Mayotte ( ; , ; , ; , ), officially the Department of Mayotte (), is an overseas department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is one of the overseas departments of France as well as one of the 18 regions of France, with the same status as the departments of Metropolitan France. It is an outermost region of the European Union and, as an overseas department of France, part of the eurozone.
Mayotte is located in the northern part of the Mozambique Channel in the western Indian Ocean off the coast of Southeastern Africa, between the northwestern part of the island of Madagascar and northeastern Mozambique on the continent. Mayotte consists of a main island, Grande-Terre (or Maore), a smaller island, Petite-Terre (or Pamanzi), as well as several islets around these two. Mayotte's land area is and, with its 320,901 people according to January 2024 official estimates, There are two native languages of Mayotte. The most commonly spoken is Shimaore, and the lesser spoken is a Malagasy language called Kibushi, of which there are two dialects; Kibushi sakalava, most closely related to the Sakalava dialect of Malagasy, and Kibushi antalaotsi, most closely related to the dialect spoken by the Antalaotra of Madagascar. Both dialects have been influenced by Shimaore.
The islands were populated from neighbouring East Africa, with a later arrival of Arabs, who brought the religious faith of Islam. A sultanate was established in 1500. The vast majority of the population today is Muslim. In the 19th century, Mayotte was conquered by Andriantsoly, former king of Iboina on Madagascar. He sold the islands to France in 1841. In the immediate aftermath of French sovereignty over the islands, slavery was abolished and laborers were imported to the area to work in fields and plantations. Mayotte chose to remain with France after the nearby Comoros declared its independence following their 1974 independence referendum.
Most of the immigrants come from neighboring island state of Comoros, many illegally. Despite being France's poorest department, Mayotte is much richer than other neighboring East African countries and has developed French infrastructure and welfare system, making it a tempting destination for Comorans and other East Africans living in poverty in the region.
The department faces enormous challenges. According to an Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (National Institute of Economic Statistics Studies of France – INSEE) report published in 2018, over 83% of the population live under the poverty line according to French standards, compared to 16% in metropolitan France, 40% of dwellings are corrugated sheet metal shacks, 29% of households have no running water, and 34% of the inhabitants between the age of 15 and 64 do not have a job. These difficult living conditions mainly concern the large population of illegal migrants who crowd into shanty towns.
Geography
thumb|upright=1.2|Topographic map of Mayotte, the "seahorse island"
The term Mayotte (or Maore) may refer to all of the department's islands, of which the largest is known as Maore () and includes Maore's surrounding islands, most notably Pamanzi (), or only to the largest island. The name is believed to come from Mawuti, contraction of the Arabic Jazīrat al-Mawt – meaning "island of death" (maybe due to the dangerous reefs circling the island) and corrupted to Mayotta in Portuguese, later turned into French. However, the local name is Mahore, and the Arabic etymology is doubtful.
The main island, Grande-Terre (or Maore), geologically the oldest of the Comoro Islands, is long and wide, and its highest point is Mount Benara, <!--(; Shimaore: Mlima Bénara) -->at above sea level. Because of the volcanic rock, the soil is relatively rich in some areas. A coral reef encircling much of the island ensures protection for ships and a habitat for fish. Dzaoudzi was the capital of Mayotte (and earlier the capital of all the colonial Comoros) until 1977, when the capital was relocated to Mamoudzou on the main island of Grande-Terre. It is situated on Petite-Terre (or Pamanzi), which at is the largest of several islets adjacent to Maore. The area of the lagoon behind the reef is approximately , reaching a maximum depth of about 80m. It is described as "the largest barrier-reef-lagoon complex within the southwestern Indian Ocean".
Topography
Mayotte is the oldest of the four large islands of the Comoros archipelago, a chain of land emerging from a crescent-shaped submarine relief at the entrance to the Mozambique Channel. Located west of Madagascar and southeast of Anjouan, sometimes visible at sunset in the shade, it is composed of several islands and islets covered with lush vegetation. The two largest islands are Grande-Terre and Petite-Terre, backed by a coral reef.
