This article is about the archipelago. For the country, see Comoros.
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The Comoro Islands are located in the Mozambique Channel to the north-west of Madagascar and facing Mozambique. These volcanic islands, covering a total area of 2034km2, are as follows:
The Glorioso Islands, comprising Grande Glorieuse, Île du Lys and eight little rock islets, were administratively attached to the archipelago before 1975, and, geologically speaking, form a part of the archipelago.
Notable reefs that are part of the archipelago are as follows:
Banc Vailheu, or Raya, a submerged volcano located 20km west of Grand Comoro
Banc du Geyser, a reef measuring 8 by 5km in area, situated 130km North-East of Grande-Terre
Banc du Leven, a former island between Madagascar and Grande-Terre which is now submerged
For history of Mayotte since Comoros independence, see Mayotte §History.
Jumbe-Soudi, queen of the Comorian island of Mohéli, receiving a French delegation, 1863.
The Comoros may have been settled as early as the 6th century; among the peoples who crossed the sea to populate the islands are Bantu-speaking peoples, Austronesian (including Malagasy), Arabs, Somalis, Portuguese, French, and Indians. Islam probably 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, trading in local goods which were exported to the African coast, Madagascar, 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; kamar is Arabic for moon.
During the colonial period, French settlers established plantations, initially producing sugar, an intensive process dependent on the labor of numerous Africans. In the twentieth century, they cultivated perfume plants and spices, such as ylang ylang, vanilla and cloves, as well as copra. In 1946, France redefined the Comoros as a French overseas territory.
In 1974, France organized a referendum for self-determination in the archipelago. Except in Mayotte, the population voted overwhelmingly in favour of independence. Following the unilateral declaration of independence in 1975, France maintained sovereignty over Mayotte.
The three remaining islands formed the Etat Comorian, which later became the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoro Islands and is today the Union of the Comoros.
In 1996, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 was hijacked and crashed off the shore of the grande island. 125 people died onboard, including the three hijackers who caused the crash. 50 people survived.
In 1997, demands for increased autonomy on the islands of Ndzuani (Anjouan) and Mwali (Moheli) led to the breakup of the Federal Islamic Republic. In 2001, the government reformed as the Union of the Comoros under a new constitution which gave each of the three islands more autonomy than had been enjoyed previously. In 2008, the President of Anjouan refused to hold free elections. He was forced to flee following military intervention by troops of the Comorian Union and the African Union. The island country continues its present form of confederal government, albeit with minor changes approved in referendums in 2009 and 2018.[1]
Mayotte, which had voted to retain French suzerainty in the 1975 referendum, expressed a wish to accede to the status of a département d'outre-mer (DOM) (Overseas Department) following another referendum held on the island on 29 March 2009.[1] Mayotte officially became France's 101st department on 31 March 2011.
Geology
The Comoro Archipelago consists of volcanic islands. These volcanic islands, together with the high mountains in the north of Madagascar, were formed in the Tertiary and Quaternary periods. The island of Mayotte is the oldest one still above sea level and underwent three volcanic phases between 15 million and 500,000 years ago. The ages progressively decrease from east to west. Grande Comore is the youngest island and is still volcanically active. Karthala, a shield volcano occupying some two thirds of the island, rises to 2361 meters. The summit caldera is quite large, being approximately 3 x 4km (1.9 x 2.5 miles) in size at the rim (2007).[2][3]
The Comoro Archipelago enjoys a tropical maritime climate, characterized by slight daytime temperature variations throughout the year of around 26°C (78.8°F) at sea level and by abundant precipitation: 2,679mm (105.5in) a year. The average temperature of the sea water is 25°C (77°F). There are two seasons in the Comoros: the hot and humid season flowing in from the north-west from November to April and the dry season from May to October. The climate on Mayotte is, nevertheless, noticeably warmer and drier. The climate is also characterized by important local variations in temperature and precipitation according to altitude, relief and the degree of exposure to the elements. Annual precipitation therefore varies in the region of 1,000 to 6,000mm (39.4 to 236.2in) and the absolute minimum of 0°C (32°F) is reached on the summit of Karthala.
