Reunion is part of the Mascarene Islands, and was element of the volcanic eruption about 3 million years back. Also belongs to the Mascarene Islands, the island of Mauritius and the isle of Rodriguez. Discovered the island was already within the tenth century by Arab seafarers and was then called the West Island. Initiating of the 16th Century, the islands first appeared on a map of Europe, but this became a copy of Arabian charts. A little later, the 1st Europeans arrived about this isle inside the exploration of water routes to Asia. Regarding a century later, however, it was then the French, who first took the island can claim. Within the beginning, the isle was utilized just for convicts to suspend or mutineers there. Around the mid-17th Century eventually got also first complete settlers to the isle to build up settlements here first. These were mostly African slaves who worked in the newly established plantations. From the beginning of the 18th Century regarding the isle primarily grown coffee and the island experienced its initial financial boom.
Center of the 18th Century, the island was already exporting two.5 million lbs of coffee and had a population of 2500 inhabitants. The island experienced a continued recovery and a three years later resided within the belated 18th Century almost 50,000 complimentary people and at least twice as many slaves on the isle. Early 19th Century, but serious storms devastated the island, destroying much of the coffee plantations. The island then switched on the cultivation of sugar cane, and is still the dominant plant on Reunion Island. Now he is the cultivation of diverse items still the dominating economic activity in the island of La Réunion . However, the tourism is regularly growing of the island is another beach holiday offers ideal conditions.