Comoros

Edit links
Coordinates: 12°18′S 43°42′E / 12.3°S 43.7°E / -12.3; 43.7
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Law of the Comoros
)
This article is about the country. For the archipelago, see Comoro Islands.

Union of the Comoros
  • Udzima wa Komori (
    Arabic
    )
  • Jamhuriyat al-Qumur al-Muttaḥida
Motto: 
  • "Unité – Solidarité – Développement" (
    President
Azali Assoumani
Ahmed abdallah Ali
Legislature
French Overseas Territory
27 October 1946
• Internal autonomy
22 December 1961
• Independence from France
6 July 1975
• Federal Islamic Republic
1 October 1978[2]
• Union
23 December 2001[b]
+269
ISO 3166 codeKM
Internet TLD.km

The Comoros,

Shikomori, French and Arabic
.

At 1,659 km2 (641 sq mi), the Comoros is the third-smallest African country by area.

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

international poverty line of US$1.90 a day by purchasing power parity.[19]

Etymology

The name "Comoros" derives from the Arabic word قمر qamar ("moon").[20]

History

Main article: History of the Comoros

Settlement

A large dhow with lateen sail rigs
A vanilla plantation

According to mythology, a

King Solomon is also said to have visited the island accompanied by his queen Bilqis
.

The first attested human inhabitants of the Comoro Islands are now thought to have been

islands in Southeast Asia.[21][22] These people arrived in the area no later than the eighth century AD, the date of the earliest known archaeological site, found on Mayotte, although settlement beginning in the first century has been postulated.[23]

Subsequent settlers came from the east coast of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf, the Malay Archipelago, and Madagascar. Bantu-speaking settlers were present on the islands from the beginnings of settlement [dates?], probably brought to the islands as slaves.[24]

Development of the Comoros is divided into phases. The earliest reliably recorded phase is the Dembeni phase (eighth to tenth centuries), during which there were several small settlements on each island.[25] From the eleventh to the fifteenth centuries, trade with the island of Madagascar and merchants from the Swahili coast and the Middle East flourished, more villages were founded and existing villages grew. Settlers from the Arabian peninsula, particularly Hadhramaut, arrived during this period.

Medieval Comoros

According to legend, in 632, upon hearing of Islam, islanders are said to have dispatched an emissary, Mtswa-Mwindza, to Mecca—but by the time he arrived there, the Islamic prophet Muhammad had died. Nonetheless, after a stay in Mecca, he returned to Ngazidja, where he built a mosque in his home town of Ntsaweni, and led the gradual conversion of the islanders to Islam.[26]

In 933, the Comoros was referred to by Omani sailors as the Perfume Islands.[27]

Among the earliest accounts of East Africa, the works of

Swahili cultural and economic complex and the islands became a major hub of trade and an important location in a network of trading towns that included Kilwa, in present-day Tanzania, Sofala (an outlet for Zimbabwean gold), in Mozambique, and Mombasa in Kenya.[25]

The Portuguese arrived in the Indian Ocean at the end of the 15th century and the first Portuguese visit to the islands seems to have been that of Vasco da Gama's second fleet in 1503.[28] For much of the 16th century the islands provided provisions to the Portuguese fort at Mozambique and although there was no formal attempt by the Portuguese crown to take possession, a number of Portuguese traders settled and married local women.

By the end of the 16th century local rulers on the African mainland were beginning to push back and, with the support of the Omani Sultan

Said bin Sultan, increased Omani Arab influence in the region, moving his administration to nearby Zanzibar, which came under Omani rule. Nevertheless, the Comoros remained independent, and although the three smaller islands were usually politically unified, the largest island, Ngazidja, was divided into a number of autonomous kingdoms (ntsi).[29]

The islands were well placed to meet the needs of Europeans, initially supplying the Portuguese in Mozambique, then ships, particularly the English, on the route to India, and, later, slaves to the plantation islands in the Mascarenes.[30][29]

European contact and French colonisation

French map of the Comores, 1747
An 1808 map refers to the islands as "Camora".
A public square, Moroni, 1908

In the last decade of the 18th century, Malagasy warriors, mostly

traded to the French in Mayotte and the Mascarenes. On the Comoros, it was estimated in 1865 that as much as 40% of the population consisted of slaves.[32]

France first established colonial rule in the Comoros by taking possession of Mayotte in 1841 when the Sakalava usurper sultan Andriantsoly [fr] (also known as Tsy Levalo) signed the Treaty of April 1841,[33] which ceded the island to the French authorities.[34] After its annexation, France attempted to convert Mayotte into a sugar plantation colony.

