Petite-Île

Petite-Île (French pronunciation: [pətit il] ^ⓘ, literally Little Isle) is a commune on the French island and department of Réunion. The commune is bordered by the communes of Saint-Joseph to the east and Saint-Pierre to the west. The commune gets its name from the uninhabited islet off of its coast, the only such islet near Réunion that has vegetation. The commune was established in 1935.

Petite-Île
Commune
The coastline of Petite-Île
Coat of arms
Location of Petite-Île
Coordinates: 21°21′21″S 55°33′57″E
Country	France
Overseas region and department	Réunion
Arrondissement	Saint-Pierre
Canton	Saint-Pierre-3
Intercommunality	Villes solidaires
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Serge Hoareau[1]
Area 1	33.93 km2 (13.10 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]	12,920
• Density	380/km2 (990/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+04:00
INSEE/Postal code	97405 /97429
Elevation	0–1,581 m (0–5,187 ft) (avg. 307 m or 1,007 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Geography

Climate

Petite-Île has a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classification Am). The average annual temperature in Petite-Île is 24.3 °C (75.7 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,458.6 mm (57.43 in) with February as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in January, at around 27.4 °C (81.3 °F), and lowest in July, at around 21.0 °C (69.8 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Petite-Île was 36.6 °C (97.9 °F) on 21 January 2009; the coldest temperature ever recorded was −5.9 °C (21.4 °F) on 2 August 2001.

Climate data for Petite-Île (1991–2020 averages, extremes 2000−present)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	36.6 (97.9)	36.0 (96.8)	35.4 (95.7)	34.5 (94.1)	33.1 (91.6)	30.7 (87.3)	31.7 (89.1)	29.5 (85.1)	30.7 (87.3)	31.8 (89.2)	33.4 (92.1)	35.6 (96.1)	36.6 (97.9)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	31.5 (88.7)	31.3 (88.3)	30.7 (87.3)	29.3 (84.7)	27.4 (81.3)	25.3 (77.5)	24.4 (75.9)	24.7 (76.5)	25.7 (78.3)	27.4 (81.3)	29.2 (84.6)	30.9 (87.6)	28.1 (82.6)
Daily mean °C (°F)	27.4 (81.3)	27.3 (81.1)	26.9 (80.4)	25.6 (78.1)	23.9 (75.0)	22.0 (71.6)	21.0 (69.8)	21.1 (70.0)	21.9 (71.4)	23.3 (73.9)	24.9 (76.8)	26.6 (79.9)	24.3 (75.7)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	23.3 (73.9)	23.4 (74.1)	23.0 (73.4)	21.9 (71.4)	20.3 (68.5)	18.6 (65.5)	17.7 (63.9)	17.6 (63.7)	18.0 (64.4)	19.2 (66.6)	20.6 (69.1)	22.4 (72.3)	20.5 (68.9)
Record low °C (°F)	19.7 (67.5)	19.9 (67.8)	19.7 (67.5)	18.6 (65.5)	16.0 (60.8)	14.6 (58.3)	15.1 (59.2)	13.6 (56.5)	14.7 (58.5)	14.9 (58.8)	16.5 (61.7)	19.0 (66.2)	13.6 (56.5)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	163.7 (6.44)	187.2 (7.37)	197.4 (7.77)	182.0 (7.17)	138.2 (5.44)	118.3 (4.66)	135.3 (5.33)	72.3 (2.85)	64.7 (2.55)	51.0 (2.01)	57.8 (2.28)	90.7 (3.57)	1,458.6 (57.43)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm)	9.5	11.6	12.2	10.9	11.2	12.7	13.3	9.3	6.5	5.6	4.5	6.2	113.4
Source: Météo France[3]

Population

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1967	7,951	—
1974	7,961	+0.02%
1982	7,834	−0.20%
1990	8,852	+1.54%
1999	10,151	+1.53%
2007	11,672	+1.76%
2012	11,564	−0.19%
2017	12,162	+1.01%
Source: INSEE[4]

Economy

The main economy in the commune is agriculture-based, with cane sugar plantations, along with fruit and vegetable farming.

See also

• Communes of the Réunion department