Réunion

Locator map for the French island of Réunion. The island is located in the Indian Ocean, 650 km/400 mi east of Madagascar and 180 km/110 mi southwest of Mauritius.

French tropical island of the Mascarenes group, in the Indian Ocean, 650 km/400 mi east of Madagascar and 180 km/110 mi southwest of Mauritius; area 2,512 sq km/970 sq mi; population (1999 est) 706,300. The capital is St Denis. The island is volcanic, mountainous, and forested. Produce includes sugar cane (the leading crop), maize, vanilla, tobacco, perfume essence, and rum.

The island was explored by the Portuguese (the first European visitors) in 1513. Annexed by Louis XIII of France in 1642, it became an overseas département of France in 1946, and an overseas region in 1972.

The island is volcanic in origin and largely forested due to the heavy rainfall brought by the southeast trade winds (as much as 4,000-8,000 mm/160-315 in on the southern and eastern sides). The land rises in Piton de Neiges to 3,069 m/10,072 ft. The island was formerly the home of the solitaire, a white dodo-like bird which became extinct in 1746. Réunion administers five uninhabited islands, also claimed by Madagascar.