Population: 732,570 (July 2001 est.)

Languages: French (official), Creole widely used

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...

Currency: Euro (EUR, EUR (€0.75 = US$1))

Data from CIA World Factbook. Click on CIA link for more. Click on map or flag for larger images.