Mayotte was the first Comorian island to fall under French influence at the beginning of the 1840s. It was the French administrative and postal center in the archipelago. Between 1911 and 1975, Mayotte's postal history is the same as the other Comoros: part of the Madagascar colony, then part of the Comoros Archipelago overseas territory.
In July 1975, Mayotte's postal history diverged again because its inhabitants voted by referendum to remain a French territory. After a shortage of stamps, stamps of France were used from February 1976 to December 1996.
From 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2011, Mayotte was postally autonomous and issued its own stamps. Postal operations are managed by an overseas subsidiary of La Poste.
From 1 January 2012, with the full integration of Mayotte with France, the island has no longer postal autonomy and uses the stamps of France exclusively.
Centre of the French postal system in the Comoros
Mayotte became a French colony when commandant Passot bought the island from sultan Andriantsouli, at the beginning of the 1840s. Few letters posted before 1900 in Mayotte or the Comoros are known: the oldest came from Mayotte in December 1850 and do not bear a postage stamp.
Imperial Eagle stamp, used in all French colonies.
The first stamps from the Imperial Eagle series, common to all French colonies, were sent late 1861-start 1862. They were dispatched between Mayotte and Nosy Be, a northern Madagascan island. The oldest known stamped letter from Mayotte is dated December 1863.
The next shipments of stamps were dispatched from Mayotte to the three other Comorian islands when they fell under French influence. At this time, "Mayotte et dépendances" (Mayotte and dependencies) was written on the date stamp where the letters originated; only the sender's address or the correspondence point to the real origin. Moreover, until the 1870s, the cancellation is a rhombus of points with a hole in the middle; it is impossible to determine where a stamp was used but removed.
In the 1890s, like other French colonies, new stamps were designed to include the colony's name: the post office was victim of speculation between low-valued currency colonies and high-valued currency colonies. Mayotte received its stamps in November 1892.
Part of Madagascar colony and of the Comoros Archipelago
Like the other Comoros and some colonies around Madagascar, Mayotte was administratively included in the latter colony in 1911. In 1912, all Mayotte's remaining stamps were overprinted to serve as 5 and 10 centimes stamps.
During the Madagascar period, a 1942 stamp commemorated the centenary of Mayotte's and Nosy Be's joining with France, with portraits of de Hell, Jéhenne and Passot.
Later, starting 15 May 1950, the stamps of the "Archipel des Comores" (Archipelago of the Comoros) are used in Mayotte, like the CFA franc. Eight stamps of this period directly concerned Mayotte: the place of the first radio transmitter of the Comoros (1960 stamp), cannon battery of Dzaoudzi in a 1966 series about military fortifications, three landscapes in 1974 (Moya beach, Chiconi and Mamoudzou), and maps on stamps by Pierre Béquet in 1971 and 1974.
Since the Comorian independence of 1975
Stamp shortage (1976)
In 1974, referendums occurred in the four Comorian islands regarding their inhabitants' wish for independence. The "no" vote won in Mayotte and France decided to treat the island separately. The Comorian parliament voted for independence on 5 July 1975, while the representatives of Mayotte did not vote for independence.
From a postal point of view, the problem is that the postage stamp stocks are in Moroni, on Grande Comore, and they were quickly overprinted to strike out all reference to French sovereignty.
In Mayotte, there was a stamp shortage as of December 1975. Until the new stamps arrived from Metropolitan France, the préfet authorized the use of cut stamps on mail. The goal was to have enough 50 CFA franc stamps for simple letters to France.[1]
Stamps of 100 francs were cut in two, stamps of 200 francs in four. They were overprinted "Administration provisoire de Mayotte" (provisional administration of Mayotte). Four stamps were cut (in chronological order):
and 200 francs "Saïd Omar ben Soumeth, great mufti of the Comoros" issued 1974.
The 20 francs stamps about "Artcraft - bracelet" of 1975 were cut in two to help complete two stamps of 20 francs.
Stamp catalogues gave a high price to these stamps (150 euros minimum in Dallay 2006-2007), the stamp must be on cover and cancelled during the shortage period that ended with the arrival of French stamps and the introduction of the French franc.
Use of French stamps (1976–1996)
In February 1976, stamps identical to those used in Metropolitan France arrived. Like in the Réunion in January 1975, the French franc replaced the CFA franc through the Institut d'émission d'Outre-Mer, the CFP franc issuing bank.[2]
Only the date stamp distinguished a stamp used in Mayotte.
