When was Comoros founded?
History of the Comoros (1978–89)
The Comoros is an island nation in the Indian Ocean, located off the eastern coast of Africa. France first established colonial rule in the Comoros in 1841. Agreement was reached with France in 1973 for the Comoros to become independent in 1978. On July 6, 1975, but the Comorian parliament passed a unilateral resolution declaring independence. The deputies of Mayotte, which remained under French control, abstained. Referendums on all four of the islands excluding Mayotte showed strong support for independence. Ahmed Abdallah proclaimed the Comoros' independence on September 5, 1975 and became its first president.
Mohamed Bacar
Colonel Mohamed Bacar (born May 5, 1962 in Barakani, Anjouan, then a French colony) was President of Anjouan, one of the three autonomous islands that make up the Union of the Comoros, from 2001 to 2008. He is a former chief of police on Anjouan and has studied extensively in France and the United States. He was part of a military coup on Anjouan in August 2001 and soon became President. It is alleged he rigged the elections to become the first president of Anjouan in March 2002, in part due to his leading role in the separatist movement. He was ousted by the combined forces of the Government of the Union of Comoros and the African Union in the March 2008 invasion of Anjouan.
Comoros
The Comoros served as a way station for merchants sailing to the Far East and India until the opening of the Suez Canal significantly reduced traffic passing through the Mozambique Channel. The native commodities exported by the Comoros were coconuts, cattle and tortoiseshell. French settlers, French-owned companies, and wealthy Arab merchants established a plantation-based economy that used about one-third of the land for export crops. After its annexation, France converted Mayotte into a sugar plantation colony. The other islands were soon transformed as well, and the major crops of ylang-ylang, vanilla, coffee, cocoa beans, and sisal were introduced.
Compendium of postage stamp issuers (Ci–Co)
Stamps of Madagascar & Dependencies were used 1914–1950. The first Comoros issue was on 15 May 1950.
Grande Comore
For several centuries, Grande Comore was divided into a number of sultanates, including Bambao, Itsandra, Mitsamihuli, Mbajini, Hambuu, Washili, Hamahame, Mbwankuu, Mbude and Domba. The sultans were also known as "mfaume". In 1886, the ruler of Bambao, Sultan Said Ali bin Said Omar declared a "state of Ngazidja", usurping the other sultanates and accepting a French protectorate over the island. In 1893, Sultan Said Ali was sent into exile on Réunion. In 1908, France annexed the island and the sultanates were abolished. In 1975, Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli declared independence as the nation of Comoros.
History of the Comoros (1978–89)
Although Abdallah had been president when the Comoros broke away from France in 1975, he now moved to establish a relationship much more to France's liking. Upon Denard's departure, he gave a French military mission responsibility for training the Comoros' defense force. He also signed an agreement with France to allow its navy full use of Comoran port facilities.
Comoros
Since independence from France, the Comoros experienced more than 20 coups or attempted coups.
History of the Comoros
Said Mohamed Djohar became president. His time in office was turbulent, including an impeachment attempt in 1991 and a coup attempt in 1992.
Comoros Football Federation
The Fédération de Football des Comores (FFC) is the governing body of football in the Comoros. It was founded in 1979, affiliated to FIFA in 2005 and to CAF in 2003. It organizes the national football league and the national team. 
The first official international played in Comoros was played on the 17.11.2007 against Madagascar for the qualification of 2010 FIFA World Cup and the African Cup of Nation 2010.
Postage stamps and postal history of the Comoros
In 1976 and 1977, under President Ali Soilih, Comoros underwent a philatelic issue frenzy: within these two years, the country had issued more stamps than during all the years of the Comorian Archipelago (1946–1975). Moreover, few of these stamps concerned local topics. New topics included space exploration, Winter Olympic Games, etc.
Léon Humblot
He worked as a gardener for the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris, then in 1878 embarked on a research trip to Madagascar, where he set up an experimental garden and collected orchid species. In 1884 he entered the Comoros Islands as part of a geographical survey conducted by the natural history museum. In 1885 he procured the signature of a treaty with the Sultan of Bambao, thus establishing a basis for a "Grande Comore protectorate". During the following year, the French had overall rule of the Comoros (Grande Comore, Anjouan, Mayotte and Moheli islands).
Comoros
The Comoros (; , '), officially the Union of the Comoros (Comorian: "Udzima wa Komori," , '), is an island country in the Indian Ocean located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel off the eastern coast of Africa between northeastern Mozambique, the French region of Mayotte, and northwestern Madagascar. The capital and largest city in Comoros is Moroni. The religion of the majority of the population is Sunni Islam.
History of the Comoros
The earliest inhabitants of the islands were likely people from the Swahili culture from as early as 1000 BC, small trading communities of Bantu-speakers from the coasts of East Africa.
Comoros at the Olympics
Comoros first participated at the Olympic Games in 1996, and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since then. The nation has never participated in the Winter Olympic Games.
