View source for Saint-Denis, Réunion

{{Short description|Prefecture, city and commune in Réunion, France}}
{{for|other places named Saint-Denis|Saint Denis (disambiguation)#Places}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox French commune
|name                = Saint-Denis
|native name         = {{native name|mis|paren=no|Sin-Dni}} ([[Réunion Creole|Reunionese Creole]])
|commune status      = [[Prefectures in France|Prefecture]] and [[Communes of France|commune]]
|image                  = {{Photomontage
 | photo1a                  = SaintDenisReunion002.jpg
 | photo2a   = SaintDenisReunion005.JPG
 | photo2b    = SaintDenisRéunion Cathedral.jpg
 | photo3a    = Bâtiment-Palais-Source.JPG
 | photo3b    = Mairie-saint-denis.JPG
 | photo4a    = ReU StDenis MuseumNHN.jpg
 | photo4b    = Saint Denis au crépuscule - panoramio.jpg
| size = 280
| color = #FFFFFF
}}
|caption             = From top, left to right: Panoramic view of the city from the heights of Bellepierre; cannons at the [[Barachois]] waterfront; [[Saint-Denis Cathedral, Réunion|Saint-Denis Cathedral]]; Palais de la Source, seat of the [[Departmental council (France)|departmental council]]; Saint-Denis's historic [[Hôtel de Ville, Saint-Denis, Réunion|Hôtel de Ville]] and Victory Column; La Réunion's Natural History Museum; city center and [[Indian Ocean]] in the evening.
|image flag          = File:Flag of Saint-Denis, Réunion.gif
|image coat of arms  = Blason St-Denis Réunion DOM.svg
|map                 = Locator map of Saint-Denis 2018.png
|arrondissement      = [[Arrondissement of Saint-Denis, Réunion|Saint-Denis]]
|canton              = [[Cantons of Saint-Denis|4 cantons]]
|INSEE               = 97411
|postal code         = 97400
|mayor               = [[Ericka Bareigts]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Répertoire national des élus: les maires|url=https://www.data.gouv.fr/fr/datasets/r/2876a346-d50c-4911-934e-19ee07b0e503|website=data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises|date=2 December 2020|language=fr|access-date=8 December 2020|archive-date=17 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201217105527/https://www.data.gouv.fr/fr/datasets/r/2876a346-d50c-4911-934e-19ee07b0e503|url-status=live}}</ref>
|term                = 2020&ndash;2026
|party               = [[Socialist Party (France)|PS]]
|intercommunality    = [[Communauté intercommunale du Nord de La Réunion|Nord de la Réunion]]
|coordinates         = {{Coord|-20.8789|55.4481|format=dms|display=it}}
|elevation m         = 23
|elevation min m     = 0
|elevation max m     = 2276
|area km2            = 142.79
|population             = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_total}}
|population date        = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_as_of}}
|population footnotes   = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_footnotes}}
|population demonym  = 
|metro area km2      = 547.8
|metro area date     = 2020<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/1405599?geo=AAV2020-9D1 |title=Comparateur de territoire - Aire d'attraction des villes 2020 de Saint-Denis (9D1) |publisher=[[INSEE]] |access-date=2022-05-13 |archive-date=13 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220513180008/https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/1405599?geo=AAV2020-9D1 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|metro area pop      = 319,141
|metro area pop date = Jan. 2021<ref name="AAV_pop">{{Cite web |title=Statistiques locales: France par aire d'attraction des villes, Population municipale (historique depuis 1876) 2021 |url=https://statistiques-locales.insee.fr/#bbox=-116420,5228720,245067,148203&c=indicator&i=pop_depuis_1876.pop&s=2021&t=A01&view=map13 |access-date=2024-10-05 |publisher=[[INSEE]] |archive-date=29 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129004346/https://statistiques-locales.insee.fr/#bbox=-116420,5228720,245067,148203&c=indicator&i=pop_depuis_1876.pop&s=2021&t=A01&view=map13 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|website             = {{URL|http://www.saintdenis.re}}
}}
[[File:Panneau-Sin-Dni.JPG|thumb|right|Bilingual sign in French and Reunionese Creole]]
'''Saint-Denis''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|s|æ̃|d|ə|ˈ|n|iː}}, {{IPA|fr|sɛ̃ d(ə)ni|lang|LL-Q150 (fra)-Harmonia Amanda-Saint-Denis.wav}}; {{langx|rcf|label=[[Reunionese Creole]]|Sin-Dni}}), unofficially '''Saint-Denis de La Réunion''' ({{IPA|fr|sɛ̃ d(ə)ni də la ʁeynjɔ̃|pron}}) for disambiguation, is the [[prefectures in France|prefecture]] (administrative capital) of the [[France|French]] [[overseas department and region]] of [[Réunion]], in the [[Indian Ocean]]. It is located at the island's northernmost point, close to the mouth of the [[Rivière Saint-Denis]].

Saint-Denis is the most populous commune in the French [[overseas department and region|overseas departments]] and the nineteenth most populous in all of France. At the 2021 census, there were 319,141 inhabitants in the [[Functional area (France)|metropolitan area]] of Saint-Denis (as defined by [[Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (France)|INSEE]]),<ref name="AAV_pop" /> 154,765 of whom lived in the city ([[communes of France|commune]]) of Saint-Denis proper and the remainder in the neighbouring communes of [[La Possession]], [[Sainte-Marie, Réunion|Sainte-Marie]], [[Sainte-Suzanne, Réunion|Sainte-Suzanne]], [[Saint-André, Réunion|Saint-André]], and [[Bras-Panon]].<ref name=commmune>{{cite web |url=https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/8200783?sommaire=8200811&geo=COM-97411#ancre-POP_T1 | title=Population en historique depuis 1968| access-date=2024-10-06 |publisher=[[Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (France)|INSEE]]}}</ref>

==History==
===Foundation===
Saint-Denis was founded in 1669 by [[Étienne Regnault]], the first governor of Bourbon Island (as La Réunion was then called), on the northern side of the island, where a larger and more fertile plain was deemed more propitious for the development of settlements than the  drier and more barren area of [[Saint-Paul, Réunion|Saint-Paul]] on the western side of the island. Saint-Paul had been the site of Bourbon Island's first French settlement in 1663 due to the better anchorage and wind conditions of the western coast.

The new settlement was named Saint-Denis after the name of a ship owned by one of governor Regnault's friends, which had landed in Réunion in 1668. Saint-Denis and Saint-Paul shared the role of colonial capital of Bourbon for some years, with the governor and colonial council staying alternatively in the two settlements, until Saint-Denis was chosen as the permanent location of Bourbon's colonial government in 1738.

===18th century and Napoleonic Wars===
Soon after 1738, work was started to establish a seaport in the little bay of Le [[Barachois]], on the eastern side of the Saint-Denis River, to replace the port of Saint-Paul, but its site did not offer a safe haven, due to unpredictable winds and tides, as well as frequent high surf which forced ships to unload their cargo in the open [[roadstead]] away from the shore, from where it was carried to the shore with the use of a mobile pier. Improvements in the 19th century resulted in the construction of a small artificial harbor where surf boats in charge of unloading cargo from larger ships could be protected from winds and swells, but it was regularly damaged by [[cyclone]]s. Eventually it was replaced by a new and much larger artificial harbor built on the northwest coast of La Réunion in the 1880s, in today's commune of [[Le Port, Réunion|Le Port]], {{convert|15|km|mi}} from Saint-Denis.