Philatelic autonomy (1997–2011)
The post in Mayotte is operated by an overseas section of La Poste.
On 2 January 1997, the island obtained a philatelic autonomy: local institutions can choose the stamps' topics: coat of arms, artworks, traditions, fauna and flora are omnipresent. They continue to be printed by the French postal printer, Philaposte Boulazac, formerly Imprimerie des timbres-poste et valeurs fiduciaires (ITVF), whose name appears at the bottom of the stamps.
Stamps of France were no longer accepted from 31 March 1997, but the Marianne definitive series is overprinted "Mayotte". In 2001, a second definitive series completed Marianne: a black and white map of the island. Another proximity with Metropolitan stamps was the double denomination in franc and euro between July 1999 and December 2001.
The last stamp of Mayotte was a joint emission with the TAAF. From 2 January 2012, the stamps of France became valid in Mayotte,[3] and from 1 April 2012 were the only ones on sale on Mayotte's post offices. The stamps of Mayotte remains valid without time limitation.
The Comoros, officially the Union of the Comoros, is an archipelagic country made up of three islands in Southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city is Moroni. The religion of the majority of the population, and the official state religion, is Sunni Islam. Comoros proclaimed its independence from France on 6 July 1975. A member of the Arab League, it is the only country in the Arab world which is entirely in the Southern Hemisphere. It is a member state of the African Union, the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation, and the Indian Ocean Commission. The country has three official languages: Shikomori, French and Arabic.
The Comoros archipelago consists of four main islands aligned along a northwest–southeast axis at the north end of the Mozambique Channel, between Mozambique and the island of Madagascar. Still widely known by their French names, the islands officially have been called by their Swahili names by the Comorian government. They are Grande Comore (Njazidja), Mohéli (Mwali), Anjouan (Nzwani), and Mayotte (Mahoré). The islands' distance from each other—Grande Comore is some 200 kilometers from Mayotte, forty kilometers from Mohéli, and eighty kilometers from Anjouan—along with a lack of good harbor facilities, make transportation and communication difficult. Comoros are sunny islands.
The Comoro Islands or the Comoros are an archipelago of volcanic islands situated off the southeastern coast of Africa, to the east of Mozambique and northwest of Madagascar. The islands are politically divided between the Union of the Comoros, a sovereign country, and Mayotte, an Overseas Department of France.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands.
The franc is the official currency of Comoros. It is nominally subdivided into 100 centimes, although no centime denominations have ever been issued.
Each "article" in this category is in fact a collection of entries about several stamp issuers, presented in alphabetical order. The entries themselves are formulated on the micro model and so provide summary information about all known issuers.
Each "article" in this category is a collection of entries about several stamp issuers, presented in alphabetical order. The entries are formulated on the micro model and so provide summary information about all known issuers.
Each "article" in this category is a collection of entries about several stamp issuers, presented in alphabetical order. The entries are formulated on the micro model and so provide summary information about all known issuers.
Each "article" in this category is a collection of entries about several stamp issuers, presented in alphabetical order. The entries are formulated on the micro model and so provide summary information about all known issuers.
The postage stamps and postal history of the Comoro Islands is an overview of the postage stamps and postal history of the Comoro Islands, an Indian Ocean archipelago located on the south-east side of Africa.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Ambanja is a diocese located in the city of Ambanja in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Antsiranana in Madagascar. Its episcopal see is the Cathedral of Saint Joseph, which was constructed in 1933.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Comoros:
The Navigation and Commerce issue is a series of key type stamps issued for the colonial territories of France. It was designed by Louis-Eugène Mouchon.
This is a survey of postage stamps and postal history of the German colonies and part of the postage stamps and postal history of Germany, as well as those of the individual countries and territories concerned.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Fezzan and Ghadames, both now part of Libya.
An independence referendum was held in the Comoros on 22 December 1974. The overall result was a strong "yes" vote, with 94.57% of voters voting for independence and almost all the "no" votes being cast in Mayotte, where there was a majority for remaining under French control. In contrast, on Mohéli only five out of 6,059 votes were against independence. Voter turnout was 93.3%.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Réunion.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Niger, a former French colony that obtained independence in 1960.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Madagascar, briefly also known as Malagasy.
The Territory of the Comoros was a French overseas territory consisting of the four main Comoro Islands that existed from 1946 to 1975. It was part of the French Union under the Fourth Republic, then part of the French Community established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic from 1958.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
