Located in a strategic position at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel, the archipelago of the Comoro Islands arose

from the western Indian Ocean as the result of volcanic activity. The islands: Ngazidja (Grande Comore), Mwali (Moheli), Nzwani (Anjouan), and Maore (Mayotte), have distinct topographical characteristics due to their different ages. Mayotte, the oldest of the islands, is highly eroded with slow, meandering streams. Ngazidja, the youngest of the islands is dominated by a massive, active volcano. Volcanic experts are concerned that a very violent eruption may occur in the near future. The other two islands are mountainous but have no active volcanic activity. The Comoro Islands once played a major role in the world economy of the western Indian Ocean. For centuries, they were a major stopover along the mercantile routes of the Indian Ocean from Africa to the Orient. Maritime trade in the Comoros is mentioned in ancient documents. The town of Domoni, located on the eastern shore of
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the island of Nzwani (Anjouan), for example, was a major trading center in the fifteenth century when Arabian, African, Indian, and Persian sailing vessels traveling between Africa and Asia stopped there. From archaeological evidence, we know that trade existed between the community and places as far away as Japan. During the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries, European and American ships also visited the islands. These included whalers, merchants, and pirates, such as the infamous Captain Kidd. Sailors liked the island of Nzwani, in particular, for reprovisioning food and water. But after the opening of the Suez Canal, the Comoros ceased to be on the main route of trade and, except for an occasional historical incident, they virtually disappeared from outsiders' awareness. Today, the Comoros have become the "Forgotten Islands." The mountainous terrain found on several of the islands offers a variety of habitats home to diverse animal and plant species. Several species of animals are
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unique to the Comoros. The bat pictured below is one of the species of rare animals found on the islands. The Livingstone's flying fox is a fruit bat unique to the Comoros with a wing span that exceeds four feet. Several different kinds of insects and over a dozen bird species are also unique to the islands. Many of these animals are now being threatened with extinction.

In the waters around the islands, lives the famous coelacanth. It is a unique fish once thought by western scientists to have been extinct for millions of years. But in the second half of the last century, an ichthyologist learned that Comorian fishermen regularly caught coelacanths in the deep waters surrounding the islands of Ngazidja and Nzwani. Several specimens have since been preserved and can be seen today in museums around the world. There is an abundance of life in the sea around the Comoros. One can find everything from giant whales, large sharks, big manta rays, sailfish, sunfish, to lobsters, crabs and tiny shrimp. Deep water close to the islands, coral reefs, miles of sandy beaches, plus fresh water streams and shoreline springs provide multiple habitats for the marine life.

THE UNION OF THE COMOROS

The islands became a French colony following the Berlin conference of 1886-7 and remained under French political control until 1975. Three of the islands: Ngazidja, Mwali, and Nzwani, declared themselves independent from France in 1975 and became the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoro Islands. The fourth major island of the archipelago, Mayotte (Maore), continued to be administered by France although it's status has been continuously challenged by the Comorian government. The claim that Mayotte belongs within the sphere of the independent nation of the comoros has been recognized by the United Nations General Assembly. Separatists on the islands of Nzwani and Mwali declared their islands to be independent from the Republic in 1997. This led to the breakup of the Republic and a reformation of the government of the Comoro Islands as a Union in 2002 with each of the three islands given considerable autonomy. Presidential elections are to be held every four years. The next election is scheduled for April of 2006.

CLIMATE

Located a little more than 10 degrees below the equator in the western Indian Ocean the islands have a maritime tropical climate. In the wet season from October to April, the predominant northerly winds of the Indian Ocean bring moist, warm air to the region. Heaviest rainfall occurs during the period from December to April and amounts can reach as high as 15 inches (390 mm) in a month. The mean temperature during the wet season is in the high seventies with the hottest month, March, averaging temperatures in the middle eighties (fahrenheit). From May to September southerly winds dominate the region. These are cooler and drier and temperatures in the islands average around 66 degrees fahrenheit (19 degrees celsius). Rainfall and temperature vary from island to island during any month and even vary on an island due to the topography. The central, higher areas of an island are often cooler and more moist than the coastal regions. This

variation results in microecologies on the islands with distinct flora and fauna.

ECONOMY

Traditionally, seaborne trade played an important role in the Islands' economy. Today, agriculture is the principal economic activity with crops grown both for domestic consumption and export. The major food crops are cassava, coconut, bananas, rice, sweet potatoes, pulses, and corn. Vanilla, ylang-ylang, cloves, and copra have been the major export crops. The Comoros were the world's leading producer of the essence of ylang-ylang, an oil widely used in the perfume industry. The Islands were also the world's second-largest producer of vanilla. The market demands for these products have decreased significantly in the past decade, however. In 1996, for example, there was a 60% drop in the value of vanilla and exports declined by 42.7% from the previous year. During the same year, the volume of ylang-ylang essence declined by 15.8% and the value of the exports dropped by 24.6%.. Some animal husbandry is undertaken by individual farmers and a small scale fishing industry exists. Coelecanth specimens
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provided some income for fishermen and the government. This fish was thought by western scientists to have been extinct for 70 million years but has been caught by local fishermen for years. At one time it was sold to the local government and resold to museums and research centers all over the world. There is a small tourist industry on the Islands which had been recently promoted by South African interests. France has been the major trading partner of the Comoros. The Islands have a relatively large negative trade balance and the government has been for many years dependent upon external aid. A number of countries in the past have provided this aid with France being the dominant donor. The currency of the country is the Comorian franc. Its value is tied to the French franc at 75 Comorian francs to 1 French franc. There are banks on the islands of Ngazidja, Nzwani, and Maore but no bank on Mwali. The banks are open Monday through Friday mornings.

GEOGRAPHY

The Islands
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Comoro are an

archipelago of four islands and several islets located in the western Indian Ocean about ten to twelve degrees south of the Equator and less than 200 miles off the East African coast. They lie approximately halfway between the island of Madagascar and northern Mozambique at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel. The archipelago is the result of volcanic action along a fissure in the seabed running west-northwest to eastsoutheast. The total area of the four islands is 785 square miles (2,034 square kilometers). The four major islands are Ngazidja, Mwali, Nzwani, and Mayotte (Maore). Ngazidja is the largest and the youngest island in the archipelago. It is the most westerly of the islands, lying 188 miles from Mozambique. Ngazidja has an active volcano that rises to a height of 7,746 feet (2,361 meters) above sea level. Mwali, 28 miles south-southeast of Ngazidja, is the smallest of the islands with a central mountain range that rises 2,556 feet (790 meters) above sea level. Nzwani lies about twenty-five miles easterly of Mwali, has a central peak that rises 5,072 feet (1,575 meters) above sea level. It also has several swift running streams that cascade down to
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long, sandy beaches. Forty-four miles to the southeast of Nzwani is Mayotte (Maore), the oldest of the islands. It is almost surrounded by a barrier reef and is fairly flat with slow meandering streams and mangrove swamps.

LANGUAGE

The official languages of The Union of the Comoros are French and Arabic. French is the language of government while Arabic is the language of Islam, the major religion in the country. French is used as the official language on the island of Mayotte. In daily life, most people speak one or more varieties of Comorian, the language group indigenous to the Islands. It is closely related to the Swahili of the East African coast. Comorian is typical of a Bantu language with a large number of noun classes and an elaborate set of verb tenses and aspects. For centuries, people have used Arabic script to write Comorian and there is an attempt presently to normalize an orthography for writing the varieties of the language in Roman script. The rich vocabulary of Comorian has been enhanced by the borrowing of words from many other languages. Since Comorians have been involved in maritime trade for a
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thousand years or more, they have come into contact with a number of different peoples and their language reflects this contact. Words of Indian, Persian, Arabic, Portuguese, English, and French origin have been added to those of African ancestry. There are four varieties of Comorian spoken in the Islands: Shingazidja, Shimwali, Shinzwani, and Shimaore. Each one is named for the primary island on which it is spoken. Shingazidja is primarily spoken on Ngazidja, Shinzwani on Nzwani, Shimwali on Mwali, and Shimaore on Maore.