A royal decree in 1766 divided Bourbon Island in 5 ''quartiers'', one of which was Saint-Denis. The checkerboard plan of the city, established by land surveyor Jean-Baptiste Bancks (sometimes spelled Banck, of [[Flight of the Wild Geese|Irish Jacobite descent]]), was officially adopted in 1777. In 1790, Saint-Denis became a [[Communes of France|commune]]. Its first mayor was Jean-Baptiste Delestrac.

During the [[Napoleonic Wars]], Saint-Denis was captured by British troops on 8 July 1810. The British occupied Saint-Denis and the entire island during nearly 5 years. On 6 April 1815, after the [[Treaty of Paris (1814)|Treaty of Paris]], the British officially restored Bourbon Island to France during a ceremony held on the main square of Saint-Denis. Later in October 1815, as news of [[Napoleon]]'s [[Hundred Days|return to France]] had arrived in the Indian Ocean, a British fleet from [[Mauritius]] presented itself in front of St Denis, asking the French governor of Bourbon Island to surrender the colony to His Britannic Majesty. The French governor refused and the British started a blockade of the island. Eventually on 28 October the news arrived of Napoleon's [[Abdication of Napoleon, 1815|2nd abdication]] and [[Louis XVIII]]'s return to power, and the British fleet ended its blockade.

===Prosperity and urban development (1815–1860s)===
In the 18th century, cultivation of coffee had ensured the development of Saint-Denis. Warehouses in Saint-Denis stored the coffee beans before their export to Europe from the port of Saint-Denis. In the 19th century, following France's loss of its largest sugar colonies of [[Saint-Domingue]] ([[Haiti]]) and the [[Isle de France (Mauritius)|Isle of France]] ([[Mauritius]]) as a result of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars, sugarcane replaced coffee as the main crop in Bourbon, and sugar became the main export, again ensuring the development of Saint-Denis, from where sugar was exported to Europe.

The prosperous period experienced by Saint-Denis after the Napoleonic Wars was marked by urban development and public investments. In 1818, due to the British annexation of the Isle of France (Mauritius) which was home to the only [[lycée]] in the [[Mascarene Islands]], where Bourbon Island's elites used to send their children for [[Secondary education in France|secondary education]], Bourbon Island's governor {{ILL|Pierre Bernard Milius|lt=Milius|fr|Pierre Bernard Milius}} launched the construction of a royal college in Saint-Denis ({{ILL|Collège de Bourbon|fr}}), which opened in 1819, the first royal college on Bourbon Island (later renamed Lycée de La Réunion in 1848, then transformed into a [[Secondary_education_in_France#Collège|collège]], i.e. [[middle school]], in 1968). In 1825 a law school (''École de Jurisprudence'') granting the [[Bachelor of Laws]] was established in Saint-Denis. 

Construction of the [[Saint-Denis Cathedral, Réunion|Saint-Denis Cathedral]] was begun in 1829 and completed in 1832. The theatre of Saint-Denis was built in 1835 with loggias and balconies (it was later destroyed by fire in 1919). That same year, construction of the ''Palais législatif'' ("Legislative Palace") was begun and completed in 1837: the palace housed the Colonial Council (''Conseil colonial''), the legislative assembly of Bourbon Island; the palace was later turned over in 1855 to the newly created {{ILL|Natural History Museum of La Réunion|fr|Muséum d'histoire naturelle de La Réunion}}, the first [[natural history museum]] in the [[Indian Ocean]]. In 1843, following the example of Mauritius where [[horse racing|horse races]] had become popular among French colonial planters, a racecourse was inaugurated at [[La Redoute Stadium|La Redoute]], now transformed into a stadium. Construction of the [[Hôtel de Ville, Saint-Denis, Réunion|Hôtel de Ville]] was started in 1846 and the building was inaugurated in 1860.<ref>{{Base Mérimée|PA00105815}}</ref> The {{ILL|central market of Saint-Denis|fr|Grand marché de Saint-Denis}}, a wrought iron structure, was built between 1864 and 1866.

The [[1817–1824 cholera pandemic|first cholera pandemic]] struck Saint-Denis in the beginning of 1820: cholera had arrived from [[Calcutta]] in Mauritius the year before, and despite strict orders from governor Milius forbidding any contact with Mauritius, one ship arriving from Mauritius evaded the orders and brought cholera to Saint-Denis. The authorities reacted quickly as soon as the disease was discovered in town by isolating sick people, establishing a military [[Cordon sanitaire (medicine)|''cordon sanitaire'']], and evacuating the rest of the population from the city. As a result, cholera was contained within the city limits and killed only 178 people (whereas it spread all over Mauritius and killed thousands of people there).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G2IOAAAAQAAJ&dq=chol%C3%A9ra+saint-denis+1820&pg=PA250|title=Rapport au Conseil supérieur de santé sur le choléra-morbus pestilentiel|author=Alexandre Moreau de Jonnès|date=1831|pages=248–251|access-date=2022-05-15|archive-date=24 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224182610/https://books.google.com/books?id=G2IOAAAAQAAJ&dq=chol%C3%A9ra+saint-denis+1820&pg=PA250|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1841, the famous poet [[Charles Baudelaire]], then 20 year-old, who had been sent on a voyage to Calcutta, India by his family in the hope of ending his dissolute habits, landed in Saint-Denis and stayed on Bourbon Island for 45 days, before deciding to return to metropolitan France without reaching India.

In 1847, the return to Bourbon Island of the Catholic [[Apostolic prefecture|Apostolic Vice-Prefect]] of the island, [[Alexandre Monnet]], an [[abolitionist]] who had worked for the [[evangelization]] of Bourbon's Black slaves and was returning from a trip to Europe where he had been celebrated in Paris and Rome for his work in favor of Black slaves, triggered two days of protests in Saint-Denis among the White colonists, who insulted the Apostolic Vice-Prefect without governor {{ILL|Joseph Graëb|fr|Joseph Graëb}} intervening to stop the turmoil. Due to strong opposition, and without any local support, Father Monnet, nicknamed the Father of Black People (''le Père des Noirs''), was forced to leave Bourbon Island only fifteen days later at the urging of the governor.

On 9 June 1848, after the arrival of news of the [[French Revolution of 1848|February 1848 French Revolution]] from Europe, governor Graëb announced the proclamation of the French Republic in Saint-Denis, and the island's name was changed to La Réunion, the name it had already held between 1793 and 1806. The establishment of the Republic was met with coldness and distrust by the wealthy White planters due to the professed abolitionism of the new Republican authorities in Paris. On 18 October 1848 the new [[Commissioner of the Republic]], [[Joseph Napoléon Sébastien Sarda Garriga|Sarda Garriga]], sent from Paris to replace governor Graëb, announced in Saint-Denis the [[Slavery_in_France#End_of_slavery_in_France|abolition of slavery]] in Réunion Island, effective on 20 December 1848. In December the students at the lycée of Saint-Denis, sons of rich planters, demonstrated against the director of the lycée, a declared republican. Unable to calm the protestors, commissioner Sarda Garriga was forced to call in the troops and close the lycée for more than a month.

In 1853, the {{ILL|Banque de La Réunion|fr}}  was founded in Saint-Denis with part of the compensation paid to Réunion's slave owners by the French government after the 1848 abolition of slavery. It was the first commercial bank in Réunion, and also served as a central bank, with the legal right to issue banknotes. The next year a [[savings bank]] was also established in Saint-Denis.

