Comoros

This article is about the country. For the archipelago, see Comoro Islands.

Union of the Comoros
  • Udzima wa Komori (Ngazidja Comorian)
  • Union des Comores (French)
  • جمهورية القمر المتحدة (Arabic)
  • Jamhuriyat al-Qumur al-Muttaḥida
Motto: 
  • "Unité – Solidarité – Développement" (French)
  • وحدة، تضامن، تنمية (Arabic)
  • "Unity – Solidarity – Development"
Anthem: Udzima wa ya Masiwa  (Comorian)
The Unity of the Great Islands
Location of the Comoros (circled)
Location of the Comoros (circled)
Capital
and largest city
Moroni
11°41′S 43°16′E / 11.69°S 43.26°E / -11.69; 43.26
Official languages
Ethnic groups
(2000)[1]
Demonym(s)Comorian
GovernmentUnitary presidential republic
• President
Azali Assoumani
Moustadroine Abdou
LegislatureAssembly of the Union
Formation
• Discovery by Portuguese Empire
1503
• French colony of Mayotte
25 April 1841
• Province of French Madagascar
31 March 1914
27 October 1946
• Internal autonomy
22 December 1961
• Independence from France
6 July 1975
• Federal Islamic Republic
1 October 1978[3]
• Union
23 December 2001[b]
Area
• Total
2,235[4] km2 (863 sq mi) (170th)
• Water (%)
negligible
Population
• 2024 estimate
1,000,000 (160th)
• Density
457/km2 (1,183.6/sq mi) (27th)
GDP (PPP)2023 estimate
• Total
Increase $3.432 billion[5]
• Per capita
Increase $3,463[5]
GDP (nominal)2023 estimate
• Total
Increase $1.364 billion[5]
• Per capita
Increase $1,377[5]
Gini (2014)Negative increase 45.3[6]
medium inequality
HDI (2022)Increase 0.586[7]
medium (152nd)
CurrencyComorian franc (KMF)
Time zoneUTC+3 (EAT)
Drives onright
Calling code+269
ISO 3166 codeKM
Internet TLD.km

The Comoros,[note 1] officially the Union of the Comoros,[note 2] 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. The Comoros is the only country of the Arab League 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.

At 1,659 km2 (641 sq mi), the Comoros is the third-smallest African country by area.[8] In 2019, its population was estimated to be 850,886.[9][10] The sovereign state consists of three major islands and numerous smaller islands, all of the volcanic Comoro Islands with the exception of Mayotte. Mayotte voted against independence from France in a referendum in 1974, and continues to be administered by France as an overseas department. France has vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution that would have affirmed Comorian sovereignty over the island.[11][12][13][14] Mayotte became an overseas department and a region of France in 2011 following a referendum which was passed overwhelmingly.

The Comoros were likely first settled by Austronesian/Malagasy peoples, Bantu speakers from East Africa, and seafaring Arab traders.[15] From 1500 the Sultanate of Anjouan dominated the islands, with Grande Comore split between several sultans. It became part of the French colonial empire during the 19th century, before its independence in 1975. It has experienced more than 20 coups or attempted coups, with various heads of state assassinated.[16][17] Along with this constant political instability, it has one of the highest levels of income inequality of any nation, and ranks in the medium quartile on the Human Development Index.[18] Between 2009 and 2014, about 19% of the population lived below the international poverty line of US$1.90 a day by purchasing power parity.[19]

  1. ^ "Comoros – People | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Archived from the original on 19 December 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  2. ^ Ottenheimer, Martin; Ottenheimer, Harriet (1994). Historical Dictionary of the Comoro Islands. Scarecrow. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-8108-2819-3.
  3. ^ "Comoros Constitution of October 1, 1978". Digithèque MJP. 2012. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2020. (in French)
  4. ^ "Comoros". 6 December 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d "World Economic Outlook database: October 2023 (Comoros)". World Economic Outlook, October 2023. International Monetary Fund. October 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  6. ^ "Gini Index coefficient". The World Factbook. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  7. ^ "HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2023-24" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. United Nations Development Programme. 13 March 2024. pp. 274–277.
  8. ^ Walker, Iain. "Islands in a Cosmopolitan Sea: A History of the Comoros." Hurst Publishers. 2019, p 8-9.
  9. ^ "World Population Prospects 2022". United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  10. ^ "World Population Prospects 2022: Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950-2100" (XSLX) ("Total Population, as of 1 July (thousands)"). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  11. ^ "Question of the Comorian island of Mayotte" (PDF). United Nations General Assembly Resolution. 21 October 1976. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 April 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  12. ^ "Comoros – Permanent Mission to the United Nations". 6 January 2008. Archived from the original on 6 January 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  13. ^ "Subjects of UN Security Council Vetoes". Global Policy Forum. Archived from the original on 17 March 2008. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
  14. ^ "Article 33, Repertory, Supplement 5, vol. II (1970–1978)" (PDF). United Nations, Office of Legal Affairs (OLA). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2014.
  15. ^ Nicolas Brucato; Veronica Fernandes; Stéphane Mazières; Pradiptajati Kusuma; Murray P. Cox; Joseph Wainaina Ng'ang'a; Mohammed Omar; Marie-Claude Simeone-Senelle; Coralie Frassati; Farida Alshamali; Bertrand Fin; Anne Boland; Jean-Francois Deleuze; Mark Stoneking; Alexander Adelaar; Alison Crowther; Nicole Boivin; Luisa Pereira; Pascal Bailly; Jacques Chiaroni; François-Xavier Ricaut (4 January 2018). "The Comoros Show the Earliest Austronesian Gene Flow into the Swahili Corridor". American Journal of Human Genetics. 102 (1). American Society of Human Genetics: 58–68. doi:10.1016/j.ajhg.2017.11.011. PMC 5777450. PMID 29304377.
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference 20Coups was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ "Intrigue in the world's most coup-prone island paradise". The Economist. Archived from the original on 25 January 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  18. ^ "Human Development Report 2021/2022" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 2022. p. 283.
  19. ^ "Human Development Report 2021/2022" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 2022. p. 297.


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