Reunion

Where is Reunion?

Reunion is an island nation.

Saint-Denis, known as a prefecture or administrative capital, is the city in which Reunion bases its government and the majority of the population. Located at the island's northernmost point, Saint-Denis was settled in 1669 by Etienne Regnault who arrived on the island five years earlier with the French East India Trading Company and a small band of settlers. The culture of the city is a mixture of African, European, Asian, and Islamic practices. The population of Saint-Denis is 146,985 and the metropolitan area is home to 202,993 citizens in total. The city is the most populous of any in the French overseas departments. Ethnic groups include African, Chinese, European, Indian, and Malagasy, many of whom speak the local creole language. The city is served by the Roland Garros International Airport and Saint-Denis is a sister city of Nice, Metz, and Tangier. The city features a tropical monsoon climate with a hot and humid wet season occurring from December-April and a warm, dry season from May-October. The warmest months of the year in Saint-Denis are January and February with average high temperatures of 30.1 degrees Celsius (86.2 degrees Celsius) and average lows of 23.5 degrees Celsius (74.3 degrees Fahrenheit).

Reunion is an African country covering 2,512.00 km².. Saint-Denis is the capital city.

Its ISO code is RE.

Reunion has a mean elevation of 0 m above sea level.

The official language of Reunion is French and this has been the main method of communication since the official French colonization of the mid-1600s. Portuguese may have been used for several years before the French settlement, but information on the language in Reunion is hard to come by. The modern French language evolved during the Romance Period of Indo-European languages (7th to 9th Century) and Reunion is one of 26 French-speaking nations within Africa. Although French is the official language of the country, Reunionese Creole is the native language of 90% of the population. This Creole-based language is derived from French and contains influences from Malay, Hindi, Portuguese, Malagasy, and Tamil. Reunionese Creole evolved quickly in the first 50 years of French colonization as many families had at least one member who spoke French. Many inhabitants were French, Indo-Portuguese, or Malagasy, which led to the creation and adoption of a similar tongue for most citizens. Asian minority languages in Reunion Island include Chinese, Cantonese, Mandarin, but many of these speakers are of older generations. Younger citizens tend to converse in French and Reunionese Creole as the country has evolved.

The dialing code for the country is 262.

The currency of Reunion is the Euro (EUR).

Reunion is an overseas department of France, meaning that the island has nearly the same political status as metropolitan regions of mainland France. The country is governed by the 1958 Constitution of France and the chief of state is the sitting President of France. Reunion is governed locally by a Prefect who is appointed by and is a representative of, the French president. The National Assembly of France elects their members every five years and the Presidency of France is also contested every five years. Voting in the national elections of France is open to those citizens 18 years of age and over living in a French overseas department.

Flag

The official flag of Reunion is the French tricolor which is also used in France, Guadeloupe, and Martinique, to name a few. This flag features three equally sized vertical stripes of, left to right, blue, white, and red. Reunion also has an unofficial flag that consists of a blue field with a red triangle at the bottom. The flag also contains five yellow stripes emanating from the top of the red triangle. This flag was adopted in 2003 and remains an unofficial symbol of the small island nation. Little is known about previous flags or symbols of the people of Reunion before colonization by the Portuguese in the early 16th century. The French eventually claimed the island as early as 1638 and large-scale settlement by the French East India Company occurred in the coming years. The flag of the French East India Company was eventually replaced with the French national flag in the mid-1800s and has remained the official national symbol since this time. The French tricolor has significant cultural, political, and historical connotations, especially in France. The unofficial flag also has important symbolic meaning.

More on Graphicmaps

Published on 2019-11-06

What is a Trade Embargo?

Published on 2019-11-04

Which Two Countries Used to Have the Same Flag?

Published on 2019-09-16

What Is the Only Two-Sided State Flag?

Published on 2019-09-16

Which Country Flag Looks Like the Texas Flag?

Published on 2019-08-29

Flags That Resemble the US Flag

Published on 2019-08-20

What is Demography?