Réunion language used French
Réunion, officially Department of Réunion, is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately 679 km (422 mi) east of the island of Madagascar and 175 km (109 mi) southwest of the island of Mauritius. As of January 2023, it had a population of 873,102. Its capital and largest city is Saint-Denis.
Réunion was uninhabited until French immigrants and colonial subjects settled the island in the 17th century. 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. Today, the greatest proportion of the population is of mixed descent, while the predominant language is Réunion Creole, though French remains the sole official language.Since 1946, Réunion has been governed as a French region and is thus politically indistinguishable from its counterparts in Metropolitan France. Consequently, it is the outermost region of the European Union and part of the eurozone; along with the French overseas department of Mayotte it is the only eurozone area in the Southern Hemisphere. Owing to its strategic location, France maintains a large military presence.Language
French is the sole official language of Réunion. Though not official, Réunion Creole is widely spoken alongside French. Creole is commonly used for informal purposes, whereas the official language for administrative purposes, as well as education, is French.Other languages spoken on Réunion include: Comorian varieties (especially Shimaore) and Malagasy, by recent immigrants from Mayotte and Madagascar; Mandarin, Hakka and Cantonese by members of the Chinese community; Indian languages, mostly Tamil, Gujarati and Hindi; and Arabic, spoken by a small community of Muslims. These languages are generally spoken by immigrants, as those born on the island tend to use French and Creole.
Cantonese, Arabic and Tamil are offered as optional languages in some schools.
language spoken official language linguistic usage dialect spoken vernacular employed