Salazie

Salazie
Salazie
	Salazie town hall
	Coat of arms
	Location of Salazie
Country	France
Overseas region and department	Réunion
Arrondissement	Saint-Benoît
Canton	Salazie
Intercommunality	Réunion Est
Government
• Mayor (2014-2020)	Stéphane Fouassin
Area 1	103.82 km2 (40.09 sq mi)
Population (2012)	7,320
• Density	71/km2 (180/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+04:00
INSEE/Postal code	97421 /97433
Elevation	230–3,071 m (755–10,075 ft) ; (avg. 446 m or 1,463 ft)
	1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Salazie is a volcanic caldera and commune (administrative division) in the department and region of Réunion.

The first settlement of the area took place in 1829 after a cyclone had devastated the nearby coast, and the municipality of Salazie was formed in 1889. The name of the commune is potentially derived from the Malagasy word salazy, meaning 'good encampment'.^[1]

Geography

Salazie lies in the middle of island, north-east of Piton des Neiges (the highest point on the island), in the Cirque de Salazie (actually a volcanic caldera). The commune is totally landlocked, and borders the communes of Bras-Panon, Cilaos, La Possession, Saint-André, Saint-Benoît, Saint-Denis, Sainte-Marie and Sainte-Suzanne.