocean, is an island that belongs to France . It is a French overseas département and région , lying about 420 miles (680 km) east of Madagascar and 110 miles (180 km) southwest of Mauritius. The island was settled by the French in the mid-1600s and was a colony of France until 1946, when it became an overseas département . In 1974, it also gained the status of région . The official and national language of Réunion is French .

What are some geographic and natural features of Réunion?

Réunion, a French overseas department and region, is a volcanic island marked by rugged mountains dissected by torrential rivers. The west-central area features a mountain massif with three summits exceeding 9,000 feet (2,740 meters), including the Piton des Neiges at 10,069 feet (3,069 meters). The massif is encircled by wide basins and plateaus. In the eastern part of the island, more recent volcanism is evident, with the active Piton de la Fournaise crater on the mountain Le Volcan. Réunion's coast lacks natural harbors. The island experiences abundant rainfall (160–315 inches [4,000–8,000 mm]) in the south and east due to moisture-laden southeast trade winds from April to October, while the north and west receive as little as 25 inches (635 mm) annually.

What is life like for people living on Réunion, and what cultures or languages do they have?

Réunion Island has a high population density, even in its mountainous regions. The island was first settled in the 17th century by French colonists, and the population is primarily made up of people of mixed African, European, and South Asian descent. The official language is French, but Réunion French Creole is commonly spoken, and Tamil is also used by some. Historically, the island served as a layover station for the French East India Company in the 1600s, which led to the import of enslaved Africans for plantation work. After slavery was abolished in 1848, indentured laborers from Southeast Asia, India, and East Africa were brought to the island. About four-fifths of the population is Roman Catholic.

Réunion

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Map showing the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar and southwest of Mauritius. The map highlights major cities on Reunion, including Saint-Denis, Le Port, Saint-Benoit, Saint-Louis, and Saint-Pierre, as well as the central peak Piton des Neiges. An inset locator map shows Reunion's position relative to Africa and Madagascar.

Map showing the location of Reunion, a French overseas territory, in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar and southwest of Mauritius. The map also labels nearby countries on the African mainland, including South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Malawi, and Swaziland, with Saint-Denis marked as the capital of Reunion.

At a Glance

Réunion summary

Réunion

island and department, France

Also known as: Île de Bourbon, Département d’Outre-Mer de la Réunion, Department of Réunion, Santa Apollonia(Show More)

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Top Questions

What is Réunion?
Réunion is a French overseas département and région in the Mascarene Islands. The island is in the western Indian Ocean, about 420 miles (680 km) east of Madagascar and 110 miles (180 km) southwest of Mauritius.

Réunion is of volcanic origin and consists mostly of rugged mountains. The west-central area has a mountain massif with three summits exceeding 9,000 feet (2,740 meters), including the Piton des Neiges (10,069 feet [3,069 meters]).

The island was first settled in the 17th century by French colonists. Slave laborers were brought in from East Africa to work on plantations. Today, the greatest proportion of the population is of mixed African, European, and South Asian descent. The estimated population of Réunion as of 2025 is 893,100. The capital is Saint-Denis, on the northern coast.
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Where is Réunion located?
Réunion is a French overseas département and region, an island of the Mascarene Islands. It is in the western Indian Ocean, about 420 miles (680 km) east of Madagascar and 110 miles (180 km) southwest of Mauritius. The island is almost elliptical, about 40 miles (65 km) long and 30 miles (50 km) wide. Saint-Denis, on the northern coast, is the capital.
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What country does Réunion belong to?
Réunion, located in the western Indian Ocean, is an island that belongs to France. It is a French overseas département and région, lying about 420 miles (680 km) east of Madagascar and 110 miles (180 km) southwest of Mauritius.

The island was settled by the French in the mid-1600s and was a colony of France until 1946, when it became an overseas département. In 1974, it also gained the status of région. The official and national language of Réunion is French.
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What does it mean that Réunion is both an island and a department of France?
Réunion is an island in the Mascarene Islands that serves as both a French overseas département (department) and an overseas région (region). It is located in the western Indian Ocean, approximately 420 miles (680 km) to the east of Madagascar and 110 miles (180 km) southwest of Mauritius.

As a French overseas département, Réunion elects deputies to the French National Assembly and the Senate. It is administered by an appointed prefect and an elected Departmental Council. Simultaneously, Réunion is administered as a French overseas region, with administrative functions carried out by a regional council that coordinates social and economic development policies. The people of Réunion are full citizens of France, and French is the language used in schools. France ruled Réunion as a colony until 1946, when it became an overseas département, later gaining the status of région in 1974.
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2. Réunion: Country Facts
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What are some geographic and natural features of Réunion?
Réunion, a French overseas department and region, is a volcanic island marked by rugged mountains dissected by torrential rivers. The west-central area features a mountain massif with three summits exceeding 9,000 feet (2,740 meters), including the Piton des Neiges at 10,069 feet (3,069 meters). The massif is encircled by wide basins and plateaus.

In the eastern part of the island, more recent volcanism is evident, with the active Piton de la Fournaise crater on the mountain Le Volcan. Réunion's coast lacks natural harbors. The island experiences abundant rainfall (160–315 inches [4,000–8,000 mm]) in the south and east due to moisture-laden southeast trade winds from April to October, while the north and west receive as little as 25 inches (635 mm) annually.
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1. Réunion: Land
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What is life like for people living on Réunion, and what cultures or languages do they have?
Réunion Island has a high population density, even in its mountainous regions. The island was first settled in the 17th century by French colonists, and the population is primarily made up of people of mixed African, European, and South Asian descent.

