The Comoros, officially the Union of the Comoros, is an archipelagic country made up of three islands in Southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city is Moroni. The religion of the majority of the population, and the official state religion, is Sunni Islam. Comoros proclaimed its independence from France on 6 July 1975. The Comoros is the only country of the Arab League which is entirely in the Southern Hemisphere. It is a member state of the African Union, the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation, and the Indian Ocean Commission. The country has three official languages: Shikomori, French and Arabic.
The Comorians inhabiting Grande Comore, Anjouan, and Mohéli share African-Arab origins. Islam is the dominant religion, and Quranic schools for children reinforce its influence. Although Islamic culture is firmly established throughout, a small minority are Christian.
Mayotte, officially the Department of Mayotte, is an overseas department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is located in the northern part of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Southeastern Africa, between Northwestern Madagascar and Northeastern Mozambique. Mayotte consists of a main island, Grande-Terre, a smaller island, Petite-Terre, as well as several islets around these two. Mayotte is the most prosperous territory in the Mozambique Channel, making it a major destination for immigration.
Azali Assoumani is a Comorian politician and military officer who has served as the President of the Comoros from 2002 to 2006 and again since 2016, except for a brief period in 2019. He became head of state after staging a coup d'état in 1999 and was elected president in 2002, 2016, 2019 and 2024. He also served as Chairperson of the African Union February 2023 to February 2024.
Comorian is the name given to a group of four Bantu languages spoken in the Comoro Islands, an archipelago in the southwestern Indian Ocean between Mozambique and Madagascar. It is named as one of the official languages of the Union of the Comoros in the Comorian constitution. Shimaore, one of the languages, is spoken on the disputed island of Mayotte, a French department claimed by Comoros.
According to the French National Institute of Statistics INSEE, the 2021 census counted nearly 7 million immigrants in France, representing 10.3% of the total population. This is a decrease from INSEE statistics in 2018 in which there were 9 million immigrants in France, which at the time represented 14% of the country's total population.
Toifilou Maoulida is a French former professional footballer who played as a striker or as a winger.
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.
The official languages of the Comoros are Comorian, French and Arabic, as recognized under its 2001 constitution. Although each language holds equal recognition under the constitution, language use varies across Comorian society. Unofficial minority languages such as Malagasy and Swahili are also present on the island with limited usage. According to Harriet Joseph Ottenheimer, a professor of anthropology at Kansas State university, the linguistic diversity of the Comoros is the result of its rich history as part of the Indian maritime trade routes and its periods of Malagasy and French colonial rule.
Rafidine Abdullah is a footballer who plays as a midfielder. Born in France, he plays for the Comoros national team.
Abdelmalek Sayad, was a sociologist, first as an assistant to Pierre Bourdieu, then as a research director at the French CNRS and at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences. He studied migration issues in French social sciences.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the French overseas department and region of Mayotte on 10 March 2020. On 31 March, the first person died of COVID-19. In late April, the virus was out of control, and actively circulating on the island. On 16 August, Mayotte has been green listed.
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the Comoros on 30 April 2020, and by 4 May the first death was announced.
Catherine Wihtol de Wenden is a French political scientist. She is the Research Director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research and a senior researcher at the Institute for International Political Studies. Wihtol de Wenden specializes in migration studies. She is also an activist for the right to immigration in France.
Ismaël Ben Boura is a professional footballer who plays as a left back for Ligue 2 club Troyes. Born in France, he plays for the Comoros national team.
Events in the year 2020 in the Comoros.
Comorian nationality law is regulated by the Constitution of the Comoros, as amended; the Comorian Nationality Code, and its revisions; and various international agreements to which the country is a signatory. These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of the Comoros. The legal means to acquire nationality, formal legal membership in a nation, differ from the domestic relationship of rights and obligations between a national and the nation, known as citizenship. Comorian nationality is typically obtained under the principle of jus soli, i.e. by birth in the Comoros, or jus sanguinis, born abroad to parents with Comorian nationality. It can be granted to persons with an affiliation to the country, or to a permanent resident who has lived in the country for a given period of time through naturalization. The country no longer allows for nationality to be acquired through investment.
Operation Wuambushu is an ongoing French military-police operation in Mayotte, aimed at expelling illegal immigrants, destroying slums, and fighting crime on the islands.
In early 2024, a political and economic crisis broke out in the French territory of Mayotte.
The Comoros are scheduled to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024. Since the nation made its debut in 1996, Comorian athletes have participated in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games.
