Grande-Terre, Mayotte
Grande-Terre is the main island of the French overseas region of Mayotte. The island is located in the northern Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean between northwestern Madagascar and northeastern Mozambique. Spread across an area of, it is part of the Comoros archipelago.
Geography
Grande‑Terre is the main island of the French overseas region of Mayotte. The island is part of the Comoros archipelago located in the northern Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean between northwestern Madagascar and northeastern Mozambique. It spans approximately and features a coastal reef barrier measuring in length.The island is underlain by basalt shields formed during Miocene–Pliocene era, and was overlain by later basalt and phonolite domes. Deep valleys were carved by subsequent erosion. The coastline is predominantly steep and cliff-lined, broken by ravines and small bays. Mount Benara is the tallest feature on the island at while there are several other smaller volcanoes. There are no permanent rivers, and rainfall drains through seasonal gullies into the lagoons and reef flats. Tropical forest exist on mid‑elevation slopes, scrub and mangroves near coasts, and cultivated land along coastal plains.