=== Stagnation (1860s–1940s) ===
Saint-Denis was struck by the [[1846–1860 cholera pandemic|third cholera pandemic]] in 1859, the first time cholera was returning to Réunion since 1820. During the outbreaks of cholera in Mauritius in 1854 and 1856, strict sanitary measures forbidding the landing of ships in Réunion had prevented the disease from reaching the island. In 1859, however, a ship transporting [[Indentured servitude|indentured laborers]] from East Africa hid the cases of cholera on board from the Saint-Denis authorities and the ship was allowed to land. Cholera spread quickly and killed 863 people in the city (and 2,200 people in the entire island) in the space of two months and a half, one of the deadliest epidemics in the history of Réunion.

In the 1860s, cane cultivation was affected by the ''[[Chilo sacchariphagus]]'' pest, and the recruiting of labourers in India also became more difficult (caps introduced by British authorities), which led to a crisis of Réunion's sugar cane industry. During the same period, the island was hit by several [[cyclone]]s. [[Malaria]] also arrived in Réunion in 1868, three years after its arrival in Mauritius (both islands were malaria-free before the 1860s), and the disease became endemic in the island. The opening of the [[Suez Canal]] in 1869 as well as the French growing interest in [[Franco-Hova Wars|colonizing Madagascar]] also marginalized Réunion. As a result of all these events, Saint-Denis entered a period of stagnation that lasted until [[World War II]]. The city even officially experienced population decline from the 1870s until the beginning of the 1920s, before recovering slightly after 1921 (see Demographics section).

In 1868, bitter press campaigns opposing local [[liberalism|liberal]] ([[anti-clerical]]) and [[clericalism|clerical]] (pro-[[Jesuit]]) newspapers degenerated when the editor-in-chief of the clerical newspaper ''La Malle'' was rumored to have sexually assaulted the son of a merchant from Saint-Denis. The rumor led to five days of anti-clerical riots in the city in November-December 1868, with crowds of up to 2,000 gathering in front of the bishop's palace, shouting "Down with ''La Malle''! Down with the Jesuits!", and ransacking the college (high school) of the Jesuits. On 3 December governor [[Marie Jules Dupré]] ordered the dispersal of the unarmed anti-clerical crowd assembled on the square in front of the Saint-Denis Hôtel de Ville, and the troops opened fire, killing 9 people and injuring another 30 people. The next day, a [[state of siege]] was declared. The tragedy had nationwide repercussions in France in the dying days of the [[Second French Empire]] which opposed liberals and conservatives.

[[File:Oudemans-Réunion-2.jpg|thumb|280px|right|Dutch camp set up at the Barachois seafront by the Oudemans mission for the 1874 transit of Venus.]]
On 3 November 1870, after ships had brought the news of [[Napoleon III]]'s fall and proclamation of the French Republic in Paris, governor [[Louis Hippolyte de Lormel]] announced the proclamation of the French Republic in Saint-Denis. That same year, the first telegraph line in Réunion was established between Saint-Denis and the southern Réunionese [[Subprefectures in France|subprefecture]] of [[Saint-Pierre, Réunion|Saint-Pierre]], {{convert|110|km|mi}} in length.

In December 1874, the [[Jean Abraham Chrétien Oudemans|Oudemans]] scientific mission sent by king [[William III of the Netherlands]] to Réunion to observe the [[transit of Venus]] established its observation camp at the seafront of Barachois, in Saint-Denis.

A {{convert|10.5|km|mi}} railway tunnel dug in the big lava flow separating Saint-Denis from [[La Possession]] was started in 1878 and completed in 1881, allowing trains to connect Saint-Denis with the new seaport of La Réunion under construction at [[Le Port, Réunion|Le Port]] in replacement of the old harbor of Barachois in Saint-Denis. It was the third-longest tunnel in the world at the time. 

In 1891, the first streets in the centre of Saint-Denis started to be lit with electric lighting. In 1896, the first [[Public and private screening|public screening]] with a [[movie projector]] of the [[Auguste and Louis Lumière|Lumière brothers]] brought from Paris took place in the Saint-Denis city hall. In 1900 the first [[Car|automobile]] arrived in Saint-Denis, a [[Peugeot]] car.

In 1896, the first Chinese temple in Réunion and in France was opened in Saint-Denis, the Chane temple (陈宅), also called Shichantang (世昌堂), dedicated to [[Guandi]] and to the ancestral worship of the Chane (陈) family, one of the Cantonese families arrived in Réunion in the 1860s and 1870s as Chinese labourers. In 1905 was inaugurated in Saint-Denis the [[Noor-e-Islam Mosque]], the oldest mosque in France (outside of [[Mayotte]]), whose construction was authorized by the governor of Réunion in 1898 after several requests from the Muslim inhabitants of the island, Indians originally from [[Gujarat]] arrived in Réunion in the 1850s. The first [[Hinduism|Hindu]] temple in Saint-Denis, the [[Tamils|Tamil]]  {{ILL|Kalikambal Temple (Réunion)|lt=Kalikambal Temple|fr|Temple Kalikambal (La Réunion)}}, was inaugurated in 1917.

In 1897, queen [[Ranavalona III]] of Madagascar was deported to Saint-Denis, where she lived for two years before being deported to [[French Algeria]]. Sultan [[Said Ali bin Said Omar of Grande Comore]] was also exiled to Réunion where he lived in Saint-Denis in the end of the 1890s and beginning of the 1900s. The deposed emperor of Vietnam [[Thành Thái]] and his son the emperor [[Duy Tân]] were both exiled to Réunion by French authorities in 1916 and they lived in Saint-Denis until World War II. The Moroccan rebel leader [[Abd el-Krim]], founder of the [[Republic of the Rif]], was also exiled to Réunion in 1926 after his surrender to French troops, and he lived in Saint-Denis until 1929, before moving to [[Les Trois-Bassins]].

In 1912, the {{ILL|Musée Léon-Dierx|fr}}, the museum of arts of Saint-Denis, was inaugurated in the colonial mansion which served as the bishop's palace and had been seized by the French state the year before, following the [[1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State]].

The [[Spanish flu]] hit Saint-Denis in April and May 1919, killing thousands of people. During the [[Holy Week]] of 1919 alone, the Spanish flu killed nearly 1,000 people in Saint-Denis, a city which had less than 24,000 inhabitants at the time.

[[Wireless telegraphy|Radiotelegraphy]] services began operation in Saint-Denis in 1923, with a radiotelegraphy station opened in old military barracks at the Barachois. The first radio program broadcast to the public took place in 1927, and the first radio station, Radio Saint-Denis, went on the air in 1929.

In 1938, the old harbor of Le Barachois was filled to create a large square in order to host a large [[colonial exhibition]]. On 10 April 1940 the last public execution in Réunion took place at dawn on that square at the Barachois: two men were [[guillotine]]d for the savage murder of a 78 year-old female shopkeeper in 1937. 

In June 1940, after the [[Fall of France]], governor {{ILL|Pierre Émile Aubert|fr}} decided to declare his loyalty to [[Philippe Pétain|Marshal Pétain]], unlike the French colonial governors in the South Pacific surrounded by British territories, who chose to rally [[Charles de Gaulle|de Gaulle's]] [[Free French]], and he cut all communications with Mauritius. The British established a naval blockade of Réunion which led to severe food shortages and [[rationing]]. The governor pushed local authorities to follow [[Vichy France]] policies. In Saint-Denis, the square of Barachois was renamed square [[Philippe Pétain|Marshal Pétain]] by the municipal council in February 1941. A Pétain Propaganda Committee was created in Saint-Denis in December 1941, as well as a Marshal Pétain Guard made up of 800 followers of the ''[[Révolution nationale]]''. At the same time, an underground resistance movement started to organize itself. 

