An Island Born from Fire

Unlike its Caribbean counterparts, Réunion had no indigenous population when Portuguese navigator Pedro Mascarenhas first sighted it in 1507. The island emerged from the Indian Ocean floor through volcanic activity, creating a dramatic landscape of peaks, cirques, and active volcanoes that continue shaping both geography and mentality.

"We're all immigrants here," notes historian Dr. Prosper Eve. "That changes everything. No one can claim to be more legitimate than others. We all came by boat—some in chains, others by choice, but all strangers who became Réunionnais together."

The French East India Company established permanent settlement in 1665, initially bringing: - French colonists seeking fortune - Malagasy slaves from nearby Madagascar - Later, enslaved people from East Africa and India - Pirates and adventurers from across the Indian Ocean

This uninhabited island became a laboratory for creating society from scratch—an experiment whose results still unfold today.