The official language is French, but Réunion French Creole is commonly spoken, and Tamil is also used by some. Historically, the island served as a layover station for the French East India Company in the 1600s, which led to the import of enslaved Africans for plantation work. After slavery was abolished in 1848, indentured laborers from Southeast Asia, India, and East Africa were brought to the island. About four-fifths of the population is Roman Catholic.
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1. Réunion: People
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Réunion, island of the Mascarene Islands that is a French overseas département and overseas région. It is located in the western Indian Ocean about 420 miles (680 km) east of Madagascar and 110 miles (180 km) southwest of Mauritius.

Réunion is almost elliptical in shape, about 40 miles (65 km) long and 30 miles (50 km) wide. The capital is Saint-Denis, on the northern coast.

Quick Facts

Flag of Réunion

Heads Of Government:: Prefect (for France): Patrice Latron; President of Departmental Council (for Réunion): Cyrille Melchior; President of Regional Council (for Réunion): Huguette Bello

Capital:: Saint-Denis

Population:: (2026 est.) 903,000

Head Of State:: President of France: Emmanuel Macron

Official Language:: French

Land

Of volcanic origin, Réunion consists mostly of rugged mountains in an advanced state of dissection by short torrential rivers. The west-central area contains a mountain massif with three summits exceeding 9,000 feet (2,740 metres), including the Piton des Neiges (10,069 feet [3,069 metres]). The massif is encircled by several wide basins and a series of smaller plateaus. In the eastern part of the island is an area of more recent volcanism, and in the extreme east is the mountain Le Volcan, one of whose craters, Piton de la Fournaise, has been active several times since 1925. Réunion’s coast has no good natural harbours.

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Islands and Archipelagos

Moisture-laden southeast trade winds, which dominate the weather from April to October, bring abundant annual rainfall (160–315 inches [4,000–8,000 mm]) to the south and east of the island; the north and west sides, however, have as little as 25 inches (635 mm) of rain a year. Temperatures tend to be cool for the tropics, especially at higher elevations, but in summer the lowlands are uncomfortably humid and hot. Tropical cyclones occur frequently.

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People

Réunion was first settled in the 17th century by colonists from France. Slave labourers were brought in from East Africa to work on plantations, and later Malays, Annamites, Chinese, and Malabar Indians were imported as indentured labourers. Today the greatest proportion of the population is of mixed descent (African, European, and South Asian). The limited amount of land has induced substantial emigration, largely to France but also to Madagascar.

The island’s population density is high, even in areas that typically would be considered too mountainous to support a dense population. Saint-Denis, the capital and largest urban area on the island, contains about one-fifth of the total population. Nearly one-fourth of the population is under age 15; birth rates have declined steadily in recent decades, while the death rate has largely remained stagnant. The language in common use on the island is Réunion French Creole, and Tamil is also spoken by some people. French, however, is the official language. About four-fifths of the population is Roman Catholic.

Economy

Le Port, RéunionHarbour of Le Port, Réunion.

Réunion’s economy has been based almost entirely on sugar for more than a century. Cane is grown on most of the cultivable land, though vanilla bean and some fruits and vegetables, tobacco, and geraniums (for perfume) are also produced. About a dozen big estates with milling facilities produce the bulk of the cane crop.

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Food and food products represent the greatest share of Réunion’s exports, with sugar and such sugar by-products as rum and molasses accounting for much of that total. Much of Réunion’s trade is with France. Unemployment continues to be a problem. A few paved roads connect the main towns on the island. Le Port can handle large ships through artificial port facilities. An international airport is located near Saint-Denis.

Government and society

As an overseas département of France, Réunion elects seven deputies to the French National Assembly and four to the Senate. The département is administered by an appointed prefect and an elected Departmental Council. Réunion is simultaneously administered as a French overseas region (région d’outre-mer) whose administrative functions are carried out by a regional council that coordinates social and economic development policies. The Réunionese are full citizens of France, and French is the language of instruction in schools.

History

Antique map of Reunion, also labeled as Bourbon Island, showing towns, mountains, and rivers with shaded relief. Major features include St. Denis, St. Paul, St. Pierre, Piton des Neiges, and Piton de la Fournaise. The map includes a scale in miles and is bordered by latitude and longitude lines. — Réunion, c. 1902Map of Réunion, or Bourbon, island, c. 1902, from the 10th edition of the *Encyclopædia Britannica*.

Uninhabited when first visited by Portuguese navigators in the early 1500s, Réunion was settled in the mid-1600s, when the French East India Company established a layover station for ships rounding the Cape of Good Hope en route to India. Enslaved Africans were imported to work in first coffee and then sugar plantations. With the abolition of slavery in 1848, indentured labourers from mainland Southeast Asia, India, and Eastern Africa were brought in. Réunion was ruled by France as a colony until 1946, when it became an overseas département of France; in 1974 it gained the status of région as well. The headquarters of the French military forces in the Indian Ocean were established on Réunion in 1973, with the arrival of personnel withdrawn from Madagascar. In the late 1970s the Organization of African Unity (now the African Union) urged that Réunion be granted full independence, but that proposition was not embraced by the majority of Réunion’s inhabitants and thus was not pursued with any zeal.

Persistent social and economic unrest, fueled by the widening gap between the rich and the poor and by high rates of unemployment, periodically erupted into demonstrations and violence during the 1990s and 2000s. Rioting in February 1991 left 11 people dead, and in 1997 demonstrations were held against proposed civil service reforms. In 2000 a proposal made by the French government to split the island into two départements spawned demonstrations both for and against the division; the proposal was later rejected by the French Senate.

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This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Zeidan.

Réunion

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