This long coral reef surrounds a lagoon, one of the largest and deepest in the world. The most recent age reported for an ash band is 7000 year BP.
Subsequently, the earthquake swarm has been linked to a newly discovered undersea volcano located away from Mayotte at a depth of .
Marine environment
thumb|Coral reef at low tide at M'Bouzi island
Mayotte is surrounded by a typical tropical coral reef. It consists of a large outer barrier reef, enclosing one of the world's largest and deepest lagoons, followed by a fringing reef, interrupted by many mangroves. All Mayotte waters are ruled by a National Marine Park, and many places are natural reserves.
The outer coral reef is long, housing of lagoon, including of mangrove. There are at least 250 different species of coral, 760 tropical fish species, and the National Natural Heritage Inventory (INPN) has no fewer than 3,616 marine species, but this is probably a far cry from the actual count. As this region of the world is still poorly inventoried by scientists, the waters of Mayotte continue to harbour many species unknown to science, and allow important scientific discoveries each year.
Terrestrial environment
thumb|[[Riparian forest with great mango trees]]
Mayotte has a great diversity in its plant life: more than 1,300 species are recorded, half of them being endemic, making this island one of the richest in plant diversity in the world compared to its size.
Protected areas
By 2021, there were 30 protected areas on Mayotte, totaling or 13.94% of Mayotte's land area, and 100% of Mayotte's marine area. Protected areas on Mayotte include Mayotte Marine Natural Park, Pointes et plages de Saziley et Charifou, and Ilôt Mbouzi National Nature Reserve.
On 3 May 2021, the French government created the Forests of Mayotte National Nature Reserve (). The reserve consists of in six mountain forests, covering 51% of Mayotte's reserve forests and 7.5% of Mayotte's total land area. Areas protected by the reserve include Mount Mtsapéré, Mount Combani, Mount Benara, and Mount Choungui. The purpose of the reserve is to protect the relict primary forests of the island, restore the island's secondary forests, and protect the island's native flora and fauna.
History
In 1500, the Maore sultanate was established on the island. In 1503, Mayotte was observed and named (firstly Espirito Santo) by Portuguese explorers, but not colonized. The island has known several eras of wealth (especially during the 11th century at Acoua or between 9th and 12th centuries at Dembéni), being an important part of the Swahili coast culture. However, its sister island Anjouan was preferred by international traders due to its better suitability to large boats, and, for a long time, Mayotte remained poorly developed compared to the three other Comoros islands, often being targeted by pirates and Malagasy or Comorian raids.
In the early 19th century, Mayotte was controlled by a mercantile family that claimed Omani origins. The Sultans of Mayotte had political ties with the Anjouan Sultanate during this period. Mayotte was sparsely populated and mainly consisted of Comorian speakers that were politically aligned with the local sultan and the Malagasy who were autonomous.
thumb|[[Andriantsoly, the last sultan of Mayotte, from 1832 to 1843]]
In 1832, Mayotte was conquered by Andriantsoly, former king of Iboina on Madagascar; in 1833, it was conquered by the neighbouring sultanate of Mwali (Mohéli in French). On 19 November 1835, Mayotte was again conquered by the Ndzuwani Sultanate (Anjouan sultanate in French); a governor was installed with the unusual Islamic style of Qadi (from the Arabic , meaning "judge"). However, in 1836, it regained its independence under a last local Sultan. Andriantsoly reconquered the island in 1836, but his depopulated and unfortified island was in a weak position towards the sultans of Comoros, Malagasy kings, and pirates. Seeking the help of a powerful ally, he began to negotiate with the French, installed in the nearby Malagasy island of Nosy Bé in 1840.
Mayotte was purchased by France in 1841, and integrated to the Crown. In the immediate aftermath, slavery was abolished and laborers were imported to the area to work in fields and plantations. The abolition of slavery led to several slave-owning elites leaving Mayotte as their authority was undermined. However, the freed slaves were often subsequently forced to work under harsher conditions for the French government or colonists in their plantations. Additionally, many of the imported laborers were victims of the slave trade.
