Réunion (previously Île Bourbon and Île Bonaparte) is a French island with a population of 84,000 inhabitants. The island is located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about 200 kilometres (120 mi) southwest of Mauritius, the nearest island. Réunion, Mauritius and Rodrigues form the Mascarene Islands. The collective title is derived from the Portuguese navigator Pedro Mascarenhas, who first visited them in the early sixteenth century. Bourbon vanilla got its name from the long-term main supplier of vanilla, Île Bourbon/Réunion. read more…