Spratly Islands (2008) | Reunion (2004) | |
Administrative divisions | - | none (overseas department of France); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 4 arrondissements, 24 communes, and 47 cantons |
Age structure | - | 0-14 years: 30.9% (male 121,050; female 115,440)
15-64 years: 63.1% (male 238,553; female 245,236) 65 years and over: 6% (male 18,626; female 27,248) (2004 est.) |
Agriculture - products | - | sugarcane, vanilla, tobacco, tropical fruits, vegetables, corn |
Airports | 3 (2007) | 2 (2003 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2007) |
total: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2007) |
- |
Area | total: less than 5 sq km
land: less than 5 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes 100 or so islets, coral reefs, and sea mounts scattered over an area of nearly 410,000 sq km of the central South China Sea |
total: 2,517 sq km
land: 2,507 sq km water: 10 sq km |
Area - comparative | NA | slightly smaller than Rhode Island |
Background | The Spratly Islands consist of more than 100 small islands or reefs. They are surrounded by rich fishing grounds and potentially by gas and oil deposits. They are claimed in their entirety by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam, while portions are claimed by Malaysia and the Philippines. About 45 islands are occupied by relatively small numbers of military forces from China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Brunei has established a fishing zone that overlaps a southern reef but has not made any formal claim. | The Portuguese discovered the uninhabited island in 1513. From the 17th to the 19th centuries, French immigration, supplemented by influxes of Africans, Chinese, Malays, and Malabar Indians, gave the island its ethnic mix. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 cost the island its importance as a stopover on the East Indies trade route. |
Birth rate | - | 19.69 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Budget | - | revenues: $1.26 billion
expenditures: $2.62 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (1998) |
Capital | - | Saint-Denis |
Climate | tropical | tropical, but temperature moderates with elevation; cool and dry from May to November, hot and rainy from November to April |
Coastline | 926 km | 207 km |
Constitution | - | 28 September 1958 (French Constitution) |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Spratly Islands |
conventional long form: Department of Reunion
conventional short form: Reunion local long form: none local short form: Ile de la Reunion former: Bourbon Island |
Currency | - | euro (EUR) |
Death rate | - | 5.48 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Debt - external | - | NA |
Dependency status | - | overseas department of France |
Diplomatic representation from the US | - | none (overseas department of France) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | - | none (overseas department of France) |
Disputes - international | all of the Spratly Islands are claimed by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam; parts of them are claimed by Malaysia and the Philippines; in 1984, Brunei established an exclusive fishing zone that encompasses Louisa Reef in the southern Spratly Islands but has not publicly claimed the reef; claimants in November 2002 signed the "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea," which has eased tensions but falls short of a legally binding "code of conduct"; in March 2005, the national oil companies of China, the Philippines, and Vietnam signed a joint accord to conduct marine seismic activities in the Spratly Islands | none |
Economic aid - recipient | - | $NA; note - substantial annual subsidies from France (2001 est.) |
Economy - overview | Economic activity is limited to commercial fishing. The proximity to nearby oil- and gas-producing sedimentary basins suggests the potential for oil and gas deposits, but the region is largely unexplored. There are no reliable estimates of potential reserves. Commercial exploitation has yet to be developed. | The economy has traditionally been based on agriculture, but services now dominate. Sugarcane has been the primary crop for more than a century, and in some years it accounts for 85% of exports. The government has been pushing the development of a tourist industry to relieve high unemployment, which amounts to one-third of the labor force. The gap in Reunion between the well-off and the poor is extraordinary and accounts for the persistent social tensions. The white and Indian communities are substantially better off than other segments of the population, often approaching European standards, whereas minority groups suffer the poverty and unemployment typical of the poorer nations of the African continent. The outbreak of severe rioting in February 1991 illustrates the seriousness of socioeconomic tensions. The economic well-being of Reunion depends heavily on continued financial assistance from France. |
Electricity - consumption | - | 1.005 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | - | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | - | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | - | 1.08 billion kWh (2001) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: South China Sea 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on Southwest Cay 4 m |
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Piton des Neiges 3,069 m |
Environment - current issues | NA | NA |
Ethnic groups | - | French, African, Malagasy, Chinese, Pakistani, Indian |
Exchange rates | - | euros per US dollar - 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999) |
Executive branch | - | chief of state: President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995), represented by Prefect Dominique VIAN (since 16 August 2004)
head of government: President of the General Council Jean-Luc POUDROUX (since NA March 1998) and President of the Regional Council Paul VERGES (since NA March 1993) cabinet: NA elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of the Interior; the presidents of the General and Regional Councils are elected by the members of those councils |
Exports | - | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | - | sugar 63%, rum and molasses 4%, perfume essences 2%, lobster 3%, (1993) |
Exports - partners | - | France 74%, Japan 6%, Comoros 4% (2000) |
Fiscal year | - | calendar year |
Flag description | - | the flag of France is used |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $4.348 billion (2003 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | - | agriculture: 8%
