evidence: The year 1974 marked a turning point. The archipelago wished to become independent and a consultation on self-determination was organized. The inhabitants of Anjouan, Moheli and Grande Comore voted for independence. Only Mayotte voted to remain part of the French Republic. France, which wished to maintain its strategic presence in the Indian Ocean, decided to take these results into account separately, in spite of international law: a few days before the vote, the United Nations asked France to respect the archipelago's unity and territorial integrity. "This event was a legal coup," said Claude-Valentin Marie, an overseas expert at the National Institute of Demographic Studies. While Mayotte obtained the hybrid and provisional status of a "territorial collective" in 1976, the nascent Comorian state, composed of the three other islands, contested this French sovereignty and on several occasions obtained the support of the United Nations General Assembly and the African Union. From then on, the Mahoran elites were concerned about a possible return to the Comoran entity and more and more strongly demanded the status of overseas department for Mayotte. [...] After the Mahorans' vote in 2009, their long-standing demand for departmentalization was finally met. On March 31, 2011, Mayotte became the 101th French department and the fifth French overseas department. But this new status brought Mayotte into a period of great social tension. Expectations for economic development and improved social rights were very high, and the population was disappointed. Many indicators continued to be in the red in this new department, from the highest youth unemployment rate to the highest illiteracy rate in France.