One of the Indian Ocean Islands, east of Madagascar. Its capital is Saint-Denis. It was discovered in 1507 by the Portuguese and claimed by France in 1638. It was first colonized in 1662 as Isle de Bourbon but renamed Reunion in 1793. In 1946 it was made an overseas department of France. The name commemorates the reunion of the revolutionaries from Marseilles with the National Guard in Paris in 1792. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p1011; Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p454; French Embassy)

Numerous islands in the Indian Ocean situated east of Madagascar, north to the Arabian Sea and east to Sri Lanka. Included are COMOROS (republic), MADAGASCAR (republic), Maldives (republic), MAURITIUS (parliamentary democracy), Pemba (administered by Tanzania), REUNION (a department of France), and SEYCHELLES (republic).

A species of ALPHAVIRUS causing an acute dengue-like fever.

Virus diseases caused by members of the ALPHAVIRUS genus of the family TOGAVIRIDAE.

A body of water covering approximately one-fifth of the total ocean area of the earth, extending amidst Africa in the west, Australia in the east, Asia in the north, and Antarctica in the south. Including the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, it constitutes the third largest ocean after the ATLANTIC OCEAN and the PACIFIC OCEAN. (New Encyclopaedia Britannica Micropaedia, 15th ed, 1990, p289)

The name of two islands of the West Indies, separated by a narrow channel. Their capital is Basse-Terre. They were discovered by Columbus in 1493, occupied by the French in 1635, held by the British at various times between 1759 and 1813, transferred to Sweden in 1813, and restored to France in 1816. Its status was changed from colony to a French overseas department in 1946. Columbus named it in honor of the monastery of Santa Maria de Guadalupe in Spain. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p470 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p221)

One of the Indian Ocean Islands, east of Madagascar. Its capital is Port Louis. It was discovered by the Portuguese in 1505, occupied by the Dutch 1598-1710, held by the French 1715-1810 when the British captured it, formally ceded to the British in 1814, and became independent in 1968. It was named by the Dutch in honor of Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange (1567-1625). (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p742 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p341)

A country in western Europe bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, the English Channel, the Mediterranean Sea, and the countries of Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, the principalities of Andorra and Monaco, and by the duchy of Luxembourg. Its capital is Paris.