:'' Petite Terre is also the name of a group of islands in

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

.''

Pamanzi, also known as Petite-Terre (; literally "Little Land" in French), is an

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

Mayotte Mayotte ( ; , ; , ; , ), officially the Department of Mayotte (), is an Overseas France, overseas Overseas departments and regions of France, department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is one of the Overseas departm ...

, an

overseas department The overseas departments and regions of France (, ; DROM) are the five departments and regions of the French Republic which are located outside European France (also known as " metropolitan France"). These overseas entities have exactly the s ...

and

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and is Mayotte's second-largest island after

Grande-Terre Grande Terre or Grande-Terre (, French for "large land") is a generic term used in French to designate the main island of any given archipelago. As a specific toponym, it may refer to the following: * Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, the eastern half of ...

. The northern end of the island features the crater lake Dziani Dzaha, filled with sulfurous water. The communes of

Dzaoudzi Dzaoudzi () is a commune in the French overseas department of Mayotte, in the Indian Ocean. The commune of Dzaoudzi (sometimes called Dzaoudzi-Labattoir ), made up of the twin towns of Dzaoudzi and Labattoir, is located on the small island of P ...

and

Pamandzi Pamandzi () is a commune in the French overseas department of Mayotte, in the Indian Ocean. The commune of Pamandzi is located on the small island of Petite-Terre (or Pamanzi), off the main island of Mayotte. The Dzaoudzi–Pamandzi Internati ...

are located on Pamanzi. Occupied by the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

at the direction of

Jan Smuts Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, (baptismal name Jan Christiaan Smuts, 24 May 1870 11 September 1950) was a South African statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts, he served as P ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

for its strategic value, Pamanzi was once the most important island with Mayotte's only airport and the capital

. In 1977, however,

Mamoudzou Mamoudzou (; ''Momojou'') is the capital city of Mayotte, a French overseas region and department in the Indian Ocean. Mamoudzou is the most populated commune (municipality) of Mayotte. It is located on Grande-Terre (or Maoré), the main isla ...

was chosen as the new capital.

References

Islands of Mayotte {{Mayotte-geo-stub