industry: 19% services: 73% (2000 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $5,800 (2001 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | - | 2.5% (2003 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 8 38 N, 111 55 E | 21 06 S, 55 36 E |
Geography - note | strategically located near several primary shipping lanes in the central South China Sea; includes numerous small islands, atolls, shoals, and coral reefs | this mountainous, volcanic island has an active volcano, Piton de la Fournaise; there is a tropical cyclone center at Saint-Denis, which is the monitoring station for the whole of the Indian Ocean |
Heliports | 3 (2007) | - |
Highways | - | total: 2,724 km
paved: 1,300 km (including 73 km of four-lane road) unpaved: 1,424 km (1994) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | - | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
Imports | - | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | - | manufactured goods, food, beverages, tobacco, machinery and transportation equipment, raw materials, and petroleum products |
Imports - partners | - | France 64%, Bahrain 3%, Germany 3%, Italy 3% (2000) |
Independence | - | none (overseas department of France) |
Industrial production growth rate | - | NA |
Industries | - | sugar, rum, cigarettes, handicraft items, flower oil extraction |
Infant mortality rate | - | total: 7.95 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 8.71 deaths/1,000 live births female: 7.17 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | - | NA |
International organization participation | - | InOC, UPU, WFTU |
Irrigated land | 0 sq km | 120 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | - | Court of Appeals or Cour d'Appel |
Labor force | - | 309,900 (2000) |
Labor force - by occupation | - | agriculture 13%, industry 12%, services 75% (2000) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | 0 km |
Land use | arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2005) |
arable land: 13.6%
permanent crops: 1.2% other: 85.2% (2001) |
Languages | - | French (official), Creole widely used |
Legal system | - | French law |
Legislative branch | - | unicameral General Council (49 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve six-year terms) and a unicameral Regional Council (45 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: General Council - last held 15 and 22 March 1998 (next to be held NA 2004); Regional Council - last held 28 March 2004 (next to be held NA 2010) election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - various right-wing candidates 13, PCR 10, PS 10, UDF 8, RPR 6, other left-wing candidates 2; Regional Council (second round) - percent of vote by party - PCR 44.9%, UMP 32.8%, PS-Greens 22.3%; seats by party - PCR 27, UMP 11, PS-Greens 7 note: Reunion elects three representatives to the French Senate; elections last held NA 2001 (next to be held NA 2006); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; Reunion also elects five deputies to the French National Assembly; elections last held 9 June-16 June 2002 (next to be held NA 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UMP-RPR 1, UMP 1, PCR 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | - | total population: 73.69 years
male: 70.29 years female: 77.26 years (2004 est.) |
Literacy | - | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 88.9% male: 87% female: 90.8% (2003 est.) |
Location | Southeastern Asia, group of reefs and islands in the South China Sea, about two-thirds of the way from southern Vietnam to the southern Philippines | Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar |
Map references | Southeast Asia | World |
Maritime claims | NA | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | - | total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 28,264 GRT/44,885 DWT
by type: chemical tanker 1 foreign-owned: Sweden 1 registered in other countries: 1 |
Military - note | Spratly Islands consist of more than 100 small islands or reefs of which about 45 are claimed and occupied by China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam | defense is the responsibility of France |
Military branches | - | no regular indigenous military forces; French forces (including Army, Navy, Air Force, and Gendarmerie) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 202,385 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 103,073 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 7,070 (2004 est.) |
National holiday | - | Bastille Day, 14 July (1789) |
Nationality | - | noun: Reunionese (singular and plural)
adjective: Reunionese |
Natural hazards | typhoons; numerous reefs and shoals pose a serious maritime hazard | periodic, devastating cyclones (December to April); Piton de la Fournaise on the southeastern coast is an active volcano |
Natural resources | fish, guano, undetermined oil and natural gas potential | fish, arable land, hydropower |
Net migration rate | - | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | - | Communist Party of Reunion or PCR [Paul VERGES]; Rally for the Republic or RPR [Andre Maurice PIHOUEE]; Socialist Party or PS [Jean-Claude FRUTEAU]; Union for French Democracy or UDF [Gilbert GERARD]; Union for a Popular Movement or UMP [leader NA] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | - | NA |
Population | no indigenous inhabitants
note: there are scattered garrisons occupied by personnel of several claimant states |
766,153 (July 2004 est.) |
Population below poverty line | - | NA |
Population growth rate | - | 1.42% (2004 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Le Port, Pointe des Galets |
Radio broadcast stations | - | AM 2, FM 55, shortwave 0 (2001) |
Religions | - | Roman Catholic 86%, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist (1995) |
Sex ratio | - | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
Suffrage | - | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | - | general assessment: adequate system; principal center is Saint-Denis
domestic: modern open-wire and microwave radio relay network international: country code - 262; radiotelephone communication to Comoros, France, Madagascar; new microwave route to Mauritius; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean); fiber optic submarine cable (SAT-3/WASC/SAFE) provides connectivity to Europe and Asia |
Telephones - main lines in use | - | 300,000 est (2001) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | - | 489,800 (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | - | 35 (plus 18 low-power repeaters) (2001) |
Terrain | flat | mostly rugged and mountainous; fertile lowlands along coast |
Total fertility rate | - | 2.5 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
Unemployment rate | - | 36% (1999 est.) |