Its tropical climate led to the development of a plantation economy focused primarily on sugar; slaves from East Africa were imported as fieldworkers, followed by Malays, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Indians as indentured laborers.

A delegation accompanied by military forces, charged with imposing the liberation of slaves, arrived on the island of Bourbon on 18 June 1796, only to be immediately expelled without mercy.

A profound change of society and mentality linked to the events of the last ten years led the governor to present three emancipation projects to the Colonial Council.

However, this economic depression did not prevent the modernization of the island, with the development of the road network, the creation of the railroad and the construction of the artificial harbor of the Pointe des Galets.

During World War II, Réunion was under the control of Vichy France until 30 November 1942, when Free French forces disembarked from the destroyer Léopard and liberated the colony.

Over about two decades in the late 20th century (1963–1982), 1,630 children from La Réunion were relocated to rural areas of metropolitan France, particularly to Creuse, ostensibly for education and work opportunities.

The French government of Dominique de Villepin sent an emergency aid package worth €36 million and deployed about 500 troops in an effort to eradicate mosquitoes on the island.

Article 73 of the constitution provides for the possibility of replacing the region and the department by a single territorial entity, but, unlike French Guiana or Martinique, there are currently no plans to do so.

[29][30] In 2022, the French Air Force demonstrated a capacity to reinforce the territory by deploying two Rafale fighter aircraft, supported by an A330 MRTT Phénix tanker, from France to Réunion for a regional exercise.

[31] The French naval presence includes two Floréal-class frigates, Floréal and Nivôse, the icebreaker L'Astrolabe, the patrol and support ship Champlain and the coast guard vessel Le Malin.

Between the coastal fringe and the Hauts, there is a steep transitional zone whose gradient varies considerably before arriving at the ridge lines setting the cirques or the Enclos, the caldera of the Piton de la Fournaise.

In fact, the thermal amplitude from one season to another is relatively small (rarely exceeding 10 °C or 18 °F), although it is perceptible: In mountain towns, such as Cilaos or La Plaine-des-Palmistes, average temperatures range between 12 and 22 °C (54 and 72 °F).

Grand Anse is a tropical white-sand beach lined with coconut trees in the south of Réunion, with a rock pool built for swimmers, a pétanque playground, and a picnic area.

Humpback whales migrate north to the island from the Antarctic waters annually during the Southern Hemisphere winter (June–September) to breed and feed, and can be routinely observed from the shores of Réunion during this season.

Beekeepers began importing European honey bees during the late 19th century, which in turn have breed with the endemic Apis mellifera unicolor subspecies which originated from Madagascar.

This is in contrast to the situation that prevailed from the middle of the 19th century until World War Two when many migrants from India (especially from Tamil Nadu and Gujarat),[78] Eastern Asia (particularly China), and Africa came to La Réunion to work in the plantation economy.

Groups that are not Creole include people recently arrived from Metropolitan France (known as zoreilles) and those from Mayotte and the Comoros as well as immigrants from Madagascar and Sri Lankan Tamil refugees.

One, the sega, is a Creole variant of the quadrille, the other, the maloya, like the American blues, comes from Africa, carried by the nostalgia and pain of enslaved people uprooted and deported from their homeland.

The slaves' maloya, a ritual dance full of melodies and gestures, was performed, often clandestinely, at night around a bonfire; the few instruments that accompanied it were made of plants (bamboo, gourds, etc.).

[90] The sometimes controversial lyrics reminded France of its slave-owning past and underlined the damage this colonial era did to human beings; in the course of the island's history, Maloya artists and kabar [fr] (French: kabaré; gatherings) were banned by authorities.

In the field of contemporary dance, the choreographer Pascal Montrouge, who directs the only company in France that has a double headquarters in Saint-Denis de La Réunion and Hyères, which reinforces the sense of his vision of identity.

Thus, hip-hop culture is developing, but also ragga dancehall, with KM David or Kaf Malbar being the figurehead of this new movement, influencing the young generation all over the island, with their songs spread by mp3 or internet.

Curry is made with a base of onion, garlic and spices such as turmeric (called "safran péi" on the island),[96] on which fish, meat and eggs are fried; tomato is then added.

[99] Annual athletics Meeting de la Réunion is held at the Stade Paul Julius Bénard by the governing body Ligue Réunionnaise d'athlétisme.

[101] In fact, in the absence of an architect, workers would draw a line on the ground and build two identical parts on each side, resulting in houses of essentially rectangular shape.

Formerly centred on coffee and clove cultivation, it has focused on sugar cane since the events of the early 19th century, namely the Great Avalanches and the seizure of Réunion by the British.

In 2005–2006, Réunion experienced an epidemic of chikungunya, a viral disease similar to dengue fever brought in from East Africa, which infected almost a third of the population because of its transmission through mosquitoes.

Roland Garros Airport serves the island, handling flights to mainland France, Madagascar, Mauritius, Tanzania, Comoros, Seychelles, South Africa, China and Thailand.

Chantal Manès-Bonnisseau, Inspector General of Education, Sport and Research, was appointed Rector of the Académie de La Réunion and Chancellor of Universities at the Council of Ministers on 29 July 2020.

Due to the large volumes of rainfall, the flow of surface water allows the installation of hydroelectric infrastructures, especially as erosion has carved out narrow and very deep ravines.