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.

The issue of illegal immigration became very important in local political life in the 2010s and 2020s which led France to organize Operation Wuambushu.

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.

It is situated on Petite-Terre (or Pamanzi), which at 10 square kilometres (4 sq mi) is the largest of several islets adjacent to Maore.

[10] Mayotte is the oldest of the four large islands of the Comoros archipelago,[11] a chain of land emerging from a crescent-shaped submarine relief at the entrance to the Mozambique Channel.

It was recorded by seismograms in many places, including Kenya, Chile, New Zealand, Canada, and Hawaii located almost 11,000 miles (18,000 km) away.

[13][14] Subsequently, the earthquake swarm has been linked to a newly discovered undersea volcano located 50 km (31 mi) away from Mayotte at a depth of 3,500 m (11,500 ft).

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.

Just like many volcanic islands, Mayotte shelters quite a limited mammal biodiversity, the only native species being flying foxes (Pteropus seychellensis comorensis).

Mayotte was sparsely populated and mainly consisted of Comorian speakers that were politically aligned with the local sultan and the Malagasy who were autonomous.

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.

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.

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".

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.

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.

[29] The outcome was a 95.5 percent vote in favour of changing the island's status from a French "overseas community" to become France's 101st département.

[30] 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.

[34] 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.

[35] President Emmanuel Macron arrived on the department's largest island, Grande-Terre, on 19 December, and delivered food and health aid.

[36] 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.

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.

[43][44] Defence of the territory is the responsibility of the French Armed Forces, principally carried out by a Foreign Legion Detachment in Mayotte.

One Engins de Débarquement Amphibie – Standards (EDA-S) landing craft is to be delivered to naval forces based in Mayotte by 2025.

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 Global Financial Crisis of 2008 and experiencing as a result a recession of −0.4% in 2009.

[53] The economy rebounded as early as 2010, driven by the transformation of the territory into an overseas department, decided in a referendum in 2009 and taking effect in 2011.

[56][53] The local agriculture is threatened by insecurity, and due to a more expensive workforce cannot compete on the export ground with Madagascar or the Comoros union.

[62] The French census does not collect religious data, but the CIA World Factbook estimates that the population is 97% Muslim and 3% Christian.

[4] A survey was conducted by the French Ministry of National Education in 2006 among pupils registered in CM2 (equivalent to fifth grade in the US and Year 6 in England and Wales).

[67] The island of Mayotte, which has very varied coastal relief, offers fewer sandy beaches than its neighbors Grande Comore, Mohéli, the Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar, but has a great diversity of coastlines and sand colors (black, brown, gray, red, beige, white).