Réunion (French: La Réunion, IPA: [la ʁeynjɔ̃]; previously Île Bourbon) is a French island with a population of 837,868 inhabitants (as of January 2012) located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about 200 kilometres (120 mi) southwest of Mauritius, the nearest island.
Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France. Like the other overseas departments, Réunion is also one of the 27 regions of France (being an overseas region) and an integral part of the Republic with the same status as those situated on the European mainland.
More information on the Wikipedia page [1]