The Prefecture of Mayotte
Mamoudzou
The prefect represents the State: security, immigration, state services. French since 1841, Mayotte became a department on 31 March 2011; it elects two deputies and two senators to Parliament.
Maore · French department
Public life & institutions: Mayotte
A French department since 2011, Mayotte lives under the law of the Republic, but cadis, women's associations and village traditions still hold a central place there.
Mayotte chose to remain French in the consultations of 1974 and 1976; the Union of the Comoros continues to claim the island. Read: Mayotte: contrasting views.
On Mayotte
Public authorities
The Assembly of Mayotte (formerly the departmental council)
Mamoudzou
Since 1 January 2026, Mayotte has been a Department-Region: as a single local authority, it exercises the powers of both a department and a region, and its departmental council has become the Assembly of Mayotte. Its 26 members, elected in pairs in 13 cantons since 2015 and now called councillors of the Assembly of Mayotte, will number 52 from the next general election, scheduled for 2028, as provided for by the organic law of 11 August 2025. Source: Légifrance, Decree no. 2025-1427 of 30 December 2025 on the Department-Region of Mayotte (accessed 18/10/2026).
The 17 municipalities
From Mamoudzou to Mtsamboro
Mamoudzou, the most populous, Dzaoudzi-Labattoir and Pamandzi on Petite-Terre, Koungou, Bandrélé, Sada… The municipalities, grouped into inter-municipal bodies, run schools, roads and local services.
Justice
The Mamoudzou court
Mamoudzou
Justice is administered in the name of the French people by the tribunal judiciaire of Mamoudzou; appeals are heard by an appeal chamber attached to the court of appeal of Saint-Denis, Réunion.
Religious authorities
The cadis
One per municipality, a Grand Cadi in Mamoudzou
Muslim judges for centuries, the cadis lost their judicial and notarial powers in 2010 (ordinance of 3 June 2010). Still paid by the Department, there are about twenty of them — one per municipality and a Grand Cadi in Mamoudzou — and they act as mediators, called on to calm family and neighbourhood disputes.
Custom & notables
Manzaraka and shungu
In every village
The manzaraka, the last stage of the traditional wedding, sometimes brings together hundreds of guests who bring gifts and money; the shungu is a meal offered by the newly-weds to their age group and to the village, according to a strict rule of equality. These obligations weave the solidarity — and the hierarchy — of the villages.
Environment
The Mayotte Marine Natural Park
Mayotte
Created on 18 January 2010, the first marine natural park in France's overseas territories, it covers 69,000 km² — the lagoon, the territorial waters and the whole exclusive economic zone — including a 1,300 km² lagoon surrounded by a double coral barrier, a very rare phenomenon.
Knowledge, culture & media
The University of Mayotte
Dembéni
The former university centre for training and research became a full university on 1 January 2024. It has about 2,000 students.
Sport
The Mahoran football league and basketball
Mamoudzou
Founded in 1979 and affiliated to the French Football Federation, the Mahoran League organises the championship and the Coupe de Mayotte; every season, Mahoran clubs play in the Coupe de France. Basketball is the island's other passion: Basket Club de M'tsapéré (BCM) is one of its leading clubs.
Mrengué and canoe races
Villages and seafront
Mrengué, traditional boxing to the sound of drums, livens up Ramadan evenings; some municipalities have banned it because of incidents. Since 2022, the town of Mamoudzou has held a traditional canoe (laka) race every year. See Traditional sports and games.
Associations & civil society
Women's associations and shikowa
In every village
Mothers come together in associations that raise help and money for weddings; the shikowa, women's rotating savings groups, fund family and business projects. Heirs to the Chatouilleuses, figures of the Mahoran political struggle of the 1960s and 1970s, women hold a central place in public life.
Throughout the archipelago
Religious authorities
The Sufi brotherhoods
Zawiyas in towns and villages
Established mainly in the 19th and 20th centuries — the Shadhiliyya, the most widespread, marked by the figure of Sheikh Saïd Mohamed al-Maarouf, the Qadiriyya, the Rifa'iyya, then others — the brotherhoods set the rhythm of religious life: dhikr, maoulida, gatherings in the zawiyas, often built around a master's tomb. Their sheikhs are listened to well beyond the circle of followers.
Fundi, imams and Koranic schools
In every village
The fundi teaches the Koran to children from a very young age, before or alongside state school. Imams and scholars, consulted on marriages, inheritances and disputes, are highly respected figures on all four islands.
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Further reading
- Outside view République française, Loi n° 2025-797 du 11 août 2025 de programmation pour la refondation de Mayotte, 2025.
- Outside view Sénat (France), Mayotte : un nouveau département confronté à de lourds défis (rapport d'information n° 675), 2012. French Senate.
- Voices of the archipelago Damir Ben Ali, Histoire de la pratique de l'islam aux Comores. the author's online text.