Disputes - international: the territorial dispute with Bahrain over the Hawar Islands and the maritime boundary dispute with Bahrain are currently before the International Court of Justice (ICJ); June 1999 agreement has furthered the goal of definitively establishing the border with Saudi Arabia
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REUNION
@Reunion:Introduction
Background: The Portuguese discovered the uninhabited island in 1513. From the 17th to the 19th centuries, French immigration supplemented by influxes of Africans, Chinese, Malays, and Malabar Indians gave the island its ethnic mix. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 cost the island its importance as a stopover on the East Indies trade route.
@Reunion:Geography
Location: Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of
Madagascar
Geographic coordinates: 21 06 S, 55 36 E
Map references: World
Area: total: 2,512 sq km land: 2,502 sq km water: 10 sq km