History of the Comoros (1978–89)
With Abdallah's acquiescence and occasional participation, Denard and the other GP officers used their connections to the head of state to make themselves important players in the Comoran economy. Denard was a part owner of Établissements Abdallah et Fils, the Comoros' largest import-export firm, whose primary owner was President Abdallah. Denard also owned and operated a highly profitable commercial shuttle between South Africa and the Comoros, and owned Sogecom, a private security firm with contracts to protect South African hotels being built in the islands.
List of sultans on the Comoros
Several Sultanates on the Comoros, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean with an ethnically complex mix, were founded after the introduction of Islam into the area in the 15th century. Other uses depending on the island could also be styled "fani", "mfaume" and "ntibe." Unlike sultans in many other Arab nations, these sultans had little real power. At one time alone on the island of Ndzuwani or Nzwani (today Anjouan), 40 fanis and other chiefs shared power of the island; Ngazidja (today Grand Comore) was at many times divided into 11 sultanates. This article addresses the major ones.
Comoros
A few days later, Bob Denard was evacuated to South Africa by French paratroopers. Said Mohamed Djohar, Soilih'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. 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 November 1998. He was succeeded by Interim President Tadjidine Ben Said Massounde.
Comoros
At this time, the population of Mayotte voted against independence from France in two referenda. The first, held on 22 December 1974, won 63.8% support for maintaining ties with France, while the second, held in February 1976, confirmed that vote with an overwhelming 99.4%. The three remaining islands, ruled by President Soilih, instituted a number of socialist and isolationist policies that soon strained relations with France. On 13 May 1978, Bob Denard returned to overthrow President Soilih and reinstate Abdallah with the support of the French, Rhodesian and South African governments. During Soilih's brief rule, he faced seven additional coup attempts until he was finally forced from office and killed.
1978 Comorian presidential election
Presidential elections were held in the Comoros on 22 October 1978 following the approval of a new constitution in a referendum earlier in the month. The only candidate was Ahmed Abdallah, who had been President at the time of independence, before being ousted in a coup on 2 August 1975, then reinstated following another on 13 May 1978, since which he had held the post of "Co-Chairman of the Politico-Military Directorate of the Federal and Islamic Republic of Comoros" alongside Mohamed Ahmed. He was elected unopposed.
Comoro Islands
Notable reefs that are part of the archipelago are as follows:The Comoros have been inhabited since the 6th century; among the peoples who crossed the sea to populate the islands are the Bantu, Malagasy, and Indonesian, Arabs, Portuguese, French, and Indians. Islam arrived during the 10th century. The Comoros islands formed, with Zanzibar, Pemba, Lamu, and the coastal towns of Kenya and Tanzania, a united and prosperous region of Swahili culture, featuring the ivory trade and commerce in local goods exported to the Middle East and India. In that period, political power was in the hands of local rulers. During their explorations of the Comoros region, the Portuguese made landfall on the Islands of the Moon, in 1505; the Arabic "gamar" is the English "moon".
Ahmed Abdou
He was born in Mutsamudu on the island of Anjouan. He served as finance minister in the autonomous government of the Comoros briefly during 1972, and again from 1973 until the country received independence in 1975. He became prominent again over 20 years later when in December 1996, he was appointed prime minister of the Comoros. In May 1997 there was a movement to dismiss him, but he survived a parliamentary confidence vote 38–2. The government ran into serious trouble in August 1997 when two of the Comoros's islands, including Abdou's home island of Anjouan, seceded from the union, and Abdou was dismissed in September 1997 after 9 months in office.
Postage stamps and postal history of the Comoros
Progressively, like all French colonies, each island received stamps with its name : the postal administration was victim of a stamp traffic between low-valued currency colonies and high-valued currency colonies. Mayotte and the ""sultanat d'Anjouan"" received them in November 1892, Grande Comore in November 1897 and Mohéli in 1906. Twenty values were issued in Mayotte, Nineteen in Anjouan and Grande Comore, sixteen in Mohéli.
History of the Comoros
When in 1981 François Mitterrand was elected president Denard lost the support of the French intelligence service, but he managed to strengthen the link between SA and the Comoros. Besides the military, Denard established his own company SOGECOM, for both the security and construction, and seemed to profit by the arrangement. Between 1985 and 1987 the relationship of the PG with the local Comorians became worse.
Comoros–India relations
Comoros and India established diplomatic relations in June 1976, about a year after the former declared its independence. Comoros became the 20th member of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), of which India was founding member, at an IORA meeting in Gurgaon on 2 November 2012.
Elections in the Comoros
Several referendums have been held in the Comoros. In 1958 the islands voted in favour of the new French constitution, which resulted in them becoming part of the French Community (rejection would have led to independence). An independence referendum was held in 1974, which resulted in a large majority (95%) in favour of independence. However, one island, Mayotte, voted against referendum, and was subsequently separated from the rest of the Comoros to remain under French control.
History of the Comoros
After World War II, the islands became a French overseas territory and were represented in France's National Assembly. Internal political autonomy was granted in 1961. Agreement was reached with France in 1973 for the Comoros to become independent in 1978. On July 6, 1975, however, the Comorian parliament passed a resolution declaring unilateral independence. The deputies of Mayotte abstained.