[[File:Free French destroyer Léopard on 6 June 1942.jpg|thumb|280px|The [[French destroyer Léopard|''Léopard'']], pictured in 1942.]]
After the successful [[Battle of Madagascar|British landing in Vichy-held Madagascar]], and faced with the impossibility to defend Réunion's coastline, governor Aubert on 27 September 1942 decided to declare Saint-Denis an [[open city]] and retreat to [[Hell-Bourg]], in the interior of the island. On 28 November the [[Free French Naval Forces]] (FNFL) destroyer [[French destroyer Léopard|''Léopard'']], sailing from Mauritius, arrived off Saint-Denis and landed troops unopposed. These troops captured the city and established a Free French governor. Governor Aubert surrendered to the Free French governor on 30 November, thus completing the [[Battle of Réunion|Liberation of Réunion]]. All Vichy policies enacted under governor Aubert were reversed in late 1942 and in 1943.

=== Urban expansion (1940s–1970s) ===
After World War II, Saint-Denis entered a new period of population growth and urban development. In February 1945, [[Air France]] opened an air route between Paris and Saint-Denis, the first air route linking Réunion with metropolitan France: operated once a week, it took 5 days and 14 stopovers to reach Paris from Saint-Denis. In June 1946, the newer Gillot airfield (now [[Roland Garros Airport]], the international airport of Réunion) was inaugurated {{convert|6.5|km|mi}} east of Saint-Denis's city center, in the neighboring commune of [[Sainte-Marie, Réunion|Sainte-Marie]].  

In March 1946, the colony of Réunion was turned into an [[Overseas departments and regions of France|overseas department of France]], which led to the gradual alignment of its social and public services with those of metropolitan France. Malaria eradication campaigns, started in Réunion in 1949 thanks to the new [[DDT]] insecticide, led to a dramatic decrease of malaria prevalence in the space of four years, and its complete eradication by 1967.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://globalhealthsciences.ucsf.edu/sites/globalhealthsciences.ucsf.edu/files/pub/mei-elimination-of-malaria-on-the-island-of-reunion.pdf|title=Elimination of malaria on the island of Reunion: 40 years on|author=[[World Health Organization]]|date=2014|page=xvii|access-date=2022-05-26|archive-date=3 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220303001751/https://globalhealthsciences.ucsf.edu/sites/globalhealthsciences.ucsf.edu/files/pub/mei-elimination-of-malaria-on-the-island-of-reunion.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Malaria had acted as a brake on population growth since its arrival in the island in 1868, and with its eradication the island's population soon started to grow tremendously due to high fertility rates. 

All these factors, combined with [[rural flight]], led to a new period of rapid expansion for the city of Saint-Denis. After more than 70 years of stagnation, the city's population more than doubled between the 1954 and 1967 censuses.

The [[June 1946 French legislative election]] was marked by political violence in Réunion, opposing [[French Communist Party|Communist]] militants and the [[Christian democracy|Christian-democratic]] [[Popular Republican Movement]] (MRP), which had both emerged from the underground resistance during Vichy rule over the island (1940–1942). On 25 May 1946, in the heat of the campaign, Communist and MRP militants confronted each other in the city center of Saint-Denis, and {{ILL|Alexis de Villeneuve|fr}}, [[Gaullist]] and MRP leader, who was running in the 1st constituency of Réunion (the one including Saint-Denis), where he faced [[Raymond Vergès]], a local Communist leader [[Liberation_of_France#Elections_of_May_1945|elected the year before]] mayor of Saint-Denis, was shot and killed in the mêlée. [[Paul Vergès]], son of Raymond Vergès, and future founder of the [[Communist Party of Réunion]] (with which he led the regional council of Réunion from 1998 to 2010), was accused of having fired the fatal shot with a gun belonging to his father found on the scene. Found guilty by the [[Cour d'assises|criminal court]] of [[Lyon]] (where the trial had been relocated in order to calm tensions in Réunion), he was granted [[amnesty]] in 1953 by the French government.

In 1956 was begun the construction of a major road linking Saint-Denis and [[La Possession]] (and from there the seaport of Réunion and the western coast of the island), bypassing the big lava flow which had always impeded communications between Saint-Denis and the western coast of the island. Only a slow railway line built in 1878–1881 in a tunnel under the lava flow and a narrow, winding road climbing the lava flow existed until then, which hindered the economic development of Saint-Denis. The new road, built at the bottom of the cliffs almost at sea-level, took 7 years to complete and was opened to traffic in 1963. It was later enlarged as a 4-lane expressway between 1973 and 1976.

In 1957, a large modern hospital was opened in Saint-Denis, the {{ILL|Centre hospitalier Félix-Guyon|fr}}, one of the results of the transformation of the colony into an overseas department in 1946.

The [[1959 French municipal elections]] were once again marked by political violence in Réunion. In Saint-Denis, on election day (15 March 1959), a young Communist militant was shot and killed by a Gaullist militant, and another Communist militant was severely injured by the same gunman. Paul Vergès, who was the Communist candidate to become mayor of Saint-Denis, was beaten by [[National Gendarmerie|Gendarmerie]] forces during clashes in the streets and left unconscious on the pavement. The Gaullist candidate, {{ILL|Gabriel Macé|fr|Gabriel Macé (homme politique)}}, was declared winner of the election, but the Communists accused the authorities of [[electoral fraud]]. This pushed Vergès to secede from the French Communist Party two months later and found the Communist Party of Réunion, which then campaigned for more autonomy from France. Yet in July 1959, [[Charles de Gaulle]], president of France, received a warm welcome on his arrival to Saint-Denis, the first visit by a French head of state since the foundation of the city.

In 1961, the first modern hotel and the first supermarket opened in Saint-Denis. The city's (and more generally the island's) infrastructure, however, was still largely underdeveloped compared to [[metropolitan France]], and many people lived in great poverty. In the countryside, people often resided in huts with bare earth floor, and the housing situation in the city was getting worse every year with the now rapidly growing population. De Gaulle's prime minister [[Michel Debré]], who had accompanied De Gaulle during his 1959 visit and witnessed the poverty and underdevelopment then prevalent in Réunion, feared that it would push the islanders towards asking independence from France, as had happened in the rest of Africa. After stepping down as prime minister in 1962 following the independence of [[French Algeria]] (to which he had been opposed), he was determined to prevent the same fate in Réunion, and decided to stand in the [[Réunion's 1st constituency|1st constituency of Réunion]] [[by-election]] to the [[National Assembly (France)|National Assembly]] in the beginning of 1963 (after the results of the [[1962 French legislative election]] in that constituency, which the mayor of Saint-Denis Gabriel Macé had won, were invalidated by the [[Constitutional Council (France)|Constitutional Council]] due to renewed electoral fraud).

Michel Debré decisively defeated his Communist rival Paul Vergès when the by-election took place in May 1963, and he became the leader of Réunion's Gaullist and right-wing forces opposed to the autonomy of Réunion demanded by the local Communist Party. Debré used his connections in Paris to promote the economic development of the island and bring its housing and infrastructure closer to metropolitan French level, which benefited Saint-Denis as capital of the island. In 1964, the French National Assembly voted the so-called 'Debré Law' (named after its promoter) that facilitated land [[Eminent domain|expropriation]] and [[slum clearance]] in France's urban areas. The law helped to eradicate the [[shanty town]]s that had started to appear in Saint-Denis and other Réunionese cities. The next year was launched the construction of large [[Public housing|public housing projects]] (or council estates) in the neighborhood of {{ILL|Le Chaudron (Réunion)|lt=Le Chaudron|fr|Le Chaudron}}, {{convert|4|km|mi}} east of Saint-Denis's city center, to rehouse the people evacuated from the shanty towns, as well as provide housing for low-income newcomers to the city arriving from the countryside. Construction of these projects, capable of housing close to 10,000 people, lasted until 1973.

