Comoros State Overview

Union of the Comoros. Or simply The Comoros or Comoros, formerly the Islamic Federal Republic of the Comoros. It is a country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, between northern Madagascar and northern Mozambique.

According to abbreviationfinder, the country of Comoros consists of three volcanic islands: Greater Comoros (Ngazidja), Mohéli (Mwali) and Anjouan (Nzwani), while the neighboring island of Mayotte (Mahore), claimed by Comoros, continues to belong to France. The territory also includes other small islands.

The name derives from the Arabic word قمر (qamar), “moon”. The current name in Arabic is precisely “islands of the moon” (جزر القمر, ŷuzuru l-qamar), and the Muslim crescent appears on its flag. This name had been used by Arab geographers to name Madagascar.

Country name

History

Comoros, served as a bridge between the African continent and Madagascar for Arab traders. Portuguese explorers visited the archipelago in 1505 and caused the destruction of the commercial economy of the islands. When the Sultan of Oman succeeded in driving the Portuguese out of the region, they came under the influence of Zanzibar and the slave trade of the Bantu-born settlers increased considerably.

During the 19th century, after the separation of Zanzibar from the Sultanate of Oman, Europeans lobbied and France occupied Mayotte in 1841 and later the rest of the archipelago between 1886 and 1909. In 1912 the islands came under the administration of the Governor General of Madagascar. Later, French colonizers, French-owned companies, and wealthy Arab merchants established a plantation-based economy that now encompasses a third of the country’s territory to export their crops. In 1946 France granted administrative autonomy under the name of Overseas Territory of the Comoros Islands. An agreement was rejected by France in [[1973] to grant independence in 1978. However, the 6 as July as 1975, the Comorian parliament passed a resolution declaring independence. Deputies from Mayotte, which remained under French control, abstained. In two referendums, in December 1974 and February 1976, the people of Mayotte voted against independence from France (by 63.8% and 99.4% respectively).

In 1978, President Ali Solilih is overthrown and assassinated and the country adopts a new constitution and the name of the Islamic Federal Republic of the Comoros is adopted under the command of Ahmed Abdallah Abderramane ; the following year the one-party regime is established. In 1983 and 1985 some coup attempts against Abdallah failed, but he was assassinated in 1989. The 28 of September of 1995 a group of European mercenaries led by Bob Denard and supported by Comorian soldiers overthrow the government and take hostage President Said Mohamed Yohar ; but special French forces arrive from Mayotte to reverse the blow.

In 1997, the islands of Anjouan and Mohéli declared their independence from Comoros, but the government managed to reestablish control over the rebels.

First Settlers

The first human residents of the Comoro Islands are believed to have been Austronesians, Africans, and colonizers, who traveled by boat. They settled there no later than the 6th century, the date of the oldest archaeological site is in Nzwani, although some sources speculate that the settlement began with as early as the 1st century of the Christian Era. The islands of the Comoros were populated by a succession of various groups from the coast of Africa, the Persian Gulf, the MalayArchipelago, and Madagascar. Swahili- language settlers came to the islands as part of the larger Bantu expansion which took place in Africa during the first millennium.

Swahili influence and settlement in the Dembeni phase (9th – 10th centuries), during which each island maintains a single central village. From the 11th to the 15th century, trade with the island of Madagascar and merchants from the Middle Eastflourished, smaller towns arose, and existing cities expanded. Citizens and historians of the state of Comoros that the first Arab settlements date that even before their arrival knows the archipelago, and Swahili (Swahili) historians frequently trace their genealogies to the arrival of Arab ancestors, who would have traveled from Yemen and the ancient kingdom of Saba in (Aden?) Eden (popularly believed in Comoros is Eden biblical, although there is no scientific certainty to affirm the latter).

Arab colonization

The traders Arabs were the first to bring Islamic Arab influence to the islands. Most likely, the slave trade in Africa by the Arabs resulted in increased diffusion and dominance of Arab culture. As their religion gained prestige, great mosques were built. The Comoros Islands, like other coastal areas in the region, were part of the important Islamic trade routes frequented by the Persians and Arabs. Despite its distance from the coast, Comoros is located on the sea route between the main ports of Kilwa and Mozambique, at the exit of the gold from Zimbabwe.

By the 19th century, the influence of the Sunni Arabic-speaking Persians from Shiraz and Iran had dominated the islands. Shirazi negotiated along the coasts of East Africa, and the Middle East, so they created settlements and colonies in the archipelago.

Arab colonization of the region increased when the Arab empire of Oman fell near Zanzibar, and the culture of the Comoros, especially architecture and religion, also increasingly came under Arab imperial rule. Many rival sultanates colonized the area in the 16th and 17th centuries. When Europeans showed interest in the Comoros, the islands’ dominant Arabic cultural veneer led many to recall the colonial history of Arab society to the detriment of their native Swahili and African heritage. More of Recent Western Fellowships by Thomas Spear and Randall Pouwells It highlights historical black African dominance over the diffusionist perspective.

Politic and government

The country’s situation has been very volatile since its independence in 1975, with coups d’état and popular insurrections. Colonel Azali Assoumani seized power in a bloody coup in April 1999, ousting interim President Tadjiddine Ben Said Massounde who had taken over after the mysterious death of President-elect Mohamed Taki Abdoulkarim in November 1998.

After the peace accords signed on 17 of February of 2001 between the Government and separatist one it was drafted constitution adopted by referendum on 23 December of the same year, going to denominate the country Union of Comoros, taking the islands of Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli broad autonomy, with their own President and their own constitutional text. The presidency of the union rotates among the candidates of the three islands after four years.

President Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi was in office from 2006 to 2011.

Geography

Comoros is located in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, between northern Madagascar and northern Mozambique. The archipelago constitutes the ecoregion known as the Comoros jungle.

Surface

With a total area of 1,862 km².

Relief

This archipelago is made up of numerous islands and coral reefs. These are islands of volcanic origin, which present a very mountainous and abrupt relief with its summit in the Karthala volcano, at an altitude of 2400 meters.

Climate

It has a tropical climate

Flora

The volcanic composition of the island does not allow an excessive variety of flora in the soil of the island, however, if it is very fertile as far as the production of types is concerned.

Fauna

The Comoros are famous throughout the world for being the habitat of the coelacanth a fish prehistoric – looking, with more than 350 million years. The coelacanth fish, called gombesa by locals

They inhabit the island also some interesting species of animals, such as bats of Livingstone, species of mongoose that the natives called maki.

Demography

The Comorian ethnic group that inhabits the main islands (86% of the population), is of Arab and African origin. Islam is the dominant religion, and Koranic schools for children strengthen its influence. Although Arab culture is firmly established in the archipelago, a substantial minority of Mayotte’s citizens are Catholic and strongly influenced by French culture.

The most common language is Comorian (Shikomor), a dialect of Swahili. French, Arabic and Malagasy are also spoken. About 57% of the population writes with the Latin alphabet, more than with the Arabic alphabet.

It has 65,901 residents in 2004, a population density of 275 residents / km2, life expectancy is 62 years and 56.8% of the population is literate. See population of Comoros.