Reunion
Department of Reunion conventional short form: Reunion local long form: none local short form: Ile de la Reunion former: Bourbon Island
NAIndependence none (overseas department of France)
Reunion as the 2001 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 110 fields, one of 17 editions from 1990 to 2006.
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Introduction
1 fieldBackground
The Portuguese discovered the uninhabited island in 1513. From the 17th to the 19th centuries, French immigration supplemented by influxes of Africans, Chinese, Malays, and Malabar Indians gave the island its ethnic mix. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 cost the island its importance as a stopover on the East Indies trade route.
Geography
Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar
16 fieldsClimate
tropical, but temperature moderates with elevation; cool and dry from May to November, hot and rainy from November to April
Land use
arable land: 17% permanent crops: 2% permanent pastures: 5% forests and woodland: 35% other: 41% (1993 est.)
Natural hazards
periodic, devastating cyclones (December to April); Piton de la Fournaise on the southeastern coast is an active volcano
People
18 fieldsPer 1,000 population(2001 est.)
Age structure
0-14 years: 32.07% (male 120,259; female 114,669) 15-64 years: 62.25% (male 224,347; female 231,698) 65 years and over: 5.68% (male 16,892; female 24,705) (2001 est.)
Sex ratio
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 72.93 years male: 69.53 years female: 76.49 years (2001 est.)
Literacy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 79% male: 76% female: 80% (1982 est.)
Government
NA
19 fieldsGeneral Council, 5 seatsone dot, one seat
Country name
conventional long form: Department of Reunion conventional short form: Reunion local long form: none local short form: Ile de la Reunion former: Bourbon Island
Administrative divisions
none (overseas department of France); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 4 arrondissements, 24 communes, and 47 cantons
Executive branch
- chief of state:
- President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995), represented by Prefect Robert POMMIES (since NA 1996) head of government: President of the General Council Jean-Luc POUDROUX (since NA March 1998) and President of the Regional Council Paul VERGES (since NA March 1993) cabinet: NA elections: French president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term;
- prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of the Interior;
- the presidents of the General and Regional Councils are elected by the members of those councils
Legislative branch
- unicameral General Council (47 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote to serve six-year terms) and a unicameral Regional Council (45 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote to serve six-year terms) elections: General Council - last held NA March 1994 (next to be held NA 2000);
- Regional Council - last held 15 March 1998 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA%;
- seats by party - PCR 12, PS 12, UDF 11, RPR 5, others 7;
- Regional Council - percent of vote by party - NA%;
- seats by party - PCR 7, UDF 8, PS 6, RPR 4, various right-wing candidates 15, various left-wing candidates 5 note: Reunion elects three representatives to the French Senate;
- elections last held 14 April 1996 (next to be held NA 2001);
- results - percent of vote by party - NA%;
- seats by party - RPR 1, PCR 2;
- Reunion also elects five deputies to the French National Assembly;
- elections last held 25 May and 1 June 1997 (next to be held NA 2002);
- results - percent of vote by party - NA%;
- seats by party - PCR 3, PS 1, and RPR-UDF 1
Political parties and leaders
- Communist Party of Reunion or PCR [Paul VERGES];
- Rally for the Republic or RPR [Andre Maurice PIHOUEE];
- Socialist Party or PS [Jean-Claude FRUTEAU];
- Union for French Democracy or UDF [Gilbert GERARD]
Economy
The economy has traditionally been based on agriculture.
32 fieldsTrading partnersexports left, imports right
Electricity
Economy - overview
The economy has traditionally been based on agriculture. Sugarcane has been the primary crop for more than a century, and in some years it accounts for 85% of exports. The government has been pushing the development of a tourist industry to relieve high unemployment, which amounts to more than 40% of the labor force.
The gap in Reunion between the well-off and the poor is extraordinary and accounts for the persistent social tensions. The white and Indian communities are substantially better off than other segments of the population, often approaching European standards, whereas minority groups suffer the poverty and unemployment typical of the poorer nations of the African continent.
The outbreak of severe rioting in February 1991 illustrates the seriousness of socioeconomic tensions. The economic well-being of Reunion depends heavily on continued financial assistance from France.
Imports - commodities
manufactured goods, food, beverages, tobacco, machinery and transportation equipment, raw materials, and petroleum products
Exchange rates
euros per US dollar - 1.06594 (January 2001), 1.08540 (2000), 0.9386 (1999); French francs per US dollar - 5.8995 (1998), 5.8367 (1997), 5.1155 (1996)
Communications
10 fieldsTelephone system
- general assessment:
- adequate system;
- principal center is Saint-Denis domestic: modern open wire and microwave radio relay network international: radiotelephone communication to Comoros, France, Madagascar;
- new microwave route to Mauritius;
- satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean)
Transportation
7 fieldsHighways
total: 2,724 km paved: 1,300 km (including 73 km of four-lane road) unpaved: 1,424 km note: 370 km of road are maintained by national authorities, 754 km by departmental authorities and 1600 km by local authorities (1994)
Merchant marine
total: 1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 28,264 GRT/44,885 DWT ships by type: chemical tanker 1 (2000 est.)
Military
French forces (Army, Navy, Air Force, and Gendarmerie)
6 fieldsTransnational Issues
1 fieldCite this entry
Central Intelligence Agency. “Reunion.” The World Factbook 2001. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/reunion/2001.