[[File:Bâtiment-faculté-Sciences-Réunion.JPG|thumb|280px|Faculty of Science on the campus of the [[University of Reunion Island]] overlooking the city of Saint-Denis.]]
In December 1964, the first [[Television broadcasting|TV station]] in Réunion opened in Saint-Denis, a local station of the national broadcaster [[Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française|ORTF]] (which has now become [[Réunion La Première (television)]]), whose [[Television studio|studios]], located at the Barachois near the city center, produced local news programs. A university campus affiliated with the [[Aix-Marseille University]] was opened gradually in Saint-Denis between 1964 and 1970, later officially becoming the [[University of Reunion Island]] in 1982. In August 1967 the first nonstop commercial flights between Saint-Denis and Paris (operated by Air France's [[Boeing 707]]) were launched after the lengthening and modernization of Gillot Airport's runway. Saint-Denis's new [[modern architecture|modernist]] city hall was constructed in the 1970s. The city hosted the first [[Indian Ocean Island Games]] in 1979 (which it hosted again in 1998 and 2015).

===1991 Chaudron riots===
{{Further ill|1991 Chaudron riots (Réunion)|fr|Événements du Chaudron}}
Economic development and rising incomes, thanks to financial transfers from metropolitan France, led  after the 1960s to a [[Westernization]] of the local culture and the emergence of a [[Consumerism|consumer society]]: TV sets became ubiquitous, large [[hypermarket]]s appeared on the outskirts of the city as in metropolitan French cities, selling many products imported from metropolitan France, and the ownership of [[motor vehicle]]s became generalized, leading to heavy traffic during rush hours in a city whose public transports were not developed. The high level of unemployment and the high [[cost of living]] (in part due to imported goods from metropolitan France, as well as high salaries among the French state's public servants) generated frustration and social tensions among a significant part of the city's population with low incomes, who survived thanks to social benefits introduced after the transformation of Réunion into an overseas department in 1946, and who had difficult access to the consumer society and imported goods.

[[File:Chaudron (Saint-Denis).jpg|thumb|280px|Le Chaudron [[Public housing|public housing projects]] in the city of Saint-Denis in the 2000s.]]
In 1991, that social tension exploded after the authorities decided to close a TV station, [[Télé Free Dom]], which was broadcasting pirated [[B movie]]s ([[action film]]s and erotic movies in particular) and [[Réunion Creole|Reunionese Creole]] talk shows, particularly popular among low-income people. Télé Free Dom had been broadcasting from its studios in Saint-Denis without a license for more than 4 years when [[Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel|CSA]], France's electronic media regulatory authority, ordered it to cease operations. Despite protests from its viewers incited by the founder and owner of Télé Free Dom, a [[Zoreilles|metropolitan Frenchman]], the French government instructed the [[Prefect (France)|prefect]] of Réunion to seize the transmitter of the TV station on 24 February 1991. A month of riots throughout the city ensued after Télé Free Dom went off air, with their epicenter in the large projects of Le Chaudron built in the 1960s and 1970s. 

Hundreds of rioters threw stones at the police, and for several days they torched cars, looted and then set fire to banks, car dealerships, supermarkets, and large DIY and furniture stores in the [[retail park]]s on the outskirts of the city. Eight looters died on the night of 25–26 February 1991, trapped inside a burning furniture store, which led to a temporary lull in the riots, but they soon erupted again in March. A visit by prime minister [[Michel Rocard]] on 17 March failed to calm the situation down, and it was only after a visit by France's first lady [[Danielle Mitterrand]], who went to the projects at Le Chaudron to discuss with local residents and who promised to relay their grievances to the French president, that the riots finally ended on 24 March.

==Geography==
[[File:Saint-Denis (Reunion) SPOT 1268.jpg|left|upright|140px|thumb|Saint-Denis from the SPOT satellite]]

The city is located on the north end of the island, and was a port. Saint-Denis was "originally the main port of Réunion, but an artificial harbour at Le Port, on the northwest coast, replaced it in the 1880s, because of unpredictable winds and tides at Saint-Denis." The city includes some of the island's mountains, with a peak elevation of {{convert|2276|m|ft|sp=us}} within the metro area, which begins at sea level at the coast line.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Saint-Denis-Reunion |first=Amy |last=Tikkanen |title=Saint-Denis |date=21 June 2019 |access-date=7 July 2019 |archive-date=4 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804123216/https://www.britannica.com/place/Saint-Denis-Reunion |url-status=live }}</ref>

The city has many neighbourhoods:
Le Barachois, Bellepierre, Bois-de-Nèfles, La Bretagne (Le Cerf), Le Brûlé, Les Camélias, Centre-ville, Champ-Fleuri, [[La Montagne, Réunion|La Montagne]] (Le Colorado, Ruisseau Blanc, Saint-Bernard), Montgaillard, La Providence, La Rivière Saint-Denis (La Redoute), Ruisseau des Noirs, Saint-François, Saint-Jacques, Sainte-Clotilde (Le Butor, le Chaudron, Commune Prima, [[Domenjod]], Le Moufia), La Source, La Trinité, Vauban

