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| Independence Year : Population : 699000 Life Expectancy : 72.7 Capital : 3017 GNP : 8287.00 GNP Old : 7988.00 Local Name : Réunion Government Form : Overseas Department of France Location : West of southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar Terrain : Mostly mountainous; fertile lowlands along the coast. Climate : Tropical, but temperature moderates with elevation; hot and rainy from November to April, cool and dry from May to November Ethnic Group : French, African,Malagasy, Chinese, Pakistani, Indian Religions : Roman Catholic 86%, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist. Official Website :www.reunion.pref.gouv.fr |  Genral Information - Réunion
Background
Reunion is the largest island in the Mascarene group in the Indian Ocean, lying about 200 km southwest of Mauritius and 650 km east of Madagascar.
Arab sailors used to call this island Dina Morgabin ("Western Island"). The Portuguese were the first Europeans to visit the island, finding it uninhabited in 1513, and naming it Santa Apollonia. 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. |
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