Mayotte therefore became a French island, but it remained an island with a sparse population due to decades of wars, as well as by the exodus of former elites and some of their slaves: most of the cities were abandoned, and nature reclaimed the old plantations. The French administration therefore tried to repopulate the island, recalling first of all the Mayotte exiles or refugees in the region (Comoros, Madagascar), proposing the former exiled masters return in exchange for compensation, then by inviting wealthy Anjouan families to come and set up trade. France launched some first major works, such as the realization in 1848 of the Boulevard des Crabes connecting the rock of Dzaoudzi to Pamandzi and the rest of Petite-Terre.
As it had done in the West Indies and Réunion, the French government planned to make Mayotte a sugar island: despite the steep slopes, large plantations were developed, 17 sugar factories were built and hundreds of foreign workers (mainly African, in particular Mozambic Makwas) hired from 1851 onwards. However, production remained mediocre, and the sugar crisis of 1883–1885 quickly led to the end of this crop in Mayotte (which had just reached its peak of production), leaving only a few factory ruins, some of which are still visible now. The last sugar plant to be closed was Dzoumogné in 1955: the best preserved, and now heritage, is Soulou, in the west of the island.
At the Berlin Conference in 1885, France took control over the whole Comoros archipelago, which was actually already ruled by French traders; the colony took the name of "Mayotte and Dependencies".
In 1898, two cyclones razed the island to the ground, and a smallpox epidemic decimated the survivors. Mayotte had to start from the beginning once again, and the French government had to repopulate the island with workers from Mozambique, Comoros and Madagascar. The sugar industry was abandoned, replaced by vanilla, coffee, copra, sisal, then fragrant plants such as vetiver, citronella, sandalwood, and especially ylang-ylang, which later became one of the symbols of the island.
thumb|Map of the Comoros Union (three islands on the left) and the Mayotte French department (right)
Mayotte was the only island in the archipelago that voted in referendums in 1974 and 1976 to retain its link with France and forgo independence (with 63.8% and 99.4% of votes respectively). UN General Assembly resolutions, which are legally non-binding, have voted not to recognise France's continued rule of Mayotte, and the independent Comoros have never ceased to claim the island. A draft 1976 United Nations Security Council resolution recognising Comorian sovereignty over Mayotte, supported by 11 of the 15 members of the council, was vetoed by France. It was the only time, , that France cast a lone veto in the council; the veto was criticized because France was a party to the dispute before the Security Council, and consequently should have abstained from voting, according to some other Council members. As mentioned, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a series of legally non-binding resolutions on Mayotte, under the pro-Comoros title "Question of the Comorian Island of Mayotte" up until 1995. In the decades since 1995, the subject of Mayotte has not been discussed by the General Assembly, and all the following referendums over Mayotte independence have shown a strong will of Mayotte people to remain French.
Mayotte became an overseas department of France in March 2011 in consequence of a 29 March 2009 referendum. The outcome was a 95.5% vote in favour of changing the island's status from a French "overseas community" to become France's 101st département. Its non-official traditional Islamic law, applied in some aspects of the day-to-day life, will be gradually abolished and replaced by the uniform French civil code. Additionally, French social welfare and taxes apply in Mayotte, though some of each will be brought in gradually. Comoros continues to claim the island, while criticising the French military base there.
In 2018, the department experienced civil unrest over migration from the Comoros.
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In December 2024, Cyclone Chido caused extreme damage to Mayotte, destroying most homes, administrative buildings and part of the town hall in the capital Mamoudzou. President Emmanuel Macron arrived on the department's largest island, Grande-Terre, on 19 December, and delivered food and health aid. A state of emergency has been declared for the department.
Politics
thumb|Map of the European Union in the world with overseas countries and territories and outermost regions (prior to [[Brexit)]]
thumb|The departmental council in Mamoudzou
thumb|upright|House at Kawéni, dubbed the biggest shantytown of France
The politics of Mayotte takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic government and of a multi-party system, whereby the President of the Departmental Council is the head of the local assembly. Executive power is exercised by the French government.