{{Clear}}

=== Climate ===
Saint-Denis features a [[tropical monsoon climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]] ''Am'') with two distinct seasons: a hot and humid wet season from December to April and a very warm, less humid drier season for the remaining seven months of the year, with June to October qualifying as true dry season months. The dry season does typically feature relatively light rain, but it is not wet enough to be a [[tropical rainforest climate]]. During the wet season, [[tropical cyclones]] often affect the city.
{{Weather box
|location = Saint-Denis <small>([[Gillot Airport]], altitude 8m, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1953−present)</small>
|single line = Y
|metric first = Y
|Jan record high C = 35.2
|Feb record high C = 34.0
|Mar record high C = 33.1
|Apr record high C = 32.7
|May record high C = 31.3
|Jun record high C = 29.9
|Jul record high C = 29.0
|Aug record high C = 28.8
|Sep record high C = 29.2
|Oct record high C = 30.7
|Nov record high C = 31.8
|Dec record high C = 34.5
|year record high C = 35.2
|Jan high C = 30.2
|Feb high C = 30.3
|Mar high C = 30.0
|Apr high C = 29.2
|May high C = 27.6
|Jun high C = 26.2
|Jul high C = 25.4
|Aug high C = 25.5
|Sep high C = 26.0
|Oct high C = 27.0
|Nov high C = 28.3
|Dec high C = 29.5
|year high C = 27.9
|Jan mean C = 26.9
|Feb mean C = 27.0
|Mar mean C = 26.6
|Apr mean C = 25.8
|May mean C = 24.2
|Jun mean C = 22.6
|Jul mean C = 21.8
|Aug mean C = 21.9
|Sep mean C = 22.4
|Oct mean C = 23.5
|Nov mean C = 24.7
|Dec mean C = 26.1
|year mean C = 24.5
|Jan low C = 23.6
|Feb low C = 23.7
|Mar low C = 23.3
|Apr low C = 22.3
|May low C = 20.7
|Jun low C = 19.1
|Jul low C = 18.2
|Aug low C = 18.2
|Sep low C = 18.7
|Oct low C = 19.9
|Nov low C = 21.1
|Dec low C = 22.7
|year low C = 21.0
|Jan record low C = 18.2
|Feb record low C = 18.6
|Mar record low C = 18.4
|Apr record low C = 15.6
|May record low C = 15.3
|Jun record low C = 13.6
|Jul record low C = 12.9
|Aug record low C = 12.8
|Sep record low C = 13.0
|Oct record low C = 13.4
|Nov record low C = 15.0
|Dec record low C = 17.8
|year record low C = 12.8
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 270.2
|Feb precipitation mm = 279.3
|Mar precipitation mm = 264.5
|Apr precipitation mm = 133.4
|May precipitation mm = 95.8
|Jun precipitation mm = 66.9
|Jul precipitation mm = 50.9
|Aug precipitation mm = 54.8
|Sep precipitation mm = 48.5
|Oct precipitation mm = 43.3
|Nov precipitation mm = 62.5
|Dec precipitation mm = 160.2
|year precipitation mm = 1530.3
|unit precipitation days = 1 mm
|Jan precipitation days = 13.8
|Feb precipitation days = 13.5
|Mar precipitation days = 13.5
|Apr precipitation days = 10.9
|May precipitation days = 9.6
|Jun precipitation days = 7.5
|Jul precipitation days = 8.5
|Aug precipitation days = 8.8
|Sep precipitation days = 7.5
|Oct precipitation days = 6.9
|Nov precipitation days = 6.1
|Dec precipitation days = 10.2
|year precipitation days = 116.8
|Jan sun = 218.1
|Feb sun = 195.5
|Mar sun = 215.0
|Apr sun = 216.1
|May sun = 213.9
|Jun sun = 210.0
|Jul sun = 222.4
|Aug sun = 216.2
|Sep sun = 210.5
|Oct sun = 210.8
|Nov sun = 212.0
|Dec sun = 226.8
|year sun = 2567.1
|source 1 = [[Meteo France]]<ref name=MFclimat1>{{cite web
| url = https://donneespubliques.meteofrance.fr/FichesClim/FICHECLIM_97418110.pdf
| title = Statistiques 1991−2020 et records GILLOT−AEROPORT (974)
| publisher = Meteo France
| language = fr
| access-date = 7 September 2022
| archive-date = 29 August 2022
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220829075731/https://donneespubliques.meteofrance.fr/FichesClim/FICHECLIM_97418110.pdf
| url-status = live
}}</ref>
}}
{{Weather box
| location = Saint-Denis <small>({{ill|La Salle Saint-Michel|lt=La Salle Saint-Michel|fr|Collège Saint-Michel (La Réunion)}} [[Secondary_education_in_France#Collège|Collège]], altitude 36m, 1981–2010 normals, extremes 1997–2016)</small>
| metric first = yes
| single line = yes
| Jan record high C = 33.3
| Feb record high C = 35.0
| Mar record high C = 33.3
| Apr record high C = 31.8
| May record high C = 32.0
| Jun record high C = 28.5
| Jul record high C = 29.8
| Aug record high C = 28.4
| Sep record high C = 27.7
| Oct record high C = 29.8
| Nov record high C = 31.2
| Dec record high C = 33.2
| year record high C = 35.0
| Jan high C = 29.8
| Feb high C = 30.2
| Mar high C = 29.9
| Apr high C = 28.9
| May high C = 27.4
| Jun high C = 25.8
| Jul high C = 24.8
| Aug high C = 24.7
| Sep high C = 25.2
| Oct high C = 25.9
| Nov high C = 27.0
| Dec high C = 28.5
| year high C = 27.3
| Jan mean C = 27.2
| Feb mean C = 27.5
| Mar mean C = 27.1
| Apr mean C = 26.2
| May mean C = 24.7
| Jun mean C = 23.0
| Jul mean C = 22.0
| Aug mean C = 22.0
| Sep mean C = 22.5
| Oct mean C = 23.2
| Nov mean C = 24.5
| Dec mean C = 26.0
| year mean C = 24.6
| Jan low C = 24.6
| Feb low C = 24.8
| Mar low C = 24.4
| Apr low C = 23.5
| May low C = 22.0
| Jun low C = 20.2
| Jul low C = 19.2
| Aug low C = 19.2
| Sep low C = 19.7
| Oct low C = 20.6
| Nov low C = 22.0
| Dec low C = 23.5
| year low C = 22.0
| Jan record low C = 21.5
| Feb record low C = 21.7
| Mar record low C = 21.0
| Apr record low C = 19.0
| May record low C = 17.7
| Jun record low C = 16.8
| Jul record low C = 16.4
| Aug record low C = 15.9
| Sep record low C = 16.6
| Oct record low C = 16.3
| Nov record low C = 18.3
| Dec record low C = 19.9
| year record low C = 15.9
| precipitation colour = green
| Jan precipitation mm = 250.7
| Feb precipitation mm = 312.6
| Mar precipitation mm = 183.5
| Apr precipitation mm = 109.6
| May precipitation mm = 82.2
| Jun precipitation mm = 40.4
| Jul precipitation mm = 37.4
| Aug precipitation mm = 36.1
| Sep precipitation mm = 50.8
| Oct precipitation mm = 28.6
| Nov precipitation mm = 68.1
| Dec precipitation mm = 147.4
| year precipitation mm = 1347.4
| unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm
| Jan precipitation days = 12.4
| Feb precipitation days = 12.9
| Mar precipitation days = 11.0
| Apr precipitation days = 7.9
| May precipitation days = 8.5
| Jun precipitation days = 4.2
| Jul precipitation days = 5.3
| Aug precipitation days = 5.1
| Sep precipitation days = 7.2
| Oct precipitation days = 4.5
| Nov precipitation days = 4.9
| Dec precipitation days = 8.4
| year precipitation days = 92.1
| source 1 = [[Météo France]]<ref>{{cite web
| url = https://donneespubliques.meteofrance.fr/FichesClim/FICHECLIM_97411111.pdf
| title=climate of Saint-Denis College 1981-2010
| language = fr
| publisher = [[Météo-France]]
| access-date = June 2, 2022}}</ref>
| source = 
}}
{{Weather box|width=auto
|location = Saint-Denis <small>(Le Brule - Val Fleuri SAPC, altitude 1069m, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1969–2004)</small>
|single line = Y
|metric first = Y
|Jan record high C = 29.8
|Feb record high C = 29.7
|Mar record high C = 28.6
|Apr record high C = 28.7
|May record high C = 27.0
|Jun record high C = 24.6
|Jul record high C = 25.3
|Aug record high C = 24.5
|Sep record high C = 24.5
|Oct record high C = 25.7
|Nov record high C = 27.3
|Dec record high C = 29.2
|Jan record low C = 11.2
|Feb record low C = 11.5
|Mar record low C = 10.2
|Apr record low C = 9.8
|May record low C = 6.0
|Jun record low C = 4.6
|Jul record low C = 4.5
|Aug record low C = 4.7
|Sep record low C = 4.0
|Oct record low C = 5.6
|Nov record low C = 7.0
|Dec record low C = 8.0
|Jan high C = 24.4
|Feb high C = 24.4
|Mar high C = 24.4
|Apr high C = 23.8
|May high C = 21.9
|Jun high C = 20.1
|Jul high C = 19.4
|Aug high C = 19.2
|Sep high C = 19.4
|Oct high C = 20.1
|Nov high C = 21.4
|Dec high C = 23.1
|year high C = 21.8
|Jan mean C = 20.2
|Feb mean C = 20.4
|Mar mean C = 20.1
|Apr mean C = 19.1
|May mean C = 17.3
|Jun mean C = 15.2
|Jul mean C = 14.4
|Aug mean C = 14.4
|Sep mean C = 14.7
|Oct mean C = 15.7
|Nov mean C = 16.9
|Dec mean C = 18.9
|year mean C = 17.3
|Jan low C = 16.0
|Feb low C = 16.3
|Mar low C = 15.7
|Apr low C = 14.4
|May low C = 12.6
|Jun low C = 10.4
|Jul low C = 9.4
|Aug low C = 9.6
|Sep low C = 10.0
|Oct low C = 11.2
|Nov low C = 12.5
|Dec low C = 14.7
|year low C = 12.7
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 509.7
|Feb precipitation mm = 540.8
|Mar precipitation mm = 431.8
|Apr precipitation mm = 165.3
|May precipitation mm = 134.3
|Jun precipitation mm = 71.7
|Jul precipitation mm = 59.9
|Aug precipitation mm = 72.5
|Sep precipitation mm = 79.8
|Oct precipitation mm = 81.9
|Nov precipitation mm = 122.4
|Dec precipitation mm = 273.6
|year precipitation mm = 2543.7
|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm
|Jan precipitation days = 18.9
|Feb precipitation days = 16.2
|Mar precipitation days = 14.9
|Apr precipitation days = 12.1
|May precipitation days = 10.0
|Jun precipitation days = 7.3
|Jul precipitation days = 7.9
|Aug precipitation days = 8.1
|Sep precipitation days = 9.2
|Oct precipitation days = 9.8
|Nov precipitation days = 11.4
|Dec precipitation days = 14.4
|year precipitation days = 140.2
|source 1 = [[Météo-France]]<ref>{{cite web
| url = https://donneespubliques.meteofrance.fr/FichesClim/FICHECLIM_97411164.pdf
| title = Fiche Climatologique Statistiques 1991-2020 et records
| language = fr
| publisher = [[Météo-France]]
| access-date = August 30, 2022
| archive-date = 30 August 2022
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220830133916/https://donneespubliques.meteofrance.fr/FichesClim/FICHECLIM_97411164.pdf
| url-status = live
}}</ref>}}

