Mayotte

{{Infobox Country |native_name = Collectivité départementale de Mayotte |common_name = Mayotte |image_flag = Flag_of_Mayotte (local).svg |flag_caption = Flag of Mayotte |image_map = LocationMayotte.png

Demographics

At the 2002 census there were 160,301 people living in Mayotte. 64.7% of these were born in Mayotte, 3.9% were born in the rest of the French Republic (either metropolitan France or overseas France except Mayotte), 28.1% were immigrants from the Comoros, 2.8% were immigrants from Madagascar, and the remaining 0.5% came from other countries.

Languages

The native languages of Mayotte are:

• Shimaore, a dialect of the Comorian language (a close relative of Swahili)
• Kibushi, a western dialect of the Malagasy language (the language of Madagascar) heavily influenced by Shimaore and Arabic
• Kiantalaotsi, another western dialect of the Malagasy language also heavily influenced by Shimaore and Arabic
• Arabic, essentially learnt in the Koranic schools

Kibushi is spoken in the south and north-west of Mayotte, while Shimaore is spoken elsewhere.

Other non-native languages are also present in Mayotte:

• French, the language imported by the French colonizers
• various dialects of the Comorian language essentially imported by immigrants who have arrived in Mayotte since 1974: Shindzwani (the dialect of Anjouan), Shingazidza (the dialect of Grande Comore), and Shimwali (the dialect of Mohéli).

Shingazidza and Shimwali on the one hand and Shimaore on the other hand are hardly mutually intelligible. Shindzwani and Shimaore are perfectly mutually intelligible.

A survey was conducted by the French Ministry of National Education in 2006 among pupils registered in CM2 (equivalent to fifth grade in the US and Year 6 in England and Wales). Questions were asked regarding the languages spoken by the pupils as well as the languages spoken by their parents. According to the survey, the ranking of mother tongues is the following (ranked by number of first language speakers in the total population; note that percentages add up to more than 100% because some people are natively bilingual):

• Shimaore: 55.1%
• Shindzwani: 22.3%
• Kibushi: 13.6%
• Shingazidza: 7.9%
• French: 1.4%
• Shimwali: 0.8%
• Arabic: 0.4%
• Kiantalaotsi: 0.2%
• Other: 0.4%

However, when also counting second language speakers (e.g. someone whose mother tongue is Shimaore but who also speaks French as a second language) then the ranking becomes:

• Shimaore: 88.3%
• French: 56.9%
• Shindzwani: 35.2%
• Kibushi: 28.8%
• Shingazidza: 13.9%
• Arabic: 10.8%
• Shimwali: 2.6%
• Kiantalaotsi: 0.9%
• Other: 1.2%

French is the only official language of Mayotte. It is the language used by the administrations and the school system. It is the language most used by televisions and radios as well as in commercial announcements and billboards. In spite of this, Mayotte is one of the French overseas territories where the knowledge of French is the least developed, as showed by the figures above. At the 2002 census, only 55% of people older than 15 y/o declared they could read and write French, although this figure is higher than those who can read and write Shimaore (41%) or Arabic (33%).

With the mandatory schooling of children and the economic development both implemented by the French central state, the French language has progressed significantly on Mayotte in recent years. The survey conducted by the Ministry of National Education showed that while first and second language speakers of French represented 56.9% of the population in general, this figure was only 37.7% for the parents of CM2 pupils, but reached 97.0% for the CM2 pupils themselves (whose age is between 10 and 14 in general).

Already there are instances of families speaking only French to their children in the hope of helping their social advancement. With French schooling and French language television, many young people turn to French or use many French words when speaking Shimaore and Kibushi, leading some to fear that these native languages of Mayotte could either disappear or become some sort of French-based creole.

See also

• Geography of Mayotte
• Demographics of Mayotte
• Politics of Mayotte
• Economy of Mayotte
• Communications in Mayotte
• French overseas departments and territories
• Administrative divisions of France
• Islands controlled by France in the Indian and Pacific oceans

External links

• CIA World Factbook - Mayotte
• {{{2}}} at the Open Directory Project
• WorldStatesmen- Mayotte
• Travel guide to Mayotte from Wikitravel
• (French) Analysis of the linguistic situation on Mayotte
• "Voyages...Visages" - Another way of travelling and seeing
• Comité du tourisme de Mayotte Official tourism website (French)

Credits

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• History of "Mayotte"

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