REUNION

REUNION / RÉUNION.

Definitive stamps.
Map of Reunion Island.
First stamp in a set of 6, issued in 1907.
Face value: 1 cent of French franc.
Printing: Typography.
Size: 41 x 25 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 56.
- Scott No. 60.
- StampWorld No. 56.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 60.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 56.

Reunion (Reunion Creole: La Rényon) is an island of the Mascarene archipelago with the status of a French overseas department, located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, and constituted as an outermost region of the European Union. Like the rest of the overseas departments, it is also a region of France and is part of the Republic. Its area is 2,511 km² (970 sq mi) and its population (January 2021) was 858,450 inhabitants.

The island was occupied by the Arabs since the 10th century, but when the Portuguese arrived in 1513, they found it uninhabited and named it Santa Apolónia. In 1638 it was occupied by France, and it was administered from Mauritius. The island would not be officially claimed by France until 1642, and by decree of King Louis XIII it was renamed Île Bourbon. Colonization, however, did not begin until 1665, when the French East India Company (Compagnie française pour le commerce des Indes orientales) sent out the first settlers and African slaves. French immigration was completed with that from Africa, China, Malaysia and India, giving the population the diverse character it has today.

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Thanks to Óscar Valencia for his contribution.