Reunion

About this destination

Réunion (French: La Réunion) is an island and French overseas department in Africa, east of Madagascar and west of Mauritius. An old name, abolished in 1848, is Île Bourbon. The then-uninhabited Réunion was discovered by the Portuguese in 1513. The current population mix has existed since the 17th century, when the island was populated by French, Africans, Chinese, Malays and Indians. Until the opening of the Suez Canal, it was an important stop on the way to the East Indies. Today, the island of Réunion is a modern and prosperous island with a population of 829,903 (2010) inhabitants.