Country name:
conventional long form: Territorial Collectivity of Mayotte
conventional short form: Mayotte

Dependency status:
departmental collectivity of France

Government type:
NA

Capital:
name: Mamoudzou
geographic coordinates: 12 46 S, 45 13 E
time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Administrative divisions:
none (territorial overseas collectivity of France)

Independence:
none (territorial overseas collectivity of France)

National holiday:
Bastille Day, 14 July (1789)

Constitution:
4 October 1958 (French Constitution)

Legal system:
the laws of France, where applicable, apply

Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state: President Nicolas SARKOZY (since 16 May 2007); represented by Prefect Denis ROBIN (since 28 July 2008)
head of government: President of the General Council Ahmed Attoumani DOUCHINA (since March 2008)
cabinet: NA
elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of the Interior; president of the General Council elected by the members of the General Council for a six-year term; next election to be held in 2010

Legislative branch:
unicameral General Council or Conseil General (19 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms)
elections: last held 9 and 16 March 2008 (next to be held in 2011)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UMP 8, Diverse Right 4, independents 4, Citizens and Republic Movement 1, Democratic Movement 1, Diverse Left 1; note - political parties are the same as parties in France
note: Mayotte elects two members of the French Senate; elections last held 21 September 2008 (next to be held in September 2014); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UC-UDF 1, UMP 1; Mayotte also elects one member to the French National Assembly; elections last held 10-17 June 2007 (next to be held in 2012); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - independent 1

Judicial branch:
Supreme Court or Tribunal Superieur d'Appel

Political parties and leaders:
Democratic Front or FD [Youssouf MOUSSA]; Mahoran Popular Movement or MPM [Ahmed MADI]; Federation of Mahorans or UMP-RPR [Mansour KAMARDINE]; Force of the Rally and the Alliance for Democracy or FRAP; Movement for Department Status Mayotte or MDM [Mouhoutar SALIM]; Renewed Communist Party of Mayotte or MRC [Omar SIMBA]; Socialist Party or PS [Ibrahim ABUBACAR] (local branch of French Parti Socialiste); Union for French Democracy or UDF [Henri JEAN-BAPTISTE]

Political pressure groups and leaders:
NA

International organization participation:
InOC, UPU, WFTU

Diplomatic representation in the US:
none (territorial overseas collectivity of France)

Diplomatic representation from the US:
none (territorial overseas collectivity of France)