The island of Reunion has a history similar to that of Mauritius and was visited, but not settled, by early Malay, Arab and European mariners. The archipelago, comprised of Mauritius, Rodrigues and Reunion, was christened the Mascarenes by Portuguese navigator Pedro de Mascarenhas, following its European discovery in 1512. The island was then occupied by France and administered from Port Louis, Mauritius.
Nowadays, Reunion is an outermost region of the European Union and, as an overseas department of France, is part of the Eurozone. Due to its location in a time zone to the east of Europe, Reunion was the first region in the world where the euro became legal tender.
The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 reduced the importance of the island as a stopover on the East Indies trade route.
Reunion has an active volcano on its south coast and the most recent eruption occurred in 2010. The 700,000 residents of the island have learned to deal with life in the lava path of an active volcano. Piton de la Fournaise or Furnace Peak stretches to about 2,631 meters in height and, since 1980, has been consistently monitored by volcano experts including scientists and government surveillance facilities, just in case an evacuation of residents and guests is required.
The highest point on the island of Reunion, Piton des Neiges soars to 3,070 meters and occupies much of the north western two-thirds of the island. Unlike the island’s other famous volcano, this one has been inactive for approximately 20,000 years. Its name translates as “Snow Peak”, but you certainly won’t be doing any skiing here. You will, however, often find a little bit of snow dusting the top of the mountain as you look towards Reunion’s blue sky.
Since August 2010, the Pitons, Cirques and Remparts of the island, covering more than 40% of its territory, feature on UNESCO's World Heritage list. |