Mayotte also sends two deputies to the French National Assembly and two senators to the French Senate. The deputies represent Mayotte's 1st constituency and Mayotte's 2nd constituency.
The situation of Mayotte proved to be awkward for France: while a significant majority of the local population did not want to join the Comoros in becoming independent of France, some post-colonial leftist or Marxist-Leninist governments voiced criticism of Mayotte's ongoing ties to France. Furthermore, the peculiar local administration of Mayotte, largely ruled by customary Muslim law, would be difficult to integrate into the legal structures of France, not to mention the costs of bringing the standards of living to levels close to those of Metropolitan France. For these reasons, the laws passed by the national parliament had to state specifically that they applied to Mayotte.
The status of Mayotte was changed in 2001 towards one very close to the status of the departments of France, with the particular designation of departmental collectivity. This change was approved by 73% of voters in a referendum. After the constitutional reform of 2003 it became an overseas collectivity while retaining the title "departmental collectivity" of Mayotte.
Mayotte became an overseas department of France () on 31 March 2011 following the result of the March 2009 Mahoran status referendum, which was overwhelmingly approved by around 95% of voters. Becoming an overseas department will mean it will adopt the same legal and social system as used in the rest of France. This will require abandoning some customary laws, adopting the standard French civil code, and reforming the judiciary, educational, social and fiscal systems, and will take place over a period of about 20 years.
Since it became an overseas department in 2011, Mayotte possesses a single local assembly, officially called the "departmental council" (), which acts both as a regional and departmental council, or a single territorial collectivity. This was a unique arrangement at the time, but French Guiana and Martinique adopted this arrangement in 2015.
Despite its domestic constitutional evolution from the status of an overseas collectivity to that of an overseas department, effectively becoming a full constituent territory within the French Republic, with regards to the European Union, Mayotte remained an 'overseas country and territory' (OCT) in association with the Union (as per Article 355(2) TFEU) and not a constituent territory of the European Union in the same way as the other four overseas departments. However, following a directive of the European Council in December 2013, Mayotte became an outermost region of the European Union on 1 January 2014. This successful agreement between the 27 member states follows a petition made by the French government for Mayotte to become an integral territory of the European Union nonetheless benefiting from the derogation clause applicable in existing outermost regions, namely Article 349 TFEU, as favoured in a June 2012 European Commission opinion on Mayotte's European constitutional status.
In recent national elections, Mayotte has been a stronghold for the right-wing populist National Rally party, and gave its presidential candidate Marine Le Pen her highest vote percentage in the 2022 French presidential election first round.
Defence
Defence of the territory is the responsibility of the French Armed Forces, principally carried out by a Foreign Legion Detachment in Mayotte. one (EDA-S) landing craft () is to be delivered to naval forces based in Mayotte. The landing craft will replace a CTM landing craft currently deployed in the territory, to better support coastal operations.
About 170 personnel of the National Gendarmerie are stationed in Mayotte while, as of late 2022, the Maritime Gendarmerie operated the patrol boats Odet and Verdon in the territory. In December 2024, both boats were severely damaged by Cyclone Chido. Reports suggested that they might both be beyond repair and would need to be replaced. In early 2025 a sister ship of the two vessels, the patrol boat Adour, was transferred to Mayotte from Metropolitan France as a preliminary replacement.