Meanwhile, Ndzwani (or Johanna as it was known to the British) continued to serve as a way station for English merchants sailing to India and the Far East, as well as American whalers, although the British gradually abandoned it following their possession of Mauritius in 1814, and by the time the Suez Canal opened in 1869 there was no longer any significant supply trade at Ndzwani. Local commodities exported by the Comoros were, in addition to slaves, coconuts, timber, cattle and tortoiseshell. British and American settlers, as well as the island's sultan, established a plantation-based economy that used about one-third of the land for export crops. In addition to sugar on Mayotte, ylang-ylang and other perfume plants, vanilla, cloves, coffee, cocoa beans, and sisal were introduced.[35]

In 1886, Mwali was placed under French protection by its Sultan Mardjani Abdou Cheikh. That same year, Sultan Said Ali of Bambao, one of the sultanates on Ngazidja, placed the island under French protection in exchange for French support of his claim to the entire island, which he retained until his abdication in 1910. In 1908 the four islands were unified under a single administration (Colonie de Mayotte et dépendances) and placed under the authority of the French colonial Governor-General of Madagascar. In 1909, Sultan Said Muhamed of Ndzwani abdicated in favour of French rule and in 1912 the protectorates were abolished and the islands administered as a single colony. Two years later the colony was abolished and the islands became a province of the colony of Madagascar.[24]

Agreement was reached with France in 1973 for the Comoros to become independent in 1978, despite the deputies of Mayotte voting for increased integration with France. A referendum was held on all four of the islands. Three voted for independence by large margins, while Mayotte voted against. On 6 July 1975, however, the Comorian parliament passed a unilateral resolution declaring independence. Ahmed Abdallah proclaimed the independence of the Comorian State (État comorien; دولة القمر) and became its first president. France did not recognise the new state until 31 December, and retained control of Mayotte.

Independence (1975)

Flag of the Comoros (1963–1975)
Flag of the Comoros (1975–1978)
President of the Comoros
from 2011 to 2016

The next 30 years were a period of political turmoil. On 3 August 1975, less than one month after independence, president

Ali Soilihi.[36]

The population of

SDECE), returned to overthrow President Soilihi and reinstate Abdallah with the support of the French, Rhodesian and South African governments. Ali Soilihi was captured and executed a few weeks later.[36][37]

In contrast to Soilihi, Abdallah's presidency was marked by authoritarian rule and increased adherence to traditional Islam

Islamic Republic of the Comoros (République Fédérale Islamique des Comores; جمهورية القمر الإتحادية الإسلامية). Bob Denard served as Abdallah's first advisor; nicknamed the "Viceroy of the Comoros," he was sometimes considered the real strongman of the regime. Very close to South Africa, which financed his "presidential guard," he allowed Paris to circumvent the international embargo on the apartheid regime via Moroni. He also set up from the archipelago a permanent mercenary corps, called upon to intervene at the request of Paris or Pretoria in conflicts in Africa. Abdallah continued as president until 1989 when, fearing a probable coup, he signed a decree ordering the Presidential Guard, led by Bob Denard, to disarm the armed forces. Shortly after the signing of the decree, Abdallah was allegedly shot dead in his office by a disgruntled military officer, though later sources claim an antitank missile was launched into his bedroom and killed him.[39] Although Denard was also injured, it is suspected that Abdallah's killer was a soldier under his command.[40]

A few days later, Bob Denard was evacuated to South Africa by French paratroopers. Said Mohamed Djohar, Soilihi's older half-brother, then became president, and served until September 1995, when Bob Denard returned and attempted another coup. This time France intervened with paratroopers and forced Denard to surrender.[41][42] The French removed Djohar to Reunion, and the Paris-backed Mohamed Taki Abdoulkarim became president by election. He led the country from 1996, during a time of labour crises, government suppression, and secessionist conflicts, until his death in November 1998. He was succeeded by Interim President Tadjidine Ben Said Massounde.[43]

The islands of

Mwali declared their independence from the Comoros in 1997, in an attempt to restore French rule. But France rejected their request, leading to bloody confrontations between federal troops and rebels.[44] In April 1999, Colonel Azali Assoumani, Army Chief of Staff, seized power in a bloodless coup, overthrowing the Interim President Massounde, citing weak leadership in the face of the crisis. This was the Comoros' 18th coup, or attempted coup d'état since independence in 1975.[45]

Azali failed to consolidate power and reestablish control over the islands, which was the subject of international criticism. The African Union, under the auspices of President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, imposed sanctions on Ndzwani to help broker negotiations and effect reconciliation.[46][47] Under the terms of the Fomboni Accords, signed in December 2001 by the leaders of all three islands, the official name of the country was changed to the Union of the Comoros; the new state was to be highly decentralised and the central union government would devolve most powers to the new island governments, each led by a president. The Union president, although elected by national elections, would be chosen in rotation from each of the islands every five years.

Azali stepped down in 2002 to run in the democratic election of the President of the Comoros, which he won. Under ongoing international pressure, as a military ruler who had originally come to power by force, and was not always democratic while in office, Azali led the Comoros through constitutional changes that enabled new elections.[48] A Loi des compétences law was passed in early 2005 that defines the responsibilities of each governmental body, and is in the process of implementation. The elections in 2006 were won by Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi, a Sunni Muslim cleric nicknamed the "Ayatollah" for his time spent studying Islam in Iran. Azali honoured the election results, thus allowing the first peaceful and democratic exchange of power for the archipelago.[49]

Colonel

Mohammed Bacar, a French-trained former gendarme elected President of Ndzwani in 2001, refused to step down at the end of his five-year mandate. He staged a vote in June 2007 to confirm his leadership that was rejected as illegal by the Comoros federal government and the African Union. On 25 March 2008 hundreds of soldiers from the African Union and the Comoros seized rebel-held Ndzwani, generally welcomed by the population: there have been reports of hundreds, if not thousands, of people tortured during Bacar's tenure.[50]
Some rebels were killed and injured, but there are no official figures. At least 11 civilians were wounded. Some officials were imprisoned. Bacar fled in a speedboat to Mayotte to seek asylum. Anti-French protests followed in the Comoros (see 2008 invasion of Anjouan). Bacar was eventually granted asylum in Benin.

Since independence from France, the Comoros experienced more than 20 coups or attempted coups.[16]

Following elections in late 2010, former Vice-president

elections in Comoros were dominated by President Azali Assoumani's party, the Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros, CRC. It took an overwhelming majority in the parliament.[52]

In 2021, Comoros signed and ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, making it a nuclear-weapon-free state.[53] and in 2023, Comoros was invited as a non-member guest to the G7 summit in Hiroshima.[54] On 18 February 2023 the Comoros assumed the presidency of the African Union.[55]

In January 2024, President Azali Assoumani was re-elected with 63% of the vote in the disputed presidential election.[56]

Geography

Main article: Geography of the Comoros
A map of the Comoros

The Comoros is formed by Ngazidja (Grande Comore), Mwali (Mohéli) and Ndzwani (Anjouan), three major islands in the Comoros Archipelago, as well as many minor islets. The islands are officially known by their Comorian language names, though international sources still use their French names (given in parentheses above). The capital and largest city, Moroni, is located on Ngazidja. The archipelago is situated in the Indian Ocean, in the Mozambique Channel, between the African coast (nearest to Mozambique and Tanzania) and Madagascar, with no land borders.

At 1,659 km2 (641 sq mi), it is one of the smallest countries in the world. The Comoros also has claim to 320 km2 (120 sq mi) of territorial seas. The interiors of the islands vary from steep mountains to low hills.

The areas and populations (at the 2017 Census) of the main islands are as follows:[57]

Name Area
km2		 Population
Census 2017[57]
Mwali 211 51,567
Ngazidja 1,024 379,367
Ndzwani 424 327,382
Totals 1,659 758,316

Ngazidja is the largest of the Comoros Archipelago, with an area of 1,024 km2. It is also the most recent island, and therefore has rocky soil. The island's two volcanoes,

Jimilime – emanating from a central peak, Mount Ntingui [fr
] (1,575 m or 5,167 ft).

Grande Comore landscape

The islands of the Comoros Archipelago were formed by volcanic activity. Mount Karthala, an active shield volcano located on Ngazidja, is the country's highest point, at 2,361 metres (7,746 feet). It contains the Comoros' largest patch of disappearing rainforest. Karthala is currently one of the most active volcanoes in the world, with a minor eruption in May 2006, and prior eruptions as recently as April 2005 and 1991. In the 2005 eruption, which lasted from 17 to 19 April, 40,000 citizens were evacuated, and the crater lake in the volcano's three-by-four-kilometre (2-by-2+1⁄2-mile) caldera was destroyed.[citation needed]

The Comoros also lays claim to the

Grande Glorieuse, Île du Lys, Wreck Rock, South Rock, Verte Rocks [fr] (three islets) and three unnamed islets – one of France's overseas districts. The Glorioso Islands were administered by the colonial Comoros before 1975, and are therefore sometimes considered part of the Comoros Archipelago. Banc du Geyser, a former island in the Comoros Archipelago, now submerged, is geographically located in the Îles Éparses, but was annexed by Madagascar
in 1976 as an unclaimed territory. The Comoros and France each still view the Banc du Geyser as part of the Glorioso Islands and, thus, part of its particular exclusive economic zone.

Climate

Main article:
Climate of the Comoros
Comoros diver with fish

The climate is generally tropical and mild, and the two major seasons are distinguishable by their raininess. The temperature reaches an average of 29–30 °C (84–86 °F) in March, the hottest month in the rainy season (called kashkazi/kaskazi [meaning north monsoon], which runs from November to April), and an average low of 19 °C (66 °F) in the cool, dry season (kusi (meaning south monsoon), which proceeds from May to October).[58] The islands are rarely subject to cyclones.

Biodiversity

Main articles: Comoros forests, Comoro Islands, and Wildlife of the Comoros

The Comoros constitute an ecoregion in their own right, Comoros forests.[59][60] It had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 7.69/10, ranking it 33rd globally out of 172 countries.[61]

In December 1952 a specimen of the West Indian Ocean coelacanth fish was re-discovered off the Comoros coast. The 66 million-year-old species was thought to have been long extinct until its first recorded appearance in 1938 off the South African coast.[62] Between 1938 and 1975, 84 specimens were caught and recorded.[63]

Protected areas

There are six national parks in the Comoros –

Karthala, Coelacanth, and Mitsamiouli Ndroudi on Grande Comore, Mount Ntringui and Shisiwani on Anjouan, and Mohéli National Park on Mohéli. Karthala and Mount Ntrigui national parks cover the highest peaks on the respective islands, and Coelacanth, Mitsamiouli Ndroudi, and Shisiwani are marine national parks that protect the island's coastal waters and fringing reefs. Mohéli National Park includes both terrestrial and marine areas.[64]

Government

Main article: Politics of the Comoros
See also: List of rulers of Comoros
Moroni, capital of the Comoros, with the port and Badjanani Mosque

Politics of the Comoros takes place in a framework of a

President of the Comoros is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system
. The Constitution of the Union of the Comoros was ratified by referendum on 23 December 2001, and the islands' constitutions and executives were elected in the following months. It had previously been considered a military dictatorship, and the transfer of power from Azali Assoumani to Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi in May 2006 was a watershed moment as it was the first peaceful transfer in Comorian history.

government and parliament. The preamble of the constitution guarantees an Islamic inspiration in governance, a commitment to human rights, and several specific enumerated rights, democracy, "a common destiny" for all Comorians.[66] Each of the islands (according to Title II of the Constitution) has a great amount of autonomy in the Union, including having their own constitutions (or Fundamental Law), president, and Parliament. The presidency and Assembly of the Union are distinct from each of the islands' governments. The presidency of the Union rotates between the islands.[67] Despite widespread misgivings about the durability of the system of presidential rotation, Ngazidja holds the current presidency rotation, and Azali is President of the Union; Ndzwani is in theory to provide the next president.[68]

Legal system

The Comorian

legislative and the executive. The Supreme Court acts as a Constitutional Council in resolving constitutional questions and supervising presidential elections. As High Court of Justice, the Supreme Court also arbitrates in cases where the government is accused of malpractice. The Supreme Court consists of two members selected by the president, two elected by the Federal Assembly, and one by the council of each island.[67]

Political culture

Around 80 percent of the central government's annual budget is spent on the country's complex administrative system which provides for a semi-autonomous government and president for each of the three islands and a rotating presidency for the overarching Union government.[69] A referendum took place on 16 May 2009 to decide whether to cut down the government's unwieldy political bureaucracy. 52.7% of those eligible voted, and 93.8% of votes were cast in approval of the referendum. Following the implementation of the changes, each island's president became a governor and the ministers became councillors.[70]

Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of the Comoros
Azali Assoumani, President of the Comoros and Chair of the African Union, with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Russia–Africa Summit in St. Petersburg on 28 July 2023

In November 1975, the Comoros became the 143rd member of the United Nations. The new nation was defined as comprising the entire archipelago, although the citizens of Mayotte chose to become French citizens and keep their island as a French territory.[71]

The Comoros has repeatedly pressed its claim to Mayotte before the

French Republic
.

The Comoros is a member of the United Nations, the African Union, the Arab League, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Indian Ocean Commission and the African Development Bank. On 10 April 2008, the Comoros became the 179th nation to accept the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.[74] The Comoros signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.[75] Azali Assoumani, President of the Comoros and Chair of the African Union, attended the 2023 Russia–Africa Summit in Saint Petersburg.[76]

In May 2013 the Union of the Comoros became known for filing a referral to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) regarding the events of "the 31 May 2010 Israeli raid on the Humanitarian Aid Flotilla bound for [the] Gaza Strip". In November 2014 the ICC Prosecutor eventually decided[77] that the events did constitute war crimes but did not meet the gravity standards of bringing the case before ICC.[78]

The emigration rate of skilled workers was about 21.2% in 2000.[79]

Military

Main article:
Military of the Comoros

The military resources of the Comoros consist of a small standing army and a 500-member police force, as well as a 500-member defence force. A defence treaty with France provides naval resources for protection of territorial waters, training of Comorian military personnel, and air surveillance. France maintains the presence of a few senior officers in the Comoros at government request, as well as a small maritime base and a Foreign Legion Detachment (DLEM) on Mayotte.

Once the new government was installed in May–June 2011, an expert mission from UNREC (Lomé) came to the Comoros and produced guidelines for the elaboration of a national security policy, which were discussed by different actors, notably the national defence authorities and civil society.[80] By the end of the programme in end March 2012, a normative framework agreed upon by all entities involved in SSR will have been established.[needs update] This will then have to be adopted by Parliament and implemented by the authorities.

Human rights

Main article: Human rights in the Comoros

Both male and female same-sex sexual acts are illegal in Comoros.[81] Such acts are punished with up to five years' imprisonment.[82]

Economy

Main article: Economy of the Comoros
GDP per capita development, since 1950

The level of

low-income countries and 30 percentage points ahead of other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa."[83] Poverty declined by about 10% between 2014 and 2018, and living conditions generally improved.[83] Economic inequality remains widespread, with a major gap between rural and urban areas.[83] Remittances through the sizable Comorian diaspora form a substantial part of the country's GDP[84] and have contributed to decreases in poverty and increases in living standards.[83]

According to

unemployment rate as a percent of the total labor force ranged from 4.38% to 4.3%.[85] An October 2005 paper by the Comoros Ministry of Planning and Regional Development, however, reported that "registered unemployment rate is 14.3 percent, distributed very unevenly among and within the islands, but with marked incidence in urban areas."[86]

In 2019, more than 56% of the labor force was employed in agriculture, with 29% employed in industry and 14% employed in services.

ylang-ylang, a plant whose extracted essential oil is used in the perfume industry; some 80% of the world's supply comes from the Comoros.[88]

High population densities, as much as 1000 per square kilometre in the densest agricultural zones, for what is still a mostly rural, agricultural economy may lead to an environmental crisis in the near future, especially considering the high rate of population growth. In 2004 the Comoros' real GDP growth was a low 1.9% and real GDP per capita continued to decline. These declines are explained by factors including declining investment, drops in consumption, rising inflation, and an increase in trade imbalance due in part to lowered cash crop prices, especially vanilla.[86]

Fiscal policy is constrained by erratic fiscal revenues, a bloated civil service wage bill, and an external debt that is far above the HIPC threshold. Membership in the franc zone, the main anchor of stability, has nevertheless helped contain pressures on domestic prices.[89]

The Comoros has an inadequate transportation system, a young and rapidly increasing population, and few natural resources. The low educational level of the labour force contributes to a subsistence level of economic activity, high unemployment, and a heavy dependence on foreign grants and technical assistance. Agriculture contributes 40% to GDP and provides most of the exports.

The government is struggling to upgrade education and technical training, to privatise commercial and industrial enterprises, to improve health services, to diversify exports, to promote tourism, and to reduce the high population growth rate.[90]

The Comoros is a member of the

Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA).[91]

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of the Comoros
 
 
Largest cities or towns in Comoros
Source:[92]
Rank
Name
Island
 Pop.
Moroni
Moroni
Mutsamudu
Mutsamudu 		1 Moroni Grande Comore 111,329 Ouani
Ouani
2 Mutsamudu Anjouan 30,000
3 Ouani Anjouan 22,501
4 Mandza Grande Comore 21,000
5 Fomboni Mohéli 18,277
6 Domoni Anjouan 16,276
7 Adda-Douéni Anjouan 10,858
8 Kourani Grande Comore 10,000
9 Bazimini Anjouan 8,952
10 Mkazi Grande Comore 8,438
A mosque in Moroni

With about 850,000 residents, the Comoros is one of the least-populous countries in the world, but its population density is high, with an average of 275 inhabitants per square kilometre (710/sq mi). In 2001, 34% of the population was considered urban, but the urban population has since grown; in recent years rural population growth has been negative, while overall population growth is still relatively high.[93] In 1958 the population was 183,133.[94]

Almost half the population of the Comoros is under the age of 15.

Mitsamihuli, Foumbouni, Mutsamudu, Domoni, and Fomboni. There are between 200,000 and 350,000 Comorians in France.[96]

Ethnic groups

The islands of the Comoros are 97.1% ethnically

Ismaili). There are recent immigrants of Chinese origin in Grande Comore (especially Moroni). Although most French left after independence in 1975, a small Creole community, descended from settlers from France, Madagascar and Réunion, lives in the Comoros.[97]

Languages

Further information: Languages of the Comoros

The most common languages in the Comoros are the Comorian languages, collectively known as Shikomori. They are related to Swahili, and the four different variants (Shingazidja, Shimwali, Shindzwani and Shimaore) are spoken on each of the four islands. Arabic and Latin scripts are both used, Arabic being the more widely used, and an official orthography has recently been developed for the Latin script.[98]

Arabic and French are also official languages, along with Comorian. Arabic is widely known as a second language, being the language of Quranic teaching. French is the administrative language and the language of most non-Quranic formal education.

Religion

Further information: Religion in the Comoros
A view of Domoni, Anjouan including mosque

Sunni Islam is the dominant religion, followed by as much as 99% of the population.[99] Comoros is the only Muslim-majority country in Southern Africa and one of the three southernmost Muslim-majority territories, along with Mayotte and the Australian territory of Cocos Islands.

Catholic.[100]

Health

Further information: Health in the Comoros

There are 15 physicians per 100,000 people. The

fertility rate was 4.7 per adult woman in 2004. Life expectancy at birth is 67 for females and 62 for males.[101]

Education

Further information: Education in the Comoros

Almost all children attend

Qur'an, and memorise it, and learn the Arabic script. Most parents prefer their children to attend Koran schools before moving on to the French-based schooling system. Although the state sector is plagued by a lack of resources, and the teachers by unpaid salaries, there are numerous private and community schools of relatively good standard. The national curriculum, apart from a few years during the revolutionary period immediately post-independence, has been very much based on the French system, both because resources are French and most Comorians hope to go on to further education in France. There have recently been moves to Comorianise the syllabus and integrate the two systems, the formal and the Quran schools, into one, thus moving away from the secular educational system inherited from France.[102]

Pre-colonization education systems in Comoros focused on necessary skills such as agriculture, caring for livestock and completing household tasks. Religious education also taught Islam. The education system underwent a transformation during colonization in the early 1900s which brought secular education based on the French system. This was mainly for children of the elite. After Comoros gained independence in 1975, the education system changed again. Funding for teachers' salaries was lost, and many went on strike. Thus, the public education system was not functioning between 1997 and 2001. Since gaining independence, the education system has also undergone a democratization and options exist for those other than the elite. Enrollment has also grown.[citation needed]

In 2000, 44.2% of children aged 5 to 14 years were attending school. There is a general lack of facilities, equipment, qualified teachers, textbooks and other resources.

Salaries for teachers are often so far in arrears that many refuse to work.[103]

Prior to 2000, students seeking a university education had to attend school outside of the country. However, in the early 2000s a university was created in the country. This served to help economic growth and to fight the "flight" of many educated people who were not returning to the islands to work.[104]

Comorian has no native script, but both the Arabic and Latin alphabets are used. In 2004, about 57 percent of the population was literate in the Latin script while more than 90 percent were literate in the Arabic script.[105]

Culture

See also: Public holidays in the Comoros

Traditionally, women on Ndzwani wear red and white patterned garments called shiromani, while on Ngazidja and Mwali colourful shawls called leso are worn. Many women apply a paste of ground sandalwood and coral called msindzano to their faces.[106] Traditional male clothing is a long white shirt known as a nkandu, and a bonnet called a kofia.[107]

Marriage

There are two types of marriages in Comoros, the little marriage (known as Mna daho on Ngazidja) and the customary marriage (known as ada on Ngazidja, harusi on the other islands). The little marriage is a simple legal marriage. It is small, intimate, and inexpensive, and the bride's dowry is nominal. A man may undertake a number of Mna daho marriages in his lifetime, often at the same time, a woman fewer; but both men and women will usually only undertake one ada, or grand marriage, and this must generally be within the village. The hallmarks of the grand marriage are dazzling gold jewelry, two weeks of celebration and an enormous bridal dowry. Although the expenses are shared between both families as well as with a wider social circle, an ada wedding on Ngazidja can cost up to €50,000.[108] Many couples take a lifetime to save for their ada, and it is not uncommon for a marriage to be attended by a couple's adult children.[109]

The ada marriage marks a man's transition in the Ngazidja age system from youth to elder. His status in the social hierarchy greatly increases, and he will henceforth be entitled to speak in public and participate in the political process, both in his village and more widely across the island. He will be entitled to display his status by wearing a mharuma, a type of shawl, across his shoulders, and he can enter the mosque by the door reserved for elders, and sit at the front. A woman's status also changes, although less formally, as she becomes a "mother" and moves into her own house. The system is less formalised on the other islands, but the marriage is nevertheless a significant and costly event across the archipelago. The ada is often criticized because of its great expense, but at the same time it is a source of social cohesion and the main reason why migrants in France and elsewhere continue to send money home. Increasingly, marriages are also being taxed for the purposes of village development.[110]

Kinship and social structure

Villagers in Bangwa Kuuni, Ngazidja

Comorian society has a bilateral descent system. Lineage membership and inheritance of immovable goods (land, housing) is matrilineal, passed in the maternal line, similar to many Bantu peoples who are also matrilineal, while other goods and patronymics are passed in the male line. However, there are differences between the islands, the matrilineal element being stronger on Ngazidja.[110]

Music

Further information: Music of the Comoros

Twarab music, imported from Zanzibar in the early 20th century, remains the most influential genre on the islands and is popular at ada marriages.[111]

Media

Further information: Mass media in the Comoros

There are two daily national newspapers published in the Comoros, the government-owned Al-Watwan,[112] and the privately owned La Gazette des Comores, both published in Moroni. There are a number of smaller newsletters published on an irregular basis as well as a variety of news websites. The government-owned ORTC (Office de Radio et Télévision des Comores) provides national radio and television service. There is a TV station run by the Anjouan regional government, and regional governments on the islands of Grande Comore and Anjouan each operate a radio station. There are also a few independent and small community radio stations that operate on the islands of Grande Comore and Mohéli, and these two islands have access to Mayotte Radio and French TV.[113]

See also

Notes

  1. Malagasy, and Arab
    people
  2. ^ The current constitution has been slightly revised in February 2018.
  1. Arabic: جزر القمر, Juzur al-Qumur / Qamar; French
    : Comores
  2. Arabic
    : الاتحاد القمري al-Ittiḥād al-Qumurī / Qamarī

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b "Comoros - People | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Archived from the original on 19 December 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Comoros Constitution of October 1, 1978". Digithèque MJP. 2012. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2020. (in French)
  3. ^ "Comoros". 6 December 2023.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ "GINI index". World Bank. Archived from the original on 30 April 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  6. ISBN 978-92-1-126442-5. Archived
    (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  7. ISBN 978-0-8108-2819-3
    .
  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. PMID 29304377
    .
  16. ^ a b "Anti-French protests in Comoros". BBC News. 27 March 2008. Archived from the original on 28 March 2008. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
  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.
  20. ^ "The Islands of the Moon". Aramco World. 47 (4): 40. July–August 1996. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 20 September 2007.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  21. PMID 27247383
    .
  22. PMID 29304377
    .
  23. ^ Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress under the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program (August 1994). Ralph K. Benesch (ed.). A Country Study: Comoros. Washington, D.C.: US Department of the Army. Archived from the original on 12 January 2007. Retrieved 15 January 2007.
  24. ^ a b Walker, Iain. "Islands in a Cosmopolitan Sea: A History of the Comoros." Hurst Publishers. 2019.
  25. ^
    JSTOR 220649
    .
  26. ^ Pierre Vérin (1982). "Mtswa Muyindza et l'introduction de l'Islam à Ngazidja; au sujet de la tradition et du texte de Pechmarty". Études Océan Indien. 2: 95–100.
  27. ^ "Saudi Aramco World : The Islands of the Moon". saudiaramcoworld.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  28. ^ Walker, Iain. "Islands in a Cosmopolitan Sea: A History of the Comoros." Hurst Publishers. 2019, p 49-50.
  29. ^
    S2CID 162212370
    .
  30. S2CID 145310983
    .
  31. ^ Walker, Iain. "Islands in a Cosmopolitan Sea: A History of the Comoros." Hurst Publishers. 2019, p 254.
  32. ^ "Comoros – Early Visitors and Settlers Archived 13 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine". Library of Congress Country Studies
  33. ^ "French acquisition of Comoros" (PDF). Encyclopedia of Islam 1979, vol. v, p. 381. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  34. ^ Ottenheimer, pp. 53–54
  35. JSTOR 523155
    .
  36. ^
    JSTOR 722174
    .
  37. ISBN 978-1-84415-694-8
    .
  38. doi:10.1080/0305006880240203
    .
  39. ^ Christopher S. Wren (8 December 1989). "Mercenary Holding Island Nation Seeks Deal". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 20 March 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  40. ISSN 0882-7729. Archived
    from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  41. ^ Marlise Simons (5 October 1995). "1,000 French Troops Invade Comoros to Put Down Coup". The New York Times. Section A; Page 10; Column 3. Archived from the original on 22 July 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  42. ^ "French Mercenary Gives Up in Comoros Coup". The New York Times. Associated Press. 6 October 1995. Section A; Page 7; Column 1. Archived from the original on 22 July 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  43. ^ Kamal Eddine Saindou (6 November 1998). "Comoros president dies from heart attack". Associated Press. pp. International News. Archived from the original on 28 March 2015.
  44. ^ Moyiga Nduru (17 September 1997). "COMORO ISLANDS: Tension Rising in the Indian Ocean Archipelago". IPS-Inter Press Service/Global Information Network. Archived from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  45. ^ "COMOROS: COUP LEADER GIVES REASONS FOR COUP". BBC Monitoring Africa (Radio France Internationale). 1 May 1999.
  46. ^ Rodrique Ngowi (3 August 2000). "Breakaway island's ruler says no civilian rule until secession crisis resolved". Associated Press.
  47. ^ "Mbeki flies in to Comoros islands summit in bid to resolve political crisis". Agence France Presse. 20 December 2003.
  48. ^ "Comoros said "calm" after Azali Assoumani declared elected as federal president". BBC Monitoring Africa. 10 May 2002.
  49. ^ UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (15 May 2006). "Comoros; Ahmed Abdallah Sambi Set to Win Presidency by a Landslide". AllAfrica, Inc. Africa News.
  50. ^ "COMOROS: The legacy of a Big Man on a small island". IRIN. 10 December 2008. Archived from the original on 20 December 2008. Retrieved 25 March 2009.
  51. ^ "Comoros president named winner in election rejected by opposition". Reuters. 26 March 2019. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2021 – via www.reuters.com.
  52. ^ "The Dangers of Assoumani's 'Creeping Authoritarianism' in Comoros". worldpoliticsreview.com. 14 February 2020. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  53. ^ "Comoros ratifies UN nuclear weapon ban treaty". ICAN. Archived from the original on 28 July 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  54. ^ "G7 Summit 2023: Scrutinizing the Guest List". thediplomat.com.
  55. ^ "President Azali Assoumani of the Union of Comoros, Takes Over as the New Chairperson of the African Union (AU) for 2023 | African Union". au.int.
  56. ^ "Comoros President Azali Assoumani wins fourth term in disputed poll". 17 January 2024.
  57. ^ a b Institut Nationale de la Statistique et Études Économiques et Démographiques, Comoros (web).
  58. ^ Ottenheimer, pp. 20, 72
  59. ^ "Comoros forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
  60. PMID 28608869
    .
  61. PMID 33293507
    .
  62. ^ "Prehistoric fish offers rare glimpse of hidden sea life – Coelacanth (1953)". Abilene Reporter-News. 23 February 1953. p. 25. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  63. ^ "70-million-year-old fish dissected – Coaelacanth (1975)". Redlands Daily Facts. 28 May 1975. p. 6. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  64. ^ UNEP-WCMC (2021). Protected Area Profile for Comoros from the World Database of Protected Areas. Accessed 31 August 2021. [1] Archived 31 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine
  65. ^ "Comoros 2018". Constitute. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
  66. ^ "Comoros 2001 (rev. 2009)". Constitute. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  67. ^ a b "Fundamental Law of the Union of Comoros (English excerpts)". Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa. 23 December 2001. Archived from the original (DOC) on 9 October 2006. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  68. ^ AFRICAN ELECTIONS DATABASE Archived 9 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Elections in the Comoros.
  69. ^ "COMOROS: Reforming 'the coup-coup islands'". IRIN. 25 February 2009. Archived from the original on 30 September 2009. Retrieved 25 March 2009.
  70. ^ "Comoros: Referendum Approves Downscaling of Government". AllAfrica Global Media. 19 May 2009. Archived from the original on 25 May 2009. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
