_#_Climate: tropical, but moderates with elevation; cool and dry from
May to November, hot and rainy from November to April
_#_Terrain: mostly rugged and mountainous; fertile lowlands along
coast
_#_Natural resources: fish, arable land
_#_Land use: arable land 20%; permanent crops 2%; meadows and
pastures 4%; forest and woodland 35%; other 39%; includes irrigated
2%
_#_Environment: periodic devastating cyclones
_#_Note: located 750 km east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean
_*_People
_#_Population: 607,086 (July 1991), growth rate 1.9% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 24 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 8 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 70 years male, 76 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 2.6 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun--Reunionese (sing. and pl.);
adjective--Reunionese
_#_Ethnic divisions: most of the population is of intermixed French,
African, Malagasy, Chinese, Pakistani, and Indian ancestry
_#_Religion: Roman Catholic 94%
_#_Language: French (official); Creole widely used
_#_Literacy: 69% (male 67%, female 74%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1982)
_#_Labor force: NA; agriculture 30%, industry 21%, services 49%
(1981); 63% of population of working age (1983)
_#_Organized labor: General Confederation of Workers of Reunion (CGTR)
_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Department of Reunion
_#_Type: overseas department of France
_#_Capital: Saint-Denis
_#_Administrative divisions: none (overseas department of France)
_#_Independence: none (overseas department of France)
_#_Constitution: 28 September 1958 (French Constitution)
_#_Legal system: French law
_#_National holiday: Taking of the Bastille, 14 July (1789)
_#_Executive branch: French president, commissioner of the Republic
_#_Legislative branch: unicameral General Council, unicameral Regional
Council
_#_Judicial branch: Court of Appeals (Cour d'appel)
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State--President Francois MITTERRAND
(since 21 May 1981);
Head of Government--Commissioner of the Republic Daniel CONSTANTIN
(since September 1989)
_#_Political parties and leaders:
Rally for the Republic (RPR), Francois MAS;
Union for French Democracy (UDF), Gilbert GERARD;
Communist Party of Reunion (PCR), Paul VERGES;
France-Reunion Future (FRA), Andre THIEN AH KOON;
Socialist Party (PS), Jean-Claude FRUTEAU;
Social Democrats (CDS), other small parties
_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18
_#_Elections:
General Council--last held March 1986 (next to be held 1992);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(36 total) number of seats by party NA;
Regional Council--last held 16 March 1986
(next to be held March 1991);
results--RPR/UDF 36.8%, PCR 28.2%, FRA and other right wing 17.3%,
PS 14.1%, other 3.6%;
seats--(45 total) RPR/UDF 18, PCR 13, FRA and other right wing 8, PS 6;
French Senate--last held 24 September 1989 (next to be held
September 1992);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(3 total) RPR-UDF 1, PS 1, independent 1;
French National Assembly--last held 5 and 12 June 1988
(next to be held June 1993);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(5 total) PCR 2, RPR 1, UDF-CDS 1, FRA 1
_#_Communists: Communist party small but has support among sugarcane
cutters, the minuscule Popular Movement for the Liberation of Reunion
(MPLR), and in the district of Le Port
_#_Member of: FZ, WFTU
_#_Diplomatic representation: as an overseas department of France,
Reunionese interests are represented in the US by France
_#_Flag: the flag of France is used
_*_Economy
_#_Overview: The economy has traditionally been based on agriculture.
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 recently amounted to one-third of the labor force. The white
and Indian communities are substantially better off than other segments
of the population, adding to the social tensions generated by poverty
and unemployment. The economic well-being of Reunion depends heavily on
continued financial assistance from France.
_#_GDP: $3.37 billion, per capita $6,000 (1987 est.); real growth
rate 9% (1987 est.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.3% (1988)
_#_Unemployment rate: 35% (February 1991)
_#_Budget: revenues $358 million; expenditures $914 million, including
capital expenditures of $NA (1986)
_#_Exports: $166 million (f.o.b., 1988);
commodities--sugar 75%, rum and molasses 4%, perfume essences 4%,
lobster 3%, vanilla and tea 1%;
partners--France, Mauritius, Bahrain, South Africa, Italy
_#_Imports: $1.7 billion (c.i.f., 1988);
commodities--manufactured goods, food, beverages, tobacco,
machinery and transportation equipment, raw materials, and petroleum
products;
partners--France, Mauritius, Bahrain, South Africa, Italy
_#_External debt: NA
_#_Industrial production: growth rate NA%; about 25% of GDP
_#_Electricity: 245,000 kW capacity; 546 million kWh produced,
965 kWh per capita (1989)
_#_Industries: sugar, rum, cigarettes, several small shops producing
handicraft items
_#_Agriculture: accounts for 30% of labor force; dominant sector of
economy; cash crops--sugarcane, vanilla, tobacco; food crops--tropical
fruits, vegetables, corn; imports large share of food needs
_#_Economic aid: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral
commitments (1970-88), $14.1 billion
_#_Currency: French franc (plural--francs); 1 French franc (F) =
100 centimes
_#_Exchange rates: French francs (F) per US$1--5.1307 (January 1991),
5.4453 (1990), 6.3801 (1989), 5.9569 (1988), 6.0107 (1987), 6.9261
(1986), 8.9852 (1985)
_#_Fiscal year: calendar year
_*_Communications
_#_Highways: 2,800 km total; 2,200 km paved, 600 km gravel, crushed
stone, or stabilized earth
_#_Ports: Pointe des Galets
_#_Civil air: 1 major transport aircraft
_#_Airports: 2 total, 2 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
_#_Telecommunications: adequate system for needs; modern open-wire
line and radio relay network; principal center Saint-Denis;
radiocommunication to Comoros, France, Madagascar; new radio relay route
to Mauritius; 85,900 telephones; stations--3 AM, 13 FM, 1 (18 relays) TV;
1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station
_*_Defense Forces
_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 162,017; 83,959 fit for
military service; 5,979 reach military age (18) annually
_#_Note: defense is the responsibility of France
_%_
_@_Romania
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 237,500 km2; land area: 230,340 km2
_#_Comparative area: slightly smaller than Oregon
_#_Land boundaries: 2,904 km total; Bulgaria 608 km, Hungary 443 km,
USSR 1,307 km, Yugoslavia 546 km
_#_Coastline: 225 km
_#_Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: 200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation;
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;