== Demographics ==
Saint-Denis is the most populous commune in the French [[overseas department]]s. The population of St Denis has grown substantially since 1954, both in the commune and the metropolitan area. In the 67 years from 1954 to the census in 2021, population has more than tripled. The annual rate of population growth has been lower in the 21st century than in the 20th century.

{|
|
{{Historical populations
| align = left
| title = Historical population Saint-Denis (commune)
| percentages = pagr
| source = Local censuses up to 1946.<ref>{{cite book|title=Annuaire de l'île de la Réunion|date=1875–1925|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark%3A/12148/cb32696174t/date%26rk%3D21459%3B2|access-date=2022-05-13|archive-date=10 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210221503/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark%3A/12148/cb32696174t/date%26rk%3D21459%3B2|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Recueil des actes organiques des colonies |date=1881|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g8w1AQAAMAAJ&dq=%2232050%22+saint-denis+++%09%2228+novembre+1877%22&pg=PA197 |author=Government of France, Direction des colonies|page=197|access-date=2022-05-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Résultats statistiques du recensement général de la population des départements d'outre-mer, effectué le 1er juillet 1954: Réunion |date=1956|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aec5AQAAIAAJ&q=%2232.637%22 |author=[[INSEE]]|page=33|access-date=2022-05-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Statistiques et indicateurs économiques |date=1978|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7W5PAQAAIAAJ&q=%2235+971%22 |author=Government of France, Secrétariat général pour les affaires économiques|page=1-3|access-date=2022-05-13}}</ref> INSEE censuses since 1954.<ref name=commmune />
| graph-pos = bottom
| cols = 3
| 1872 | 32452   
| 1877 | 32050     
| 1881 | 30835     
| 1887 |  30035      
| 1892 |  28759     
| 1897 |  28387    
| 1902 |  27392      
| 1907 |  25689   
| 1911 |  23972   
| 1921 |  21538   
| 1926 |  23390   
| 1931 |  26807   
| 1936 |  30762   
| 1941 |  32637   
| 1946 |  35971   
|1954.49863 |41863
|1961.77260274 |65275
|1967.791780822 |85444
|1974.791780822 |103512
|1982.18630137 |109072
|1990.202739726 |121999
|1999.183561644 |131557
|2010 |145022 
|2015 |146985  
|2021 |154765   
}}
|
{{Historical populations
| align = centre
| title = Historical population Saint-Denis (metropolitan area)
| percentages = pagr
| source = INSEE<ref>{{cite web |url=https://statistiques-locales.insee.fr/#bbox=-115018,5243825,221973,134237&c=indicator&i=pop_depuis_1876.pop&s=2018&selcodgeo=9D1&t=A01&view=map13 |title=Statistiques locales - Saint-Denis : Aire d'attraction des villes 2020 - Population municipale (historique depuis 1876) |author=INSEE |author-link=INSEE |access-date=2022-05-13 |archive-date=29 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129004346/https://statistiques-locales.insee.fr/#bbox=-115018,5243825,221973,134237&c=indicator&i=pop_depuis_1876.pop&s=2018&selcodgeo=9D1&t=A01&view=map13 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="AAV_pop" />
| graph-pos = bottom
|1954.49863 |86267   
|1961.77260274 |117345   
|1967.791780822 |146215   
|1974.791780822 |173346   
|1982.18630137 |187541   
|1990.202739726 |215970   
|1999.183561644 |251044   
|2010 |293447  
|2015 |304178 
|2021 |319141
}}
|}
{{clear-left}}

The places of birth of the 304,178 residents in the Saint-Denis metropolitan area at the 2015 census were the following:<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/3625223?sommaire=3558417 |title=Recensement de la population de 2015 - Individus localisés au canton-ou-ville en 2015 |publisher=[[INSEE]] |access-date=3 February 2019 |archive-date=26 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226220544/https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/3625223?sommaire=3558417 |url-status=live }}</ref>
*81.1% were born in Réunion
*11.1% in [[Metropolitan France]] 
*1.1% in [[Mayotte]]
*0.3% in other parts of [[Overseas France]]
*6.4% in foreign countries (notably [[Madagascar]], the [[Union of the Comoros]], and [[Mauritius]]); half of them were immigrants and the other half were children of French citizens born abroad (children of Réunionese settlers in Madagascar for example)

==Transport==
The closest airport is [[Roland Garros Airport]], 7&nbsp;km east of the city in [[Sainte-Marie, Réunion]], which is also the main international airport of [[Réunion]]. [[Air Austral]] is the regional air carrier, with its Indian Ocean hub located at the airport. The airline has begun serving some cities in mainland France. Five or six other airlines serve the airport. There is a good road network in Saint-Denis.

