L'Étang-Salé (; French for ''The Salty Pond'') is a commune in southwestern

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

, a department in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

. It is bordered by the communes of

Les Avirons Les Avirons (, meaning "the oars" in French), is a commune in the Réunion overseas department of France in the Indian Ocean. It borders the communes of Saint-Leu, Cilaos, Saint-Louis and L'Étang-Salé, and 150 metres of coastline. Geograp ...

and Saint-Louis. Within the commune is the Étang-Salé forest. There is also a beach with black sand in the commune that is a popular

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suita ...

spot.

Geography

Climate

L'Étang-Salé has a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry "winter") and ''As'' (for a dry "summer"). The driest month has less than ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Aw'') closely bordering on a

hot semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...

(''BSh''). The average annual temperature in L'Étang-Salé is . The average annual rainfall is with February as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in February, at around , and lowest in July, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in L'Étang-Salé was on 13 March 2004; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 15 August 1992.

Demography

Economy and tourism

* there is an industrial zone in L'Étang-Salé * a popular surfing beach in L'Étang-Salé-les-Bains * several hotels * an 18-hole golf course * ''Croc' Park'' - a crocodile park

Images

File:Étang-salé-les-bains-plage.jpg, The beach of L'Étang-Salé File:Brisants Etang-sale.jpg, Surfer at L'Étang-Salé File:Pithecellobium dulce tree.JPG, Forest of L'Étang-Salé File:Etang-sale-gouffre-022.jpg, The ''Gouffre'' - a lava formation at the coast

References

External links

Site of the CIVISPersonal website of the L'Étang-Salé's town
Communes of Réunion Surfing locations in Réunion {{Reunion-geo-stub