Reunion (France, Overseas Department and Region)

Réunion

Last modified: 2005-05-28 by ivan sache
Keywords: reunion | france |
Links: FOTW homepage | search | disclaimer and copyright | write us | mirrors

by Željko Heimer

• Administrative data
• History of Reunion
• Status of the flag
• Coat of arms

See also:

• Flag proposals
• Municipal flags
  • Saint-Philippe
  • Salazie
• House flags of shipping companies
  
  
• France.
• France: Overseas entities
• France: Departments

Administrative data

Code: 974
Area: 2,511 km².
The former dependencies of Reunion, known as Outlying Islands (Iles éparses) were placed under the authority of the Ministry of the Overseas (Ministère de l'Outremer) on 1 April 1960. Since the decree of 19 September 1960, the Outlying Islands were administrated by the Prefet of Reunion. A decree signed on 3 January 2005 has transfered the administration of the Outlying Islands to the Prefet, Higher Administrator of the Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises (TAAF).

Population (2003): 753,812 inhabitants
Around 95,000 natives of the island live in European France. Every year the island is visited by more than 420,000 tourists.

Préfecture: Saint-Denis
Sous-préfectures: Saint-Benoît, Saint-Paul, Saint-Pierre
Subdivisions: 4 arrondissements, 39 cantons, 185 communes.

The ethnical composition of Reunion is very diverse. There is no native population since the island was uninhabited before the French colonization.
The Malbars (or Malabars) represent 25% of the population. They are descended from the Indian workers imported to Reunion after the abolition of slavery. Most of these workers came from Calcutta and the Coast of Coromandel, where the former French counters Madras, Pondichéry, Karikal and Mahé are located. About 85,000 Indians were brought to Reunion and 25,000 of them eventually stayed on the island.
The Zarabes (a local form of the French les Arabes) represent 2% of the population. They are descended from the Muslim Indians imported in the XIXth century.
The Chinois (Chinese) represent 3% of the population. Most of them came at the end of the XIXth century from Canton and specialized in food trade. The Chinese immigration increased in the 1930s with the Chinese-Japanese war and the introduction of Communism in China.
The Zoreilles (a local form of the French les oreilles, the ears) represent 6% of the population. They are the people of French European origin. It seems they got the name of Zoreilles because they had to listen very carefully (in French, tendre les oreilles) when the Creoles spoke their own language.
The Caffres are descended of the African slaves who were imported for sugarcane cultivation.
The Creoles represent 40% of the population. They are defined in reference to the other categories.

Main source: