Pamanzi, also known as Petite-Terre (French pronunciation:[pətittɛʁ]; literally "Little Land" in French), is an island of Mayotte, an overseas department and region of France, and is Mayotte's second-largest island after Grande-Terre. The northern end of the island features the crater lake Dziani Dzaha, filled with sulfurous water. The communes of Dzaoudzi and Pamandzi are located on Pamanzi.
Occupied by the Allies at the direction of Jan Smuts during the Second World War for its strategic value, Pamanzi was once the most important island with Mayotte's only airport and the capital Dzaoudzi. In 1977, however, Mamoudzou was chosen as the new capital.
Mayotte is located in the northern part of the Mozambique Channel in the western Indian Ocean off the coast of Southeastern Africa, between the northwestern part of the island of Madagascar and northeastern Mozambique on the continent. Mayotte consists of a main island, Grande-Terre (or Maore), a smaller island, Petite-Terre (or Pamanzi), as well as several islets around these two. Mayotte's land area is 374 square kilometres (144 sq mi) and, with its 320,901 people according to January 2024 official estimates, is very densely populated at 858 inhabitants per km (2,228 per sq mi). The biggest city and prefecture is Mamoudzou on the larger Grande-Terre. The Dzaoudzi–Pamandzi International Airport is located on the neighbouring smaller island of Petite-Terre. The territory is also known as Maore, the native name of its main island.
Dzaoudzi (French pronunciation:[dzaudzi]) is a commune in the French overseas department of Mayotte, in the Indian Ocean. The commune of Dzaoudzi (sometimes called Dzaoudzi-Labattoir[dzaudzilabatwaʁ]), made up of the twin towns of Dzaoudzi and Labattoir, is located on the small island of Petite-Terre (or Pamanzi). It was previously the capital of Mayotte, but the capital was relocated in 1977 to Mamoudzou, on the island of Grande-Terre (Maore), the main island of Mayotte.
The cantons of Mamoudzou are administrative divisions of Mayotte, an overseas department and region of France. Since the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015, the city of Mamoudzou is subdivided into three cantons. Their seat is in Mamoudzou.
