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History in Mayotte

For the history of Mayotte before 1974 see also History of the Comoros.

In 1500 the Maore or Mawuti Jazirat al-Mawt (meaning island of the dead / of death and corrupted to Mayotte in French) sultanate was established on the island.

In 1503, Mayotte was observed by Portuguese explorers, but not colonized.

In 1832, it was conquered by Andriantsoly, former king of Iboina on Madagascar; in 1833 conquered by the neighbouring sultanate of Mwali (Mohéli island in French); on 19 November 1835 again conquered by the Ndzuwani Sultanate (Anjouan sultanate in French; a governor was installed with the unusual Islamic style of Qadi (from the Arabic ??? which means judge), sort of a 'Resident Magistrate' in British terms), but in 1836 regained its independence under a last local Sultan.

Mayotte was ceded to France along with the other Comoros in 1843. It 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). The Comoros continue to claim the island, and a draft 1976 United Nations Security Council resolution supported by 11 of the 15 members of the Council would have recognized Comororian sovereignty over Mayotte, but France vetoed the resolution (the last time, as of 2009[update], that France cast a lone veto[citation needed] in the Council). The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a series of resolutions on the issues, whose tenor can be gauged from their title: "Question of the Comorian Island of Mayotte" up to 1995. Since 1995, the subject of Mayotte has not been discussed by the General Assembly.

A referendum on becoming an overseas department of France in 2011 was held on 29 March 2009. The outcome was a 95.5 per cent vote in favour of changing the island's status from a French "overseas community" to become France's 101st département. It will then get the same healthcare and welfare system as France but will also pay more taxes. The non-official traditional Islamic law that is still applied in some aspects of the day-to-day life of some people will be progressively abolished and be completely replaced by the already-existing uniform French civil code.