]! ^! Mayotte was ceded to France along with the other islands of the Comoros group in 1843. It was the only island in the archipelago that voted in 1974 to retain its link with France and forego independence. 
]" ^" Southern Africa, island in the Mozambique Channel, about one-half of the way from northern Madagascar to northern Mozambique ^# 12 50 S, 45 10 E ^$ Africa ^% `! 374 sq km `" 374 sq km `# 0 sq km ^& slightly more than twice the size of Washington, DC ^' 0 km ^( 185.2 km ^) `$ 12 nm `N 200 nm ^* tropical; marine; hot, humid, rainy season during northeastern monsoon (November to May); dry season is cooler (May to November) ^+ generally undulating, with deep ravines and ancient volcanic peaks ^, `% Indian Ocean 0 m `& Benara 660 m ^- NEGL ^. `' NA% `( NA% `) NA% ^/ NA ^0 cyclones during rainy season ^1 NA ^2 part of Comoro Archipelago; 18 islands 
]# ^3 208,783 (July 2007 est.) ^4 `+ 45.8% (male 48,016/female 47,533) `, 52.5% (male 59,111/female 50,437) `- 1.8% (male 1,864/female 1,822) (2007 est.) ^5 `! 17.1 years `. 18.1 years `/ 16.1 years (2007 est.) ^6 3.617% (2007 est.) ^7 40.35 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^8 7.53 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^9 3.35 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^: `0 1.03 male(s)/female `1 1.01 male(s)/female `, 1.172 male(s)/female `- 1.023 male(s)/female `2 1.092 male(s)/female (2007 est.) ^; `! 59.51 deaths/1,000 live births `. 65.33 deaths/1,000 live births `/ 53.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) ^< `2 62.16 years `. 59.94 years `/ 64.45 years (2007 est.) ^= 5.69 children born/woman (2007 est.) ^> NA ^? NA ^@ NA ^A `3 Mahorais (singular and plural) `4 Mahoran ^B NA ^C Muslim 97%, Christian (mostly Roman Catholic) 3% ^D Mahorian (a Swahili dialect), French (official language) spoken by 35% of the population ^E `5 NA `2 NA `. NA `/ NA 
]$ ^F `6 Territorial Collectivity of Mayotte `7 Mayotte ^G departmental collectivity of France ^H NA ^I `8 Mamoudzou `9 12 47 S, 45 14 E `: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) ^J none (territorial overseas collectivity of France) ^K none (territorial overseas collectivity of France) ^L Bastille Day, 14 July (1789) ^M 4 October 1958 (French Constitution) ^N French law ^O 18 years of age; universal ^P `; President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995); represented by Prefect Jean-Paul KIHL (since 17 January 2005) `< President of the General Council Said Omar OILI (since 8 April 2004) `= NA `> French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of the Interior; president of the General Council elected by the members of the General Council for a six-year term; next election to be held in 2010 ^Q unicameral General Council or Conseil General (19 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms) `> last held 21 and 28 March 2004 (next to be held in 2007) `? percent of vote by party - MDM 23.3%, UMP 22.8%, PS 10.2%, MRC 8.9%, FRAP 6.5%, MPM 1.2%, other 27.1%; seats by party - MDM 6, UMP 9, MRC 2, MPM 1, diverse left 1 `* Mayotte elects one member of the French Senate; elections last held 24 September 2001 (next to be held in September 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; Mayotte also elects one member to the French National Assembly; elections last held 16 June 2002 (next to be held in 2007); results - percent of vote by party - UMP-RPR 55.1%, UDF 44.9%; seats by party - UMP-RPR 1 ^R Supreme Court or Tribunal Superieur d'Appel ^S Democratic Front or FD [Youssouf MOUSSA]; Mahoran Popular Movement or MPM [Ahmed MADI]; Federation of Mahorans or UMP-RPR [Mansour KAMARDINE]; Force of the Rally and the Alliance for Democracy or FRAP; Movement for Department Status Mayotte or MDM [Mouhoutar SALIM]; Renewed Communist Party of Mayotte or MRC [Omar SIMBA]; Socialist Party or PS [Ibrahim ABUBACAR] (local branch of French Parti Socialiste); Union for French Democracy or UDF [Henri JEAN-BAPTISTE] ^T NA ^U UPU ^V none (territorial overseas collectivity of France) ^W none (territorial overseas collectivity of France) ^X unofficial, local flag with the coat of arms of Mayotte centered on a white field, above which the name of the island appears in red capital letters; the main elements of the coat of arms, flanked on either side by a seahorse, appear above a scroll with the motto RA HACHIRI (We are Vigilant); the only official flag is the national flag of France 
]% ^Y Economic activity is based primarily on the agricultural sector, including fishing and livestock raising. Mayotte is not self-sufficient and must import a large portion of its food requirements, mainly from France. The economy and future development of the island are heavily dependent on French financial assistance, an important supplement to GDP. Mayotte's remote location is an obstacle to the development of tourism. ^Z $953.6 million (2005 est.) ^[ NA ^\ NA% ^] $4,900 (2005 est.) ^^ `@ NA% `A NA% `B NA% ^_ 44,560 (2002) ^a 25.4% (2005) _! NA% _" `C NA% `D NA% _# 1.7% (2005) _$ `E $420 million `F $394 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005) _& vanilla, ylang-ylang (perfume essence), coffee, copra _' newly created lobster and shrimp industry, construction _( NA% _) NA kWh _* 139.2 million kWh (2005) _3 $6.5 million f.o.b. (2005) _4 ylang-ylang (perfume essence), vanilla, copra, coconuts, coffee, cinnamon _5 France 43%, Comoros 36%, Reunion 15% (2005) _6 $341 million f.o.b.; note - excludes petroleum imports (2005) _7 food, machinery and equipment, transportation equipment, metals, chemicals _8 France 49%, Seychelles 8.8%, China 4.1%, South Africa 2.8% (2004) _9 $NA _: $208 million; note - extensive French financial assistance (2004) _; euro (EUR) _< euros per US dollar - 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002) _= calendar year 
]& _> 10,000 (2002) _? 48,100 (2004) _@ `G small system administered by French Department of Posts and Telecommunications `H NA `I country code - 269; microwave radio relay and HF radiotelephone communications to Comoros _A AM 1, FM 5, shortwave 0 (2001) _B 3 (2001) _C .yt _D 1 (2006) _E NA 
]' _F 1 (2006) _G `! 1 `b 1 (2006) _H `! 93 km `K 72 km `L 21 km _I Dzaoudzi 
]( _M defense is the responsibility of France; a small contingent of French forces is stationed on the island 
]) _N claimed by Comoros 