Grande-Terre (Mayotte)

Grande-Terre

Native name: Maore, Mahori
Grande-Terre administrative
Geography
Location	Africa
Coordinates	12°49′55″S 45°08′58″E / 12.831887°S 45.149474°E / -12.831887; 45.149474
Archipelago	Comoros Island
Area	368 km2 (142 sq mi)
Area rank	~11th
Highest elevation	660 m (2,170 ft)
Highest point	Mount Benara
Administration
Mayotte, claimed by Comoros
Largest settlement	Mamoudzou (pop. 53,022 (2009) 186,452)
Demographics
Population	(2010)
Pop. density	499 /km2 (1,292 /sq mi)
Ethnic groups	Arab, Maori, Swahili, Madagascar

Mamoudzou (pop. 53,022 (2009)

Grande-Terre (or Maore) is the main island of the French overseas region of Mayotte. The island is located in the northern Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, namely between northwestern Madagascar and northeastern Mozambique.

Its biggest city and prefecture is Mamoudzou. The territory is geographically part of the Comoro Islands, but the people of Mayotte chose to remain politically a part of France in the 1975 referendum. The territory is also known as Maore, the native name of its main island, especially by advocates of its inclusion in the Union of Comoros. In a 2009 referendum, 95.2% of the electorate approved accession to status of department. Mayotte became an overseas department on 31 March 2011 and an Outermost region of the European Union on 1 January 2014.