Reunion

Réunion rises steeply from the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar. Its volcanic mountains are cut by deep ravines, and Piton de la Fournaise dominates the southeastern part of the island. The difficult terrain and lack of sheltered harbours made settlement and travel challenging, while the high interior offered refuge to people fleeing the coast.

In 1663 two Frenchmen and ten Malagasy men and women established a lasting settlement on the island, then called Bourbon. Coffee plants arrived in 1715, and plantations expanded under the French East India Company. Their labour came increasingly from enslaved people brought from Madagascar and the east coast of Africa. Some escaped into the mountains, where they formed communities beyond the plantations. British forces occupied the island in 1810; it returned to France in 1815.

The later city of Saint-Denis lies here.