Piton de la Fournaise

Piton de la Fournaise (fr. Szyt Piece), disc volcano (2,631 m) on the island of Reunion – the subsidiary of France, located in the Indian Ocean. Volcano is one of the most active in the world. Last volcanic eruption occurred 2 April 2007

Population

There is no indigenous population, the island is inhabited mixed population – the descendants of laborers working on the plantations came from different corners of the world. Official language is French, but widely used language is Creole. The dominant religion is Catholicism.

Geography

Reunion is located 760 km east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. A volcanic chain runs diagonally across the entire island and divides them into two regions: the green and sultry eastern (Le Vent) and the dry, sheltered south and west side (Sous le Vent). The bulk of the population lives on the coast. Five smaller islands

Arrondissements, cantons, and communes

Administratively, Réunion is divided into 4 arrondissements, 24 cantons, and 24 communes. It is a French overseas département as well as a French region. The low number of communes, compared to French metropolitan departments of similar size and population, is unique; most Réunionnaises communes encompass several localities, sometimes separated by significant distances. Réunion is part of the Indian Ocean Commission.

Cirque de Salazie

The Cirque de Salazie, accessed by road from St-André on the northeast coast, is busier and more varied than the Cirque de Cilaos. The vegetation is incredibly lush and waterfalls tumble down the mountains, even over the road in places – Salazie is the wettest of the three cirques and has the dubious distinction of holding several world records for rainfall.

For real thrill seekers, there’s the exhilaration of canyoning, which challenges you to abseil down the steep walls of canyons using natural watercourses. The canyons along this stretch are suitable for all levels. The sport, however, is very vulnerable to the vagaries of the weather, so venues change according to the time of year. The canyoning specialist Ric à Ric produces an excellent guide to Réunion’s 39 best canyons.

When to Go

The peak tourist seasons are during the French school holidays, from late June to early September. The period from October through to the New Year holidays is also reasonably busy, but afterwards everything eases down for cyclone-prone February and March. The weather normally changes for the better in April, which isn’t a bad time to a visit. The drier winter months are the most favourable for hiking. Festivals happen year-round on Réunion, but January, August and October have lots on.

Saint-Denis

Saint-Denis (or unofficially Saint-Denis de la Réunion for disambiguation) is the préfecture (administrative capital) of the French overseas région and overseas département of Réunion, in the Indian Ocean.

Saint-Denis is the most populous commune in the French overseas departments. At the 1999 census, there were 158,139 inhabitants in the urban area of Saint-Denis, 131,557 of whom lived in the city (commune) of Saint-Denis proper and the remainder in the neighbouring commune of Sainte-Marie.

Réunion

Réunion (French: Réunion or formally La Réunion; previously Île Bourbon), is an island located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about 200 km (130 miles) south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.

Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas départements of France. Like the other overseas departments, Réunion is also one of the twenty-six regions of France (being an overseas region) and an integral part of the Republic with the same status as those situated on the European mainland.

Réunion is an outermost region of the European Union, and thus the currency used is the euro. In fact, due to its location in a time zone to the east of Europe, Réunion was the first region in the world to use the euro, and the first ever purchase using the euro occurred at 12.01 a.m., when the former mayor of Saint-Denis René-Paul Victoria bought a bag of lychees at a market.