  71. ^ Security Council S/PV. 1888 para 247 S/11967 [2] Archived 17 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine [3] Archived 6 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  72. ^ The first UN General Assembly Resolution regarding the matter, "Question of the Comorian island of Mayotte (PDF)", United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/31/4, (21 October 1976) states "the occupation by France of the Comorian island of Mayotte constitutes a flagrant encroachment on the national unity of the Comorian State, a Member of the United Nations," rejecting the French-administered referendums and condemning French presence in Mayotte.
  73. ^ "Forty-ninth session: Agenda item 36: 49/18. Question of the Comorian island of Mayotte" (PDF). United Nations General Assembly. 6 December 1994. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 May 2008.
  74. ^ "unfccc.int KYOTO PROTOCOL – STATUS OF RATIFICATION" (PDF). Unfccc.int. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 September 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  75. ^ "Chapter XXVI: Disarmament – No. 9 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons". United Nations Treaty Collection. 7 July 2017. Archived from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  76. ^ "African leaders leave Russia summit without grain deal or a path to end the war in Ukraine". AP News. 30 July 2023.
  77. ^ Office of the Prosecutor, Situation on Registered Vessels of Comoros, Greece and Cambodia Article 53(1) Report, "Report of 6th November 2014" Archived 19 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  78. ^ Statement of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, on concluding the preliminary examination of the situation referred by the Union of the Comoros: "Rome Statute legal requirements have not been met","Statement of 6th November 2014" Archived 2 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  79. ^ Ratha, Dilip; Sanket Mohapatra; Ani Silwal (2011). "The Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011: Comoros" (PDF). Worldbank.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  80. ^ FINAL EVALUATION, Peace Building Fund Programme in the Comoros 2008–2011, 19 October 2011 – 8 November 2011
  81. ^ Avery, Daniel (4 April 2019). "71 Countries Where Homosexuality is Illegal". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  82. ^ "State-Sponsored Homophobia". International Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans and Intersex Association. 20 March 2019. Archived from the original on 8 February 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  83. ^ a b c d Latest Report on Poverty in the Comoros Archived 29 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine, World Bank (14 June 2018).
  84. ^ a b Comoros: Big Troubles on Some Small Islands Archived 29 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine, Center for Strategic and International Studies (14 April 2008).
  85. ^ Unemployment, total (% of total labor force) (modeled ILO estimate) Archived 12 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine, International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT database. Data retrieved in December 2019.
  86. ^ a b "Union of the Comoros: Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy Paper (Updated Interim Paper)" (PDF). Office of the General Commissioner for Planning, Ministry of Planning and Regional Development. October 2005. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 December 2006.
  87. ^ Comoros: Economy Archived 29 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine, globalEDGE, Michigan State University (29 January 2020).
  88. ^ Sarah Graingerm Comoros seeks sweet smell of success Archived 29 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine, BBC News (14 September 2004).
  89. ^ "Comoros: Financial Sector Profile". mfw4a.org. Archived from the original on 13 May 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  90. ^ "Rural Poverty Portal". ruralpovertyportal.org. Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  91. ^ "OHADA.com: The business law portal in Africa". Archived from the original on 26 March 2009. Retrieved 22 March 2009.
  92. ^ "Comoros Cities by Population, 2022".
  93. ^ Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat (2005) World Population Prospects: The 2004 Revision and World Urbanization Prospects: The 2005 Revision Archived 23 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine.
  94. OCLC 3659638
    .
  95. ^ "Comoros Archived 26 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine". Encyclopædia Britannica.
  96. ^ "FACTBOX-Relations between France and Comoros Archived 12 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine". Reuters. 27 March 2008.
  97. ^ "Comoros country profile". BBC News. 20 July 2018. Archived from the original on 16 May 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  98. ^ Mohamed Ahmed-Chamanga (2010). Introduction à la grammaire structurale du comorien. Moroni: Komedit.
  99. ^ "The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency". cia.gov. Archived from the original on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2007.
  100. ^ "CIA World Factbook: Comoros". Cia.gov. Archived from the original on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  101. ^ "WHO Country Offices in the WHO African Region – WHO Regional Office for Africa" (PDF). Afro.who.int. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 January 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  102. ^ Damir Ben Ali & Iain Walker. 2017 "Attempts at fusion of the Comorian educational systems: religious education in Comorian and Arabic and secular education in French". In I. Walker. ed., Contemporary issues in Swahili ethnography. London, New York: Routledge.
  103. U.S. Department of Labor (2006). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain
    .
  104. ^ "Université des Comores". Univ-comores.km. Archived from the original on 3 May 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  105. ^ UNESCO Institute for Statistics, country profile of Comoros; 2004 Archived 31 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine.
  106. ^ "Union of Comoros". Arab Cultural Trust. Archived from the original on 27 December 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  107. ^ "Comoros Islands: Islands & Beyond". comoros-islands.com. Archived from the original on 15 November 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  108. ^ Walker, Iain. "Islands in a Cosmopolitan Sea: A History of the Comoros." Hurst Publishers. 2019, p 212.
  109. doi:10.3917/autr.023.0157
    .
  110. ^ a b Walker, Iain. "Becoming the Other, Being Oneself: Constructing Identities in a Connected World." Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 2010.
  111. ^ Graebner, Werner (2001). "Twarab ya shingazidja: a first approach". Swahili Forum. 8: 129–143.
  112. ^ "Accueil – Al-watwan, Quotidien comorien". Alwatwan.net. Archived from the original on 26 August 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  113. CIA
    .

Sources

External links