Postage stamps and postal history of the Comoros
The situation changed in 1946 when the archipelago was no more a colony, but an oversea territory of France : specific stamps are issued on 15 May 1950 printed ""Archipel des Comores"" with value in CFA franc. The first series showed local landscapes. Aquatic fauna and flora of the Comoros, traditions, arts and crafts constituted the most part of the philatelic program, with the French colonies' omnibus issues.
Spanish conquest of Honduras
Christopher Columbus discovered the New World for the Kingdom of Castile and Leon in 1492. Private adventurers thereafter entered into contracts with the Spanish Crown to conquer the newly discovered lands in return for tax revenues and the power to rule. The Spanish founded Santo Domingo on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola in the 1490s. In the first decades after the discovery of the new lands, the Spanish colonised the Caribbean and established a centre of operations on the island of Cuba. After the discovery of Honduras by Columbus in 1502, no concerted effort to conquer the territory took place until 1524.
Constitution of the Comoros
The Constitution of the Comoros was adopted on 23 December 2001 and last amended in May 2009.
Outline of Comoros
Comoros
History of the Comoros
The history of the Comoros goes back some 1,500 years. The Comoros have been inhabited by various groups throughout this time. France colonised the islands in the 19th century, and they became independent in 1975.
Politics of the Comoros
The new Union of the Comoros consists of three islands, Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli. Each island has a president, who shares the presidency of the Union on a rotating basis. The president and his vice-presidents are elected for a term of four years. The constitution states that, "the islands enjoy financial autonomy, freely draw up and manage their budgets".
History of the Comoros
Apart from a visit by the French Parmentier brothers in 1529, for much of the 16th century the only Europeans to visit the islands were Portuguese; British and Dutch ships began arriving around the start of the 17th century and the island of Ndzwani soon became a major supply point on the route to the East. Ndzwani was generally ruled by a single sultan, who occasionally attempted to extend his authority to Mayotte and Mwali; Ngazidja was more fragmented, on occasion being divided into as many as 12 small kingdoms.
Comoros Cup
The Comoros Cup is the top knockout tournament of the Comoros football. It was created in 1982.
Geology of the Comoros
The volcanoes in the Comoros date to the recent past of the Pliocene, Pleistocene and Holocene period. 
The oldest volcano on the chain is 7.7 million years old, on Mayotte. Volcanoes are older further east. Anjouan is 3.9 million years old and Moheli is five million years old. Grande Comore is the youngest at only 10,000 years old. Some geologists have proposed that the Comoros is an example of one of 11 primary mantle plumes worldwide.
Said Atthoumani
Until 23 May 1978 Atthoumani headed the short-lived provisional government by leading a politico-military directorate which took charge of the State of Comoros. Ten days after the coup, the two men who had financed the coup, former president Ahmed Abdallah (himself the victim of the 1975 coup) and former vice president Mohamed Ahmed, returned to Moroni from exile in Paris. After Atthoumani formally gave up power to them, they installed themselves as joint presidents, renaming the state as Federal and Islamic Republic of Comoros, "(République Fédérale Islamique des Comores)". Soon thereafter, Abdallah was named sole executive.
Comoros at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Comoros participated in five Summer Olympic Games between its début at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States and the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England. The highest number of athletes sent by Comoros to a summer Games is four to the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. No Comorian athlete has ever won a medal at the Olympics. Comoros participated in the Summer Olympics from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The Comorian National Olympic Committee (NOC) selected two athletes via wildcards. Usually, an NOC would be able to enter up to three qualified athletes in each individual event as long as each athlete met the "A" standard, or one athlete per event if they met the "B" standard. However, since Comoros had no athletes that met either standard, they were allowed to select two athletes, one of each gender, as wildcards.
1982 Comorian legislative election
Parliamentary elections were held in the Comoros on 7 March 1982, following the early dissolution of the Federal Assembly by President Ahmed Abdallah on 25 January. There were 38 constituencies (18 on Grande Comore, 15 on Anjouan and 5 on Mohéli), each of which elected a single member. In February the Comorian Union for Progress had been created as the sole legal party, and its candidates won 37 of the 38 seats.
History of the Comoros (1978–89)
Although Denard had made a ceremonial departure from the Comoros following the 1978 coup, by the early 1980s he was again openly active in the islands. The GP, whose numbers were reported to range from 300 to 700 members, primarily indigenous Comorans, were led by about thirty French and Belgian mercenaries, mostly comrades of Denard's in the post-World War II conflicts that accompanied the decolonization of Africa and Asia. Answerable only to the president, the GP operated outside the chain of command of the French-trained 1,000-member Comoran Armed Forces, a situation that caused resentment among the regular military, Comoran citizens, and other African states.
Mohamed Ahmed (Comorian politician)
Mohamed Ahmed (, "Muhammad Ahmad") (July 2, 1917 – January 27, 1984) was a Comorian politician. He was born in Mutsamudu on the island of Anjouan. During the 1950s, he became one of the most important non-French political leaders in the Comoros, and served as vice-president of the government council from 1957 until 1962. After this he became less influential until after Comoros became an independent nation in 1975. Ahmed was a strong supporter of the May 1978 coup in which Ali Soilih was overthrown. He became a co-chairman of a directorate which took charge of the government, but lost this position in October 1978 as the other co-chairman, Ahmed Abdallah took complete power.
Comoros
After the arrival of the Portuguese in the early 15th century and subsequent collapse of the East African sultanates, the powerful Omani Sultan Saif bin Sultan began to defeat the Dutch and the Portuguese. His successor 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").
Comoros
Colonel Mohammed Bacar, a French-trained former gendarme, seized power as President in Anjouan in 2001. 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 Anjouan, generally welcomed by the population: there have been reports of hundreds, if not thousands, of people tortured during Bacar's tenure.
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 the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte to seek asylum. Anti-French protests followed in the Comoros (see 2008 invasion of Anjouan).
Comoros–North Korea relations
Diplomatic relations with North Korea were established soon after the Comoros gained its independence from France on 6 July 1975, on 13 November later that year. This was during the rule of Prince Said Mohamed Jaffar, who had replaced President Ahmed Abdallah in a coup only months before. He himself was replaced in January 1976 by Ali Soilih, a revolutionary Islamic socialist and anti-colonialist. Soilih, in addition to implementing radical reforms, established close connections with many of the Cold War states in the habit of aiding revolutionary movements. Among these were North Korea, which established an embassy in the Comoros within a year. On 18 January 1977, the first ambassador So Jinyong presented his credentials to Vice President Mohamed Hassan Ali, and made a visit to President Soilih.
History of the Comoros
Independence came gradually for the Comoros. During the middle of the 20th century the French reluctantly began to accede to requests for constitutional changes and in 1946 the Comoros had become a separately administered colony from Madagascar.
Football in the Comoros
Comoros joined the Confederation of African Football in 2003 following the formation of the Comoros Football Federation, the national football association, in 1979. Comoros were accepted as full members of FIFA in 2005.
Cócorit
The town was founded in 1617 by the Spanish Jesuit missionaries Andrés Pérez de Ribas and Tomás Basilio, although the Spanish inhabitants were eventually forced to leave by the Yaqui native population of the area. In 1835 the town was reestablished, this time in an independent Mexico; the town was a dependency of the municipio of Buenavista. In 1867, the governor of Sonora (Pesqueira) organized two successful military expeditions to control the Yaquis in Cócorit, and in neighboring Guaymas. In 1875, Cajemé, a prominent Yaqui leader, attacked Cócorit, setting the town on fire. Under the protection of the Mexican army, Cócorit was repopulated in 1885 with inhabitants from the neighboring towns of El Quiriego and Baroyeca. In 1886, the Yaquis continued to strengthen their positions, but the state and federal governments confiscated more than 20,000 head of livestock that belonged to the Yaquis, weakening their position. In 1887 Cajemé was captured. After an interview with Ramón Corral, Cajemé was taken in the custody of a Mexican army detachment led by Lieutenant Clemente Patiño to El Médano on the steamboat "Demócrata." He paraded through some of the Yaqui towns, and was then shot by the detachment on the pretense that he was trying to escape.
Union for the Development of the Comoros
The UPDC was established in February 2013 as an alliance of parties that supported President Ikililou Dhoinine. It was initially named the Rally for Democracy in the Comoros ("Rassemblement pour la Démocratie aux Comoros", Radeco), but was later renamed Union for the Development of the Comoros.
Bob Denard
He was most active in the Comoros, making four separate attempts to overthrow the government of this small island group. On orders from Jacques Foccart, he ousted the first president, Ahmed Abdallah, who had just unilaterally proclaimed the Comoros' independence on 6 July 1975. Ahmed Abdallah was replaced by Ali Soilih.
Postage stamps and postal history of the Comoros
The postage stamps and postal history of the Comoro Islands is an overview of the postage stamps and postal history of the Comoro Islands, an Indian Ocean archipelago located on the south-east side of Africa.
History of the Comoros (1978–89)
In regard to Mahoré, Abdallah offered little more than verbal resistance to a 1979 decision of the French government to postpone action on the status of the island until 1984. At the same time, he kept the door open to Mahoré by writing a large measure of autonomy for the component islands of the republic into the 1978 constitution and by appointing a Mahorais as his government's minister of finance. Having established an administration that, in comparison with the Soilih years, seemed tolerable to his domestic and international constituencies, Abdallah proceeded to entrench himself through domestic and international policies that profoundly compromised the Comoros' independence.
Comoros
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 Anjouan to help broker negotiations and effect reconciliation. The official name of the country was changed to the Union of the Comoros and a new system of political autonomy was instituted for each island, plus a union government for the three islands was added.
Comoros
The Comoros is formed by Ngazidja (Grande Comore), Mwali (Mohéli) and Nzwani (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.
Politics of the Comoros
As of 2011, the three autonomous islands are subdivided into 16 prefectures, 54 communes, and 318 villes or villages.
Comoros
In 1886, Mohéli was placed under French protection by its Sultan Mardjani Abdou Cheikh. That same year, despite having no authority to do so, 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 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 Anjouan abdicated in favour of French rule. In 1912 the colony and the protectorates were abolished and the islands became a province of the colony of Madagascar.
Moroni, Comoros
Moroni's earliest history is poorly known. The earliest secure evidence for settlement in the Comoros Islands comes no earlier than the 7th century, with Bantu-speaking agriculturalists. Ceramic finds from the 7th to 10th century demonstrate that the Islands were part of the developing Swahili civilization. The 11th century Egyptian "Book of Curiosities" identifies the Comoros Islands as part of the Zanj coast, indicting the islands' participation in the broader Indian Ocean world. Moroni was a well established Swahili town by the late medieval period, widely engaged in trade networks throughout the Indian Ocean. The city's oldest mosque, built in 1427, is a testament to the city's wealth, contemporary with the golden ages of other Swahili cities.
Geography of the Comoros
Coastline:
340 km
Economy of the Comoros
The banking system consists of the Central Bank of the Comoros (Banque Centrale des Comores) established in 1981 that had three offices (Moroni (Grande-Comore), Mutsamudu (Anjouan) and Fomboni (Mohéli)); the Bank for Industry and Commerce (Banque pour l'Industrie et le Commerce—BIC), a commercial bank established in 1990 that had six branches in 1993 and was a subsidiary of the National Bank of Paris—International (Banque Nationale de Paris—Internationale); the Development Bank of the Comoros (Banque de Développement des Comores), established in 1982, which provided support for small and midsize development projects, the Federal Bank of Commerce (Banque Fédérale de Commerce) and the Exim Bank Comores Ltd. Most of the shares in the Development Bank of the Comoros were held by the Comoran government and the central bank; the rest were held by the European Investment Bank and the Central Bank for Economic Cooperation (Caisse Centrale de Coopération Économique—CCCE), a development agency of the French government. All of these banks had headquarters in Moroni.
Politics of the Comoros
The accord called for the creation of a new Tripartite Commission for National Reconciliation to develop a "New Comorian Entity" with a new constitution. The new federal Constitution came into effect in 2002; it included elements of consociationalism, including a presidency that rotates every four years among the islands and extensive autonomy for each island. Presidential elections were held in 2002, at which Azali Assoumani was elected President. In April 2004 legislative elections were held, completing the implementation of the new constitution.
Postage stamps and postal history of the Comoros
The first person to be honored by a Comoros Archipelago stamps was Charles de Gaulle in 1971, using two of the Metropolitan French series. Then, international scientists and artists are commemorated between 1972 and 1973. Finally, two local personalities appeared : president Said Mohamed Cheikh (died 1970) on two 1973 stamps and Saïd Omar ben Soumeth, Comoros' grand mufti in 1974.
Comoros
The Comoros is a member of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA).
History of the Comoros
Over the centuries, the Comoros have been settled by a succession of diverse groups from the coast of Africa, the Persian Gulf, Southeast Asia and Madagascar.
Comores Aviation International
The airline was established in 1996 and started operations in 1997. It is owned by Jean-Marc Heintz (President) (70%) and Batouli Heintz (General Manager) (30%) and has 82 employees (at March 2007).
Domoni
Infighting among the chiefs of Anjouan resulted in their making an appeal to Europeans to broker a peace deal. Following this, Comoros initially became a French Protectorate in 1886, and in 1909, the French made it a part of their country. In 1975 the three islands formed a Republic of the Comoro Island. The first president of the Republic was Ahmed Abdallah, who hailed from Domoni and whose mausoleum is also located there. There were upheavals in the political dispensation in 1997 and again a rebellion in 2008 which was put down.
Mutsamudu
Mutsamudu is the second largest city in the Comoros, founded in 1482. It is also the capital and largest city on the island of Anjouan as well the former home of former Comorian president Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi. It now houses a deep water port, an ancient citadel, and narrow streets with many shops and small crafts. The population in 2010 stood at 25,471.
Demographics of the Comoros
The Comoros have had seven censuses since World War II:
Ancient history of Cyprus
The Ancient Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC) claims that the city of Kourion, near present-day Limassol, was founded by Achaean settlers from Argos. He supports the discovery of a Late Bronze Age settlement lying several kilometres from the site of the remains of the Hellenic city of Kourion, whose pottery and architecture indicate that Mycenaean settlers did indeed arrive and augment an existing population in this part of Cyprus in the twelfth century BC. The kingdom of Kourion in Cyprus is recorded on an inscription dating to the period of the Pharaoh Ramses III (1186–55 BC) in Egypt.
History of the Comoros
Until the opening of the Suez Canal, the islands used to be an important refuelling and provisioning station for ships from Europe to the Indian Ocean.
Comoros
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. 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.
Languages of the Comoros
The official languages of the Comoros are Comorian, French and Arabic. Comorian (or "Shikomoro") is a Bantu language closely related to Swahili. It is by far the most spoken language in the country, 96.9%. However, Comorian is confined almost exclusively for oral use. Before and during the colonial period, no official recognition was granted at all to Comorian. Before the French colonisation, Arabic and Swahili were the languages used by the political powers (the sultans) and by education. Arabic was the language of religion, and a language of commerce. As a result of colonisation, administration and education are now in French. The Comoros is a full member of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie and of the Arab League.
Economy of the Comoros
Following the Abdallah regime's rapprochement with France in 1978, the Comoran economy became increasingly dependent on infusions of French aid, along with assistance from other governments and international organizations. By 1990, the year the Comoros concluded negotiations with the IMF for an economic restructuring program, the republic's total external public debt was US$162.4 million, an amount equal to about three-quarters of GNP. The government delayed implementing the structural adjustment plan and was directed by the World Bank and the IMF to do so by September 1992. The plan recommendations entailed discharging about 2,800 of 9,000 civil servants, among other unpopular measures. The IMF granted the Comoros a new credit for US$1.9 million in March 1994 under the Structural Adjustment Facility. For the period 1994-96, the Comoros sought an economic growth rate of 4 percent as well as an inflation rate of 4 percent for 1995-96. The growth rate for 1994, however, was estimated only at 0.7 percent and the inflation rate at 15 percent. Meanwhile, in a move designed to encourage private enterprise and reduce unemployment, in May 1993 the UN Development Programme had given the Comoros a credit of US$2 million for programs in these areas. In January 1994, the European Development Fund (EDF) granted 1.3 million European Currency Units (ECUs; for value, see Glossary) to the Comoros to develop small businesses. The Comoros also received 5.7 million French francs from the French Aid and Cooperation Fund for agriculture and rural development.
History of the Comoros (1978–89)
Abdallah's firm, whose co-owners included Denard and Kalfane and Company, a Pakistani concern, also profited from managing the importation of materials used by South African firms in developing tourist hotels. Little of the material used in building these resorts was of Comoran origin. Also, once completed, the resorts would be almost entirely owned and managed by non-Comorans. Although tourism, mainly by South Africans who were unwelcome in other African resorts, was widely considered the only promising new industry in the Comoros, Abdallah guided its development so that resorts benefited few Comorans other than himself and his associates.
Apostolic Vicariate of the Comoros Archipelago
On 5 June 1975, the Holy See established an Apostolic Administration of Comoros on the present territory, which was split from the Diocese of Ambanja (on Madagascar), whose former last apostolic vicar and then first bishop was appointed to the new missionary post.
Apostolic Vicariate of the Comoros Archipelago
On 1 May 2010, it was promoted as Apostolic Vicariate of the Comoros.
Transport in the Comoros
The isolation of the Comoros had made air traffic a major means of transportation. One of President Abdallah's accomplishments was to make the Comoros more accessible by air. During his administration, he negotiated agreements to initiate or enhance commercial air links with Tanzania and Madagascar. The Djohar regime reached an agreement in 1990 to link Moroni and Brussels by air. By the early 1990s, commercial flights connected the Comoros with France, Mauritius, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, and Madagascar. The national airline was Air Comores. Daily flights linked the three main islands, and air service was also available to Mahoré; each island had airstrips. In 1986 the republic received a grant from the French government's CCCE to renovate and expand Hahaya airport, near Moroni. Because of the absence of scheduled sea transport between the islands, nearly all interisland passenger traffic is by air.
Foreign relations of the Comoros
Regional relations generally were good. In 1985 Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles agreed to admit Comoros as the fourth member of the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), an organization established in 1982 to encourage regional cooperation. In 1993 Mauritius and Seychelles had two of the five embassies in Moroni, and Mauritius and Madagascar were connected to the republic by regularly scheduled commercial flights.
Comoros at the 2000 Summer Olympics
The Comité Olympique et Sportif des Iles Comores (the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of the Comoros Islands) was recognized by the International Olympic Committee on 1 January 1993. Comoros joined Olympic competition at the 1996 Summer Olympics and have participated at every Summer Olympic Games since, though the nation has yet to debut at the Winter Olympic Games. Sydney was the second appearance by the nation in a Summer Olympiad. The 2000 Summer Olympics were held from 15 September to 1 October 2000; a total of 10,651 athletes represented 199 NOCs. The Comoros delegation to Sydney consisted of two track and field athletes: Hadhari Djaffar and Sandjema Batouli.
Postage stamps and postal history of the Comoros
Following excess by French adventurer Léon Humblot against Comorian people, the French Navy intervened in the archipelago and imposed the French administration. Mayotte was kept at the center of the new organisation.
Comoros
The Comoros is a member of the African Union, the Arab League, the European Development Fund, 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.
