evidence: Mayotte is an archipelago among the East African Islands, lying in the Indian Ocean channel between Madagascar and Mozambique. It's a French overseas department with a population of 299,348 in 2022. Most live on the large island of Grande-Terre, which somewhat resembles a sea horse, used on Mayotte's coat of arms. A 2 km channel separates it from Petite-Terre, also urbanised; the other islets are tiny with only a handful of residents. Understand [edit]The first known human habitation was in the 7th century CE, and early settlement was from the East African mainland and from Madagascar. Mayotte lay on the Arab trade routes, adopted Islam, and from 1500 became a sultanate. From time to time it fought with its neighbours, and in the 1830s Andriantsoly in exile from Madagascar grabbed power here as Sultan. Madagascar was backed by the British so he needed an equivalent Great Power ally, and in 1841 he sold the whole place to France. He got 5000 francs, which he mostly drank, until in 1847 an assassin nailed him slightly ahead of the bottle. Subsequently all of Comoros, Réunion and Mayotte became a French protectorate. Attempts to develop Mayotte for sugar plantations, as in the Caribbean, were stymied by the rugged terrain and long transport routes.