Saint-Philippe (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃ filip]) is a commune in the French overseas department of Réunion. It is located in southeastern Reunion.

Saint-Philippe
Location of Saint-Philippe
Map
Coordinates: 21°21′34″S 55°46′04″E / 21.3594°S 55.7678°E / -21.3594; 55.7678
CountryFrance
Overseas region and departmentRéunion
ArrondissementSaint-Pierre
CantonSaint-Benoît-2
IntercommunalityCA du Sud
Government
 • Mayor (2020–2026) Olivier Rivière[1]
Area
1
153.94 km2 (59.44 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)[2]
5,074
 • Density33/km2 (85/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+04:00
INSEE/Postal code
97417 /97442
Elevation0–2,630 m (0–8,629 ft)
(avg. 40 m or 130 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Geography

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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).

Climate

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Saint-Philippe has a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen climate classification Af). The average annual temperature in Saint-Philippe is 23.1 °C (73.6 °F). The average annual rainfall is 4,260.3 mm (167.73 in) with March as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in January, at around 26.2 °C (79.2 °F), and lowest in July, at around 20.0 °C (68.0 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Saint-Philippe was 34.7 °C (94.5 °F) on 10 December 2019; the coldest temperature ever recorded was 13.7 °C (56.7 °F) on 20 August 2008.

Climate data for Saint-Philippe (1981−2010 normals, extremes 1989−present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 34.3
(93.7)
34.2
(93.6)
34.4
(93.9)
32.2
(90.0)
30.1
(86.2)
28.5
(83.3)
30.0
(86.0)
29.0
(84.2)
29.5
(85.1)
31.7
(89.1)
32.5
(90.5)
34.7
(94.5)
34.7
(94.5)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 29.8
(85.6)
29.4
(84.9)
28.7
(83.7)
27.4
(81.3)
25.8
(78.4)
24.0
(75.2)
22.7
(72.9)
22.9
(73.2)
24.0
(75.2)
25.4
(77.7)
27.2
(81.0)
29.0
(84.2)
26.3
(79.3)
Daily mean °C (°F) 26.2
(79.2)
26.1
(79.0)
25.5
(77.9)
24.4
(75.9)
22.8
(73.0)
21.1
(70.0)
20.0
(68.0)
20.1
(68.2)
20.8
(69.4)
22.0
(71.6)
23.5
(74.3)
25.2
(77.4)
23.1
(73.6)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 22.5
(72.5)
22.8
(73.0)
22.4
(72.3)
21.4
(70.5)
19.8
(67.6)
18.2
(64.8)
17.4
(63.3)
17.3
(63.1)
17.6
(63.7)
18.6
(65.5)
19.7
(67.5)
21.5
(70.7)
19.9
(67.8)
Record low °C (°F) 19.5
(67.1)
18.3
(64.9)
18.8
(65.8)
17.2
(63.0)
15.7
(60.3)
14.6
(58.3)
14.2
(57.6)
13.7
(56.7)
14.1
(57.4)
14.5
(58.1)
15.4
(59.7)
17.7
(63.9)
13.7
(56.7)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 399.0
(15.71)
555.2
(21.86)
564.4
(22.22)
445.4
(17.54)
345.5
(13.60)
299.9
(11.81)
370.1
(14.57)
341.7
(13.45)
275.2
(10.83)
216.0
(8.50)
172.2
(6.78)
275.7
(10.85)
4,260.3
(167.73)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 18.8 20.2 21.1 20.0 19.2 19.1 23.3 20.8 17.4 15.8 12.3 14.6 222.6
Source: Météo-France[3]

History

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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.

Population

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Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1967 3,336—    
1974 3,453+0.49%
1982 3,476+0.08%
1990 4,005+1.79%
1999 4,860+2.17%
2007 5,129+0.68%
2012 5,072−0.22%
2017 5,260+0.73%
Source: INSEE[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Populations légales 2021" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Fiche Climatologique Statistiques 1981-2010 et records" (PDF) (in French). Météo-France. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  4. ^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE