town, major port of the French overseas département of Réunion in the western Indian Ocean. Situated on the northwest side of the island, it is connected to all other major points by a paved road along the circumference. The port was artificially excavated in the 1880s when Saint-Denis, the capital, proved to be insufficiently sheltered. It can handle large vessels but has a narrow right-angle turn at the entrance that requires ships to be roped in from the shore. Until 1962 it was linked to Saint-Denis by rail, as well as by paved road; discontinuation of the railway was followed by considerable improvement of the road. Pop. (2003 est.) 40,210.