The hot, dry season is caused by a vast low pressure area which extends over a large part of the Indian Ocean and Central Africa. This low pressure favours gusty winds and cyclones. The last cyclone was Cyclone Gafilo, which passed close to the Comoros on 5 March 2004 causing great material damage. During the hot and humid season it can rain as much as 200mm (7.9in) in twenty-four hours. The dry season is calmer. The low pressure moves towards the continent of Asia (this is the monsoon, the wind blowing from the south-east) and an anticyclone forms below the Comoros. This still does not prevent the islands from having a few gusts of wind, but their intensity is a lot less than during the hot season.
The two winds that bring the two different seasons are called the Kashkasi (in November) and the Kusi.
Partly as a result of international pressure during the 1990s, the government of the Union has begun to take greater care of the environment. Measures have been taken not only to preserve the rare fauna, but also to check the destruction of the environment, especially on Anjouan, which is densely populated. More precisely, in order to minimize the felling of trees for fuel, kerosene has been subsidized, and efforts are underway to replace the lost forest cover caused by the distillation of Ylang-ylang for perfume. The Fund for the Support of Community Development, sponsored by the International Development Association (IDA, a subsidiary of the World Bank) and the Comorian government, is applying itself to improving the water supply on the islands.
Flora
Like most islands, the diversity of the local flora suffers from two pressures, on the one hand the reduction of available space caused by humans settling in what used to be the wildest areas, and the invasion of exotic plant species such as guava trees. Much of the remaining habitat is not protected, and the islands' growing population puts more pressure on the remaining wild lands.[4]
Fauna
Lemurs
The islands are home to eight species of native terrestrial mammal – three species of fruit bat, three insectivorous bat species, and two lemur species. Two bat species, Livingstone's fruit bat (Pteropus livingstonii) and the Comoro rousette (Rousettus obliviosus), are endemic.[4] Livingstone's fruit bat, discovered by David Livingstone in 1863, was previously abundant, but has now been reduced to a population of about 1,200 specimens restricted to Anjouan and Moheli. A British preservation group sent an expedition to the Comoros in 1992, with the object of transporting some specimens to Great Britain, in order to form a reproducing colony.
Native lemurs include the mongoose lemur (Eulemur mongoz)[4] and the common brown lemur (Eulemur fulvus). The common brown lemur or maki, known as Kima in Shikomori, is present on Mayotte, where it is believed to have been introduced from Madagascar. It is protected by French law and by local tradition.[5]
Mammals introduced to the islands by humans include the Javan mongoose (Urva javanica)[4] and tailless tenrec (Tenrec ecaudatus).