Comoros
In 1793, Malagasy warriors from Madagascar first started raiding the islands for slaves. On the Comoros, it was estimated in 1865 that as much as 40% of the population consisted of slaves. France first established colonial rule in the Comoros in 1841. The first French colonists landed in Mayotte, and "Andriantsoly" (also known as Andrian Tsouli, the Sakalava Dia-Ntsoli, the Sakalava of Boina, and the Malagasy King of Mayotte) signed the Treaty of April 1841, which ceded the island to the French authorities.
Grande Comore
Grande Comore () is an island in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa. It is the largest island in the Comoros nation. Most of its population is of the Comorian ethnic group. Its population is about 316,600. The island's capital is Moroni, which is also the national capital. The island is made up of two shield volcanoes, with Mount Karthala being the country's highest point at above sea level. According to the 2009 revision of the constitution of 2002, it is governed by an elected Governor, as are the other islands, with the federal government being much reduced in power. The name Ngazidja is sometimes seen in the now nonstandard form Njazidja.
Foreign relations of the Comoros
In November 1975, Comoros became the 143d member of the UN. In the 1990s, the republic continued to represent Mahoré in the UN. Comoros was also a member of the OAU, the EDF, the World Bank, the IMF, the IOC, and the African Development Bank.
Shirazis of the Comoros
The Shirazis of the Comoros are one of the largest ethnic group inhabiting the archipelago nation of Comoros near the east African coast. Their origins are linked to Shiraz and the southwestern coastal region of Persia (now Iran). The Shirazi people are notable for helping establish Sunni Islam in Comoros, and the wealth they accumulated from trading commodities and slaves.
Economy of the Comoros
The Comoros is one of the world's poorest countries; its per capita gross national product (GNP—see Glossary) was estimated at US$400 in 1994, following the January devaluation of the Comorian franc. Although GNP increased in real terms at an average annual rate of 3.1 percent during the 1980s, rapid population growth effaced these gains and caused an average annual decrease in per capita GNP of 0.6 percent. Gross domestic product (GDP—see Glossary) grew in real terms by 4.2 percent per year from 1980 to 1985, 1.8 percent from 1985 to 1988, and 1.5 percent in 1990. In 1991, because of its balance of payments difficulties, the Comoros became eligible for the IDA's Special Program of Assistance for debt-distressed countries of sub-Saharan Africa.
Flag of the Comoros
The first official flag of Comoros was designed and adopted for local use in 1963 by Suzanne Gauthier, before Comoros gained its independence. It had a white crescent at upper hoist facing the fly, four stars in a diagonal, and used a 5:7 proportion with a green background. This design continued to be used after independence in 1975.
Comoro Islands Airline
The airline was established under an initiative between Kuwait and the Comoros government under the former President Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi, in response to a need for greater safety, frequency and the highest standards for an increasing number business and vacationing traffic to and from islands in the Indian Ocean. The Aref Group with international partners were working towards the full international scheduled operations of the Comoro Islands Airline. Based in Moroni, Comoros with service centres planned for launch in 2010 to serve East Africa and the Gulf. The airline was operational in 2009 serving the islands via Prince Said Ibrahim International Airport on Grande Comore, Ouani Airport on Anjouan and Mohéli Bandar Es Eslam Airport.
Grande Comore
In 1997, the Comoros nation began to fall apart as Anjouan and Moheli seceded. Grande Comore became the only island under federal control. By 2002, however, Grande Comore was reunited with the other islands under the new constitution. Abdou Soule Elbak was elected President of Grande Comore in May 2002. He received only 17% of the vote in the first round, coming in first place, and received 60% of the vote in the runoff. He remained in his post until the July 2007 elections, at which point Mohamed Abdoulwahab won the island's presidency.
Comoros
The islands of Anjouan and Mohéli 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. 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.
Comorian franc
The French franc became the currency of Comoros after the islands became a French protectorate in 1886. In 1891, Sultan Said Ali bin Said Omar of Grande Comore, Ngazidja issued coins denominated in centimes and francs which circulated alongside French currency. In 1912, the Comoros became a province of Madagascar, which was a French possession. French banknotes and coins circulated in the colony. Apart from an emergency issue of small change notes in 1920, the French currency circulated alone until 1925.
List of companies of the Comoros
The Comoros, officially the Union of the Comoros, is a sovereign archipelago island nation in the Indian Ocean, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel off the eastern coast of Africa, between northeastern Mozambique and northwestern Madagascar. Agriculture, including fishing, hunting, and forestry, is the leading sector of the economy. It contributes 40% to GDP, employs 80% of the labor force, and provides most of the exports. The country is not self-sufficient in food production; rice, the main staple, accounts for the bulk of imports. The Comoros is one of the world's poorest countries. Economic growth and poverty reduction are major priorities for the government.
Comoros
Agreement was reached with France in 1973 for the Comoros to become independent in 1978. The deputies of Mayotte abstained. Referendums were held on all four of the islands. Three voted for independence by large margins, while Mayotte voted against, and remains under French administration. 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.
