Saint-Philippe

Saint-Philippe is a commune in the French overseas department of Réunion. It is located in south-eastern Reunion.

For the municipality in Quebec, see Saint-Philippe, Quebec.

Saint-Philippe
Commune
Location of Saint-Philippe
Coordinates: 21°21′34″S 55°46′04″E
Country	France
Overseas region and department	Réunion
Arrondissement	Saint-Pierre
Canton	Saint-Benoît-2
Government
• Mayor (2014-2020)	Olivier Rivière
Area ^1	153.94 km^2 (59.44 sq mi)
Population  (2017-01-01)[1]	5,260
• Density	34/km^2 (88/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+04:00
INSEE/Postal code	97417 /97442
Elevation	0–2,630 m (0–8,629 ft) (avg. 40 m or 130 ft)
^1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km^2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Geography

Saint-Philippe is on the highest point on the island. It borders the municipalities of Saint-Joseph and Sainte-Rose, to the west and north respectively. Although it is a coastal area, the administrative centre is in Les Hauts (the highland area of the island).

History

A notable event in the commune's history was in 1897, when the British troopship RIMS Warren Hastings ran aground in the middle of the night. Two seamen died as a result, the crash sparked by a compass malfunction resulting from the eruption of the Piton de la Fournaise. On board the ship was some electricity, for which the village of Tremblet would have to wait until 1984 to finally receive.

See also

• Communes of the Réunion department
• Ravine d'Ango

References

1. "Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.