Historyedit

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.

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 قاض, 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. Looking for 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 regained its rights over 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.

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, as of 2020, 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 percent 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.