Comoro Islands
The Comoro Islands or Comoros (Shikomori "Komori"; , "Juzur al-Qomor"; French Les Comores) form an archipelago of volcanic islands situated off the south-east coast of Africa, to the east of Mozambique and north-west of Madagascar. The islet of Banc du Geyser and the Glorioso Islands are part of the archipelago. The islands are politically divided between Union of the Comoros (pop. 795,601) and two territories of France : the region of Mayotte (pop. 212,645) and the Glorioso Islands, a part of the Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean, the 5th district of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.
1974 Comorian independence referendum
On 6 July the Comorian Chamber of Deputies unilaterally declared independence of the entire Comoros archipelago. The French government recognised the independence of Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli on 31 December 1975, but did not mention Mayotte. A referendum was subsequently held in Mayotte in February 1976 on remaining part of the Comoros, with the proposal rejected by over 99% of voters, the voter turnout was observed to be 83.34%, and the number of registered voters was increased to 21,671.
History of the Comoros
On 9 April 1908, France declared the protectorates and Mayotte a single colony, Mayotte and dependencies.
History of the Comoros (1978–89)
In 1978, president Ali Soilih, who had a firm anti-French attitude, was killed and Ahmed Abdallah came to power. Under the reign of Abdallah, Bob Denard was commander of the Presidential Guard (PG) and de facto ruler of the country, trained, supported and funded by the white regimes in South Africa (SA) and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in return to the permission to set up a secret listening station on the islands. South-African agents had to keep an ear on the important African National Congress bases in Lusaka and Dar es Salaam and to watch the war in Mozambique, in which SA played an active role. The Comoros was also used for evading arms sanctions.
Human rights in the Comoros
This trend continued until March 1990, when Djohar became president of Comoros. Opposition to his regime resulted in questionable human rights practices. For example, after an unsuccessful August 18–19, 1990 coup attempt, the authorities detained twenty-four people without trial in connection with the uprising. In October 1990, the security forces killed Max Veillard, the leader of the conspirators. The following year, after efforts to remove him from the presidency for negligence failed, Djohar ordered the arrest of several Supreme Court judges and declared a state of emergency. Another failed coup attempt on September 26, 1992, prompted the authorities to detain more than twenty people, including former Minister of Interior Omar Tamou. Police held these detainees incommunicado and reportedly tortured some of them. The Comorian Human Rights Association also accused the Djohar regime of extrajudicially executing individuals suspected of supporting armed opposition groups. By late 1993, groups such as Amnesty International continued to monitor the human rights situation in Comoros, and to speak out against the Djohar regime.
Economy of the Comoros
During the colonial period, the French and local leading citizens established plantations to grow cash crops for export. Even after independence, French companies, such as Société Bambao and Établissements Grimaldi — and other concerns, such as Kalfane and Company and later, President Abdallah's Établissements Abdallah et Fils—dominated the Comoran economy. These firms diverted most of their profits overseas, investing little in the infrastructure of the islands beyond what was needed for profitable management of the plantations, or what could benefit these businesses' associates or related concerns. A serious consequence of this approach has been the languishing of the food-crop agricultural sector and the resultant dependence on overseas food imports, particularly rice. In 1993 the Comoros remained hostage to fluctuating prices on the international market for such crops as vanilla, ylang-ylang, and cloves.
Movement for the Comoros
The party was established in 1997 by Saïd Hilali. It nominated its secretary-general Ibrahim Halidi as its candidate for the 2006 presidential elections. In the nationwide second round of voting, Halidi came second with 28% of the vote.
Outline of Comoros
Comoros – sovereign island nation located in the Indian Ocean off the eastern coast of Africa on the northern end of the Mozambique Channel between northern Madagascar and northeastern Mozambique. The nearest countries to the Comoros are Mozambique, Tanzania, Madagascar, and the Seychelles. At 2,235 km² (863 sq mi) the Comoros is the third smallest African nation by area; and with a population estimated at 798,000 it is the sixth smallest African nation by population (though it has one of the highest population densities in Africa), and is the southern most member state of the Arab League. Its name derives from the Arabic word ("moon"). The country is notable for its diverse culture and history, as a nation formed at the crossroads of many civilizations. It has three official languages—Comorian ("Shikomor"), Arabic, and French, and it is the only state to be a member of each of the African Union, Francophonie, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Arab League, and Indian Ocean Commission, among other international organizations. However it has had a troubled history since independence in 1975, marked by an inordinate number of "coups d'état".Geography of Comoros
Regions of Comoros
Operation Azalee
This would be the last of four Denard coups in the Comoros, although another coup would occur on the day Denard went to trial. Since independence in 1975, the Comoros has been subject to over 20 attempts to overthrow the government. This one was only a partial failure in all of the objectives—Djohar was refused re-entry into the Comoros until the 1996 elections, which he lost.
Comoros
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 that the events did constitute war crimes but did not meet the gravity standards of bringing the case before ICC. The emigration rate of skilled workers was about 21.2% in 2000.
Postage stamps and postal history of the Comoros
From 1950, the four Comorian islands were given stamps labelled ""Archipel des Comores"". After the independence of three of the Comoros islands in 1975, two services existed : the Comorian and the French post in Mayotte, whose inhabitants refused independence by referendum.