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Mayotte | |
|---|---|
Overseas department, region and single territorial collectivity of France and outermost region of the European Union | |
| Department of Mayotte Département de Mayotte (French) | |
| Anthem: La Marseillaise ("The Marseillaise") | |
.svg) | |
.svg) Mayotte in the Comoros | |
| Coordinates: 12°50′35″S 45°8′18″E / 12.84306°S 45.13833°E | |
| Country |  France |
| Prefecture | Mamoudzou |
| Departments | 1 |
| Government | |
| • President of the Departmental Council | Ben Issa Ousseni (LR) |
| Area | |
• Total | 374 km2 (144 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 18th region |
| Population (Jan. 2024)[1] | |
• Total | 320,901 |
| • Density | 860/km2 (2,200/sq mi) |
| Demonyms |
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| GDP | |
| • Total | €2.932 billion |
| • Per capita | €11,300 |
| Time zone | UTC+03:00 (EAT) |
| ISO 3166 code | |
| Currency | Euro (€) (EUR) |
| Website | Prefecture Departmental Council |
Mayotte (/maɪˈɒt/ my-OT; French: Mayotte, [majɔt] ⓘ; Shimaore: Maore, IPA: [maˈore]; Kibushi: Maori, IPA: [maˈori]), officially the Department of Mayotte (French: Département de Mayotte),[3] 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 374 square kilometres (144 sq mi) and, with its 320,901 people according to January 2024 official estimates,[1] is very densely populated at 858 inhabitants per km2 (2,228 per sq mi). The biggest city and prefecture is Mamoudzou on the larger Grande-Terre. The Dzaoudzi–Pamandzi International Airport is located on the neighbouring smaller island of Petite-Terre. The territory is also known as Maore, the native name of its main island.
French is the official language and is spoken as a second language by an increasing part of the population, with 63% of the population 14 years and older reporting in the 2007 census that they could speak it.[4] 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 in 1841 to France (Kingdom of France and its later July Monarchy of 1830-1848) and its overseas French Empire, and Mayotte integrated to the Crown of France of King Louis Philippe I (1773-1850, reigned 1830-1848, of the royal dynasty of the House of Bourbon-Orleans), then seven years later with the subsequent Second French Republic (1848-1870) after the French Revolution of 1848. 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[5] after the nearby Comoros declared its independence following their 1974 independence referendum.[5] Mayotte however became the 101st department of France (Fifth French Republic) on 31 March 2011 and became an outermost associated region of the European Union on 1 January 2014, following a March 2009 referendum with an overwhelming result in favour of remaining in the status of a French department. The issue of illegal immigration became very important in local political life in the 2010s and 2020s which led France to organize Operation Wuambushu.
In 2019, with an annual population growth of 3.8%, half the current population was less than 17 years old. In addition, 48% of the population were foreign nationals.[6] 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.[7] The department faces enormous challenges.
According to an Institut national de la statistique et des etudes economiques (National Institute of Economic Statistics Studies of France - INSEE) report published in 2018, 84% 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.[8] These difficult living conditions mainly concern the large population of illegal migrants who crowd into shanty towns.[9]
- ^ a b "Estimation de population par région, sexe et grande classe d'âge – Années 1975 à 2024" (in French). Retrieved 17 January 2024.
- ^ "EU regions by GDP, Eurostat". Retrieved 18 September 2023.
- ^ Mayotte devient le 101e département français le 31 mars 2011 (PDF) (in French), Ministère de l'intérieur, de l'Outre-Mer, des collectivités territoriales et de l'immigration, p. 4, archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016, retrieved 30 July 2015
- ^ "LANG1M- Population de 14 ans ou plus par sexe, âge et langues parlées". INSEE (in French). Government of France. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
- ^ a b "Ce qu'il faut savoir sur Mayotte, le 101e département français". LExpress.fr (in French). 12 March 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
- ^ Patrick Roger, Le gouvernement craint un regain des tensions sociales à Mayotte Archived 20 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine, Le Monde, 20 June 2019.
- ^ Patrick Meinhardt, Comoros to accept migrants voluntarily returning from Mayotte, Africa News, 13 August 2024.
- ^ Mayotte. Le gouvernement annonce 1,9 million d’euros pour le plan pauvreté à Mayotte Archived 18 February 2020 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ The Spectator - France’s crackdown on illegal immigrants comes unstuck - 27 April 2023 : « Mayotte is the same size in land mass as the British Isles territory of the Isle of Wight in the Irish Sea – 147 square miles – but whereas the latter has a population of 142,000, Mayotte’s is somewhere between 350,000 and 400,000. No one knows the precise figure because of the high rate of illegal immigration. The arrivals live in shanty towns / slums, and crime and disease have risen dramatically as a result.»