On 15 March 2022 an [[aerial tramway]], named Papang, started operating, stretching 2.7&nbsp;km (approximately 1.67&nbsp;mi) and serving 5 stations between the neighbourhoods of Le Chaudron and Bois-de-Nèfles.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lesechos.fr/pme-regions/outre-mer/un-premier-telepherique-urbain-entre-en-service-a-la-reunion-1395011|title=Un premier téléphérique urbain entre en service à La Réunion|trans-title=A first urban cable car enters service in Reunion|date=22 March 2022|access-date=29 March 2022|language=fr|archive-date=29 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220329155518/https://www.lesechos.fr/pme-regions/outre-mer/un-premier-telepherique-urbain-entre-en-service-a-la-reunion-1395011|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Mayors==
* 2020&ndash;present: [[Ericka Bareigts]], [[Socialist Party (France)|PS]]<ref name="lemonde">{{cite web |title=Résultats du premier tour et second tour des élections à Saint-Denis |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/resultats-elections/saint-denis-97411/ |work=[[Le Monde]] |access-date=8 September 2020 |archive-date=26 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220926232510/https://www.lemonde.fr/resultats-elections/saint-denis-97411/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* 2008–2020: [[Gilbert Annette]], [[Socialist Party (France)|PS]]
* 2001–2008: [[René-Paul Victoria]], [[Union pour un mouvement populaire|UMP]]
* 1994–2001: [[Michel Tamaya]], [[Socialist Party (France)|PS]]
* 1989–1994: [[Gilbert Annette]], [[Socialist Party (France)|PS]]
* 1969–1989: [[Auguste Legros]], [[Rassemblement pour la République|RPR]]

==Culture ==
*[[Léon Dierx Museum]] (art gallery and museum)
*[[Jardin de l'État]] (public gardens – includes a natural history museum)
*[[Le Barachois]], seafront park
*[[La Roche Écrite]] ({{convert|15|km|0|abbr=on}} south of the city), summit overlooking Saint-Denis, with impressive views over the city
*[[Brasseries de Bourbon]]

== Places of worship == 
Among the [[places of worship]], they are predominantly [[Christianity|Christian]] churches and temples : [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint-Denis de La Réunion]] ([[Catholic Church]]), [[Assemblies of God]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |editor-first1=J. Gordon |editor-last1=Melton |editor-first2=Martin |editor-last2=Baumann |title=Réunion |volume=5 |encyclopedia=Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices |publisher=[[ABC-Clio]] |year=2010 |pages=2411–2412 |isbn=978-1-59884-204-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v2yiyLLOj88C |access-date=1 November 2020}}</ref> There are also [[Islam|Muslim]] mosques.

==Education==
The [[University of La Réunion|University of Reunion Island]] admits 15,000 students each year, with 6 campus sites in Saint-Denis.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.univ-reunion.fr/university-of-reunion-island |title=University of Reunion Island |access-date=14 June 2019 |archive-date=9 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609025953/https://www.univ-reunion.fr/university-of-reunion-island/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Course work is aligned with European standards for university education. There is a school of engineering as well. The language is French, and there are connections with educational institutions in France on the continent of Europe.

The commune maintains various elementary schools for each sector.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.saintdenis.re/les-ecoles-dionysiennes|title=L'école|publisher=Commune of Saint Denis|language=fr|access-date=2020-10-09|archive-date=25 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225102411/https://www.saintdenis.re/les-ecoles-dionysiennes|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Economy==
[[IBM]] has an office in Saint-Denis.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ibm.com/planetwide/re/ |title=IBM Réunion |publisher=IBM |access-date=21 October 2009 |archive-date=5 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130405131453/http://www.ibm.com/planetwide/re/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The island began organizing to be a digital hub for nearby African nations, relying on its two undersea cables for good internet connections.<ref name=Shapshak2016>{{cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/tobyshapshak/2016/12/01/how-reunion-is-reinventing-itself-as-a-digital-hub/#44e08d4618ce |title=How Reunion Is Reinventing Itself As A Digital Hub |first=Toby |last=Shapshak |date=1 December 2016 |magazine=Forbes |access-date=14 June 2019 |archive-date=7 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807042237/https://www.forbes.com/sites/tobyshapshak/2016/12/01/how-reunion-is-reinventing-itself-as-a-digital-hub/#44e08d4618ce |url-status=live }}</ref> The potential for services would alter the island's economy, now reliant on sugar, an agricultural product. The university in Saint-Denis has programs to educate the young population in digital skills.<ref name=Shapshak2016 /> New businesses are forming to serve the needs of airlines for software.<ref name=Shapshak2016 />

==International relations==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in France}}
 
Saint-Denis, Réunion is [[sister city|twinned]] with:

* [[File:Flag of France.svg|20px]] [[Metz]], France
* [[File:Flag of France.svg|20px]] [[Nice]], France<ref name="Nice Jumellage">{{cite web |url=http://www.nice.fr/Collectivites/La-municipalite/Villes-jumelees-avec-la-Ville-de-Nice |title=Villes jumelées avec la Ville de Nice |access-date=24 June 2013 |publisher=Ville de Nice |language=fr |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029114949/http://nice.fr/Collectivites/La-municipalite/Villes-jumelees-avec-la-Ville-de-Nice  |archive-date=29 October 2012}}</ref>
* [[File:Flag of Morocco.svg|20px]] [[Tangier]], Morocco

== Notable residents ==
Sentenced to exile in Réunion, the Moroccan Rais [[Abd el-Krim]] lived a few years in Saint-Denis from 1926 to 1947.

Prince [[Bảo Vàng]] of Vietnam (also known as Yves Claude Vinh San) the son of Emperor [[Duy Tân]], was born and resided in Saint-Denis, Réunion for his final years. His family also resided there.

Other people connected with Saint-Denis include:
[[File:Monument_Roland_Garros.jpg|thumb|Monument honoring Roland Garros at Le Barachois]]
* [[Jean Casimir Félix Guyon|Félix Guyon]] (1831–1920), urologist
* [[Édouard Hervé]] (1835–1899), journalist and academician
* [[Juliette Dodu]] (1848–1909), resistant to the war of 1870
* [[Ambroise Vollard]] (1866–1939), art dealer and gallery
* [[Raymond Vergès]] (1882–1957), mayor of the town, founder of Témoignages
* [[Roland Garros (aviator)|Roland Garros]] (1888–1918), aviator
* [[Émile Hugot]] (1904–1993), industrialist in sugarcane
* [[Jean-Henri Azéma]] (1913–2000), poet
* [[Raymond Barre]] (1924–2007), politician
* [[Julienne Salvat]] (1932–2019), teacher, poet, ''femme de lettres'', actress
* [[Jean-Michel Macron]] (1950), politician
* [[Daniel Sangouma]] (1965), sprinter
* [[Gérald De Palmas]] (1967), singer
* [[Surya Bonaly]] (1973), International Olympic Skater
* [[Willy Grondin]] (1974), football player
* [[Alexandre Loupy]] (1977)  nephrologist and medical researcher
* [[Daniel Narcisse]] (1979), International handball
* [[Valérie Gauvin]] (1996), football player
* [[Imanu|Jonathan Kievit]] (1998), known professionally as Imanu, DJ and musician

==See also==
* [[Communes of the Réunion department]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikivoyage|Saint-Denis}}

* [http://www.saintdenis.re/ Saint-Denis Official website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312230850/http://www.saintdenis.re/ |date=12 March 2017 }} {{in lang|fr}}
* [http://nord.reunion.fr/ Tourism Réunion office website]{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} {{in lang|fr}}

{{Cities in France}}
{{List of African capitals}}
{{Préfectures of départements of France}}
{{Prefectures of regions of France}}
{{Réunion communes}}
{{Réunion topics}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saintdenis}}
[[Category:Saint-Denis, Réunion| ]]
[[Category:Communes of Réunion]]
[[Category:Prefectures in France]]
[[Category:Cities in France]]
[[Category:Capitals in Africa]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1669]]
[[Category:1669 establishments in Africa]]
[[Category:1669 establishments in the French colonial empire]]