MUSIC
Located at the northern end of the Mozambique channel, and at the eastern edge of the Bantu linguistic area, the Comoros are at a unique cultural and musical crossroads. Involved in the western Indian Ocean trade for over a thousand years, the islands have absorbed cultural and musical influences from East Africa, the Middle East, Madagascar, and southern India. As a result there is a remarkably wide range of musical styles in the Comoros: solo and choral, through composed and stanzaic, improvised and rehearsed, accompanied and acapella. Contemporary Artists in the Islands and in Europe have been utilizing traditional
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sounds and themes and putting them in a modern idiom to produce some very interesting music. Traditional instruments include gongs, drums, tambourines, rattles, oboes, zithers, and five-stringed lutes. The musical example below is a zither-and-rattle selection typical of social events such as womens' wedding dances. It is performed by Shirontro, a wellknown singer and instrumentalist from Nzwani. NEWS FROM THE ISLANDS

In 1997, the islands of Mwali and Nzwani both declared themselves independent of the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoro Islands. Since then Mwali has returned to the Republic and, currently, Nzwani is undergoing talks with the Republic. The independence of Nzwani has not been recognized by any nation and pressure has been put on the separatists by the ONU and other members of the international community to negotiate a return to the Federal Islamic Republic. (22 August 2000) Meeting at Fomboni, on the island of Mwali, the Comorian head of state, Colonel
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Azali Assoumani and the separatist leader from Nzwani, Said Abeid, signed an accord on August 26 agreeing to the creation of a "Comoran entity" and a tripartite Commission. This Commission, composed of representatives from Nzwani, Mwali, and Ngazidja is to draft the details about the new entity.(28 August 2000) Statement of the Comoro Island's representative to the United Nations, 3 October 2001: Mahmound Aboud expressed his heartfelt condolences to the people of the United States for the terrorist attacks of 11 September. All nations had been shaken by those acts of barbarity, which were designed to hurt all of mankind. He was gratified at the will of the Secretary-General to fight terrorism and fully supported its eradication. International cooperation alone could combat the globalization of terrorism and guarantee success. The coordination of States and within the framework of the United Nations was the most effective and reliagble course ahead. He said prompt objectives must be established and concrete action determined to attack the roots of evil--not a new evil, but one which had reached incomprehensible proportions on 11 September. he noted that the concerns of the past were also part of the picture, including conflicts arising from the diverse problems of under-development. International cooperation must be intensified
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to meet the challenges of sustainable human development, which included problems of the environment and of education. His country had adopted national measures and ratified instruments against international terrorism. He condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifetations and expressed horror that such acts had taken the lives of so many inocent civilians.

POPULATION

The total population of the Comoro Islands is estimated to be over 600,000 people today. Over 27% live in urban areas. A 1980 estimate of the average density was 182.5 persons per square kilometer, varying between 65.5 persons per square kilometer in Mwali and 349.1 persons per square kilometer in Nzwani. Today the densities are much higher. In recent decades the population was increased by the forced evacuation of Comorians from Madagascar and Zanzibar. These peoples resettled in the Comoros adding to an already difficult situation. Earlier, changes in politics in the area had reduced the opportunities for Comorian men to go abroad; one means that had effectively eased population pressures. There still are a number of Comorians living abroad.
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Comorians can be found living in many parts of the world but most of the emigrants are in Europe or in Kenya and Zanzibar along the East African coast. There are an estimated 60,000 Comorians or people of Comorian descent living in France today. The present population increase is an estimated 3.5% per year with an annual birth rate of 47 births per 1,000 and an annual death rate of 12 deaths per 1,000 population. The most recent estimate of the total fertility rate is 6.8 children born per woman. Life expectancy at birth is 54 years for males and 59 years for females. The inhabitants are a blend of various peoples of the Indian Ocean littoral. African, Malagasy, and Arabic features are clearly evident. Maritime commerce before entry of Europeans into the Indian Ocean brought Comorians into contact with peoples from southern Africa to southeast Asia. Since the end of the fifteenth century European influence has also impacted upon Comorian life. The dominant religion in the islands is Islam. Outside of Mayotte, where there are a number of Catholics, islanders are predominantly Sunni Muslims conforming to the Shafii rite.

TRANSPORTATION

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The airlines have provided service between the Comoro Islands and other countries. These flights were into Prince Said Ibrahim International Airport at Hahaya, north of Moroni, Ngazidja. Service has also been provided to Mayotte from other countries.

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