Freshwater habitats on the islands include streams originating in the islands' forested highlands and flowing into the sea, as well as crater lakes. These habitats are home to species of freshwater and brackish water fish, frogs, waterbirds, dragonflies, and caddisflies.[6]
Mayotte and Moheli have perennial streams and lakes. Mayotte is the oldest of the islands, and has many meandering streams which descend from mountain forests, as well as two lakes – Dziani Karehani and Dziani Dzaha. Mohéli also has freshwater streams, and the freshwater but sulfurous lake Dziani Boundouni.[6]
Grande Comore, the largest and youngest island, is volcanically active and has thin and rocky soils, with no perennial streams or large stream valleys. Anjouan also has few permanent freshwater habitats.[6]
All of the freshwater fish on the Comoros are from secondary families, i.e. families of fish which can tolerate salt water. No primary families – fish families adapted to freshwater and intolerant of salt water – are native to the island, on account of the islands' oceanic origin and relatively recent geologic origins.[6]
Mayotte, the oldest island, is surrounded by a barrier reef, with extensive reefs and lagoons between the reef and the island.[7] The reef and lagoon cover over 1,000km2. They are home to more than 760 species of marine fish, including 17 threatened species, 581 species of marine arthropods, more than 450 cnidarian species, and 24 marine mammal species.[8]
The other Comoro Islands are surrounded by fringing reefs, which form a narrow platform extending a short distance from the coast. Reefs fringe about 60% of the coast of Grande Comore, 80% of Anjouan's coast, and 100% of Mohéli's coast. The Sima Peninsula on Anjouan is surrounded by a vast reef. The islands also have rocky reefs on basalt substrates.[9]
Mayotte has 7.6km2 of seagrass beds.[10] The extensive seagrass beds in Moheli Marine Park account for about 90% of the remaining seagrass beds in the Comoros. Other seagrass beds occur at Mitsamiouli, Malé and Ouroveni around Grande Comore and at Bimbini and Ouani around Anjouan. There are eight seagrass species in the Comoros. The islands' seagrass beds have been degraded by sedimentation and climate change. Between 1993 and 1998 the Thalassodendron ciliatum beds at Moheli Marine Park were destroyed by a large sediment influx into the lagoon from upland deforestation coupled with high rainfall.[9]
Mayotte has 8.5km2 of mangroves.[10] There are approximately 120 ha of mangroves on the other Comoro islands, 75% of which are on the south coast of Mohéli, particularly around Damou and Mapiachingo. Smaller areas of mangrove are also found on Grande Comore and Anjouan. There are seven mangrove species in the Comoros, with Rhizophora mucronata and Avicennia marina the most abundant.[9]
Other marine fauna include the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas), most abundantly on Mohéli and Mayotte where they still come to lay eggs, and the coelacanth, a deepwater fish known from fossils over 300 million years old.
The Union of the Comoros, a sovereign nation formed by the three islands of Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli.
Mayotte, an Overseas Department of the French Republic (département d'outre-mer). This island is also claimed by the Union of the Comoros according to Article 1 of its Constitution.
Mayotte became a French Department on 31 March 2011.
The United Nations General Assembly continued to condemn the French presence in Mayotte until 1994. France, however, used its power of veto in the UN to prevent the Security Council from passing a resolution condemning France. The African Union judged the French presence on Mayotte to be illegal.[13]
The Comoros underwent a political crisis that started off in 1997 with the separatism on Anjouan. The political authorities on the island had turned the population of the island against the central government, advocating at first reunification with France, and later a greater autonomy bordering on independence.
Since 2006, the former president of the Union of the Comoros, Ahmed Abdallah Sambi, who is originally from the island of Anjouan, has been in open conflict with the authorities of Anjouan, a conflict which ended in a landing of the National Army of Development in order to re-establish the authority of the Union on the island.
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 history of the Comoros extends back to about 800–1000 AD when the archipelago was first inhabited. The Comoros have been inhabited by various groups and sultanates throughout this time. France colonised the islands in the 19th century, and they became independent in 1975.
The Comoros archipelago consists of four main islands aligned along a northwest–southeast axis at the north end of the Mozambique Channel, between Mozambique and the island of Madagascar. Still widely known by their French names, the islands officially have been called by their Swahili names by the Comorian government. They are Grande Comore (Njazidja), Mohéli (Mwali), Anjouan (Nzwani), and Mayotte (Mahoré). The islands' distance from each other—Grande Comore is some 200 kilometers from Mayotte, forty kilometers from Mohéli, and eighty kilometers from Anjouan—along with a lack of good harbor facilities, make transportation and communication difficult. Comoros are sunny islands.
The Glorieuses or Glorioso Islands are a group of islands and rocks totaling 5 square kilometres (1.9 sq mi). They are controlled by France as part of the Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean in the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, a French overseas territory, but are also claimed by Comoros, Madagascar and formerly by Seychelles. They are geographically part of the Comoro