Administrative divisions
Mayotte is divided into 17 communes. There are also 13 cantons (not shown here). It is the only department and region of France without an arrondissement.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Number on Map
!Name
!Area (km<sup>2</sup>)
!Population
!Individual map
!Labelled map
|-
|1
|Dzaoudzi
|6.66
|17,831
|frameless|62x62px
| rowspan="17" |frameless|350x350px
|-
|2
|Pamandzi
|4.29
|11,442
|frameless|62x62px
|-
|3
|Mamoudzou
|41.94
|71,437
|frameless|62x62px
|-
|4
|Dembeni
|38.8
|15,848
|frameless|62x62px
|-
|5
|Bandrélé
|36.46
|10,282
|frameless|62x62px
|-
|6
|Kani-Kéli
|20.51
|5,507
|frameless|62x62px
|-
|7
|Bouéni
|14.06
|6,189
|frameless|62x62px
|-
|8
|Chirongui
|28.31
|8,920
|frameless|62x62px
|-
|9
|Sada
|11.16
|11,156
|frameless|62x62px
|-
|10
|Ouangani
|19.05
|10,203
|frameless|62x62px
|-
|11
|Chiconi
|8.29
|8,295
|frameless|62x62px
|-
|12
|Tsingoni
|34.76
|13,934
|frameless|62x62px
|-
|13
|M'Tsangamouji
|21.84
|6,432
|frameless|62x62px
|-
|14
|Acoua
|12.62
|5,192
|frameless|62x62px
|-
|15
|Mtsamboro
|13.71
|7,705
|frameless|62x62px
|-
|16
|Bandraboua
|32.37
|13,989
|frameless|62x62px
|-
|17
|Koungou
|28.41
|32,156
|frameless|62x62px
|}
Transport
Land transportation
thumb|Road map of Mayotte (in French)
French investment over the past thirty years is evident, with more than 230 km of paved roads used by cars and various types of two-wheelers: 90 km of national roads and 139 km of departmental roads. The contrast is striking compared to the 1980s, when light traffic meant that only a few sedans could be seen among the Renault 4 taxis, the legionnaires' Méharis, or the covered pickup trucks known as taxis-brousse.
Today, Mayotte has tens of thousands of vehicles, often congesting a single-lane national road, with kilometers of uninterrupted traffic jams during rush hours. A system of taxis—partly informal and lacking real organization—allows pedestrians to get around for very modest sums, though with poor regularity and reliability. Mayotte is currently the only French department without a land-based public transportation system.
Since 2008, a large bus network project Caribus has been expected to be launched to relieve the traffic jams that now paralyze the entire island daily. However, numerous political complications and very poor management by local elected officials have considerably delayed its implementation (despite the frustration of European financial backers), and as of early 2022, construction has still not begun.
Because Mayotte's road network is essentially limited to a single circular route, the idea of a train regularly resurfaces, as was once the case on Réunion (and more recently with its abandoned tram-train project). The latest proposal, called Treni bile ("blue train"), put forward by the Departmental Council, is estimated to cost 900 million euros — an exorbitant amount far beyond the department's means, but comparable to the 800 million euros for the Mamoudzou bypass, the 2 billion euros for the New Coastal Road in Réunion, or the fact that school transportation costs Mayotte 100 million euros per year, whereas a train has a lifespan of 30 to 40 years.
Water transport
thumb|The ferry between Dzaoudzi and Mamoudzou
Divided into two islets, Mayotte is difficult to access. The landing stage at Mamoudzou, on Grande-Terre, can only accommodate light boats. The connection between the two islands is made by pedestrian ferries (barges) and vehicle ferries (amphidromes), which transport each year more than 4.5 million passengers, 360,000 two-wheelers, 400,000 vehicles, and 20,600 heavy trucks.
The deep-water port of Longoni, located in the commune of Koungou in the north of the department, is a minor stopover port in the Mozambique Channel. The port concession was awarded in 2014 to a local company (MCG Mayotte Channel Gateway), which has undertaken to modernize the infrastructure and aims to make it one of the most important commercial ports in the region.
Air transport
The only airport serving the island is Dzaoudzi–Pamandzi International Airport, which receives 423,976 passengers in 2024. It also includes a small airfield for light tourism aircraft and ultralight planes.
Economy
The official currency in Mayotte is the euro.
In 2019, the GDP of Mayotte at market exchange rates was €2.66 billion (US$2.98 bn). In that same year the GDP per capita of Mayotte at market exchange rates, not at PPP, was €9,692 (US$10,850), but only 42.8% of the GDP per capita of Réunion and 26.4% of the GDP per capita of Metropolitan France. Living standards are therefore lower than in metropolitan France. At the 2017 census, 10% of dwellings in Mayotte had no electricity, 29% of dwellings had no running water inside the dwelling, and 54% of dwellings had no toilets inside the dwelling.
{| class="wikitable"
|+GDP (nominal) per capita in 2019 (US$)
|-
| <small> $500–1,000 $1,000–2,000 $2,000–5,000 $5,000–10,000 $10,000–20,000 </small>
|}
The economy of Mayotte has grown significantly since the end of the 20th century due to financial transfers from the French central state and the gradual transformation of the territory into a full-fledged French department after a 2009 referendum, with considerable upgrading of public services and infrastructure.
The economy of Mayotte grew by an average of +9.3% per year in real terms from 2001 to 2008, before being affected by the 2008 financial crisis and experiencing as a result a recession of −0.4% in 2009. The overall unemployment rate is 30%. 8 out of 10 children in Mayotte live in poverty.
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto;"
|+ style="margin-bottom: 0.5em"| Regional GDP of Mayotte<br /><small>(in euros, current prices)</small>
! !! 2000 !! 2005 !! 2010 !! 2015 !! 2016 !! 2017 !! 2018 !! 2019
|-
|align=center| Nominal GDP <small>(€ bn)</small>|| align=center| 0.56 || align=center| 0.92 || align=center| 1.43 || align=center| 2.08 || align=center| 2.21 || align=center| 2.42 || align=center| 2.50 || align=center| 2.66
|-
|align=center| GDP per capita <small>(euros)</small> || align=center| 3,800 || align=center| 5,300 || align=center| 7,100 || align=center| 8,800 || align=center| 9,000 || align=center| 9,500 || align=center| 9,400 || align=center| 9,700
|-
|align=center| GDP per capita as a %<br />of Metropolitan France's || align=center| 15.4% || align=center| 18.7% || align=center| 22.8% || align=center| 26.2% || align=center| 26.5% || align=center| 27.3% || align=center| 26.4% || align=center| 26.4%
|-
|align=center| GDP per capita as a %<br />of Réunion's || align=center| 28.7% || align=center| 31.0% || align=center| 38.1% || align=center| 42.6% || align=center| 42.5% || align=center| 43.7% || align=center| 42.6% || align=center| 42.8%
|-
| colspan="9" style="text-align:center" | <small>Sources: Eurostat;
thumb|Fisherman at Moya beach, Petite-Terre
Agricultural production mainly consists of food crops, particularly rice, cassava, and tropical fruits—bananas (17,000 tons in 2003), But there are also specialized export crops such as ylang-ylang and lemongrass (used in perfumery), vanilla, cinnamon, and cloves. However, departmentalization and the alignment of Mayotte with French labor laws pushed major producers (such as Guerlain) to relocate to neighboring countries (Comoros or Madagascar), where labor is cheaper. Since the 2020s, attempts to revive these high-value crops have begun to emerge. especially since they are often sprayed with many illegal pesticides. In particular, roadside tomatoes in Mayotte contain worrying levels of dimethoate (up to 500% of the maximum allowable residue limit), even though this toxic pesticide is banned in France.
Livestock farming continues to exist but remains limited: nearly 30% of farmers raise livestock,
The sea provides, in addition to coastal fish, swordfish, lobsters, groupers, and shrimp, within an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 74,000 km²
In 2007, a Regional Commission for Maritime Fisheries and Marine Aquaculture (Commission Régionale des Pêches Maritimes et de l'Aquaculture Marine, COREPAM) was created to handle subsidy applications for professionals in the sector. Total annual production is about 180 tons of fish, making Mayotte the leading aquaculture producer among all French overseas departments (with revenue exceeding €700,000 per year). However, this aquaculture mainly involves foreign species with potentially polluting farming practices, such as the American drumfish, which accounts for 90% of production, mostly for export. is starting to be cautiously considered, and early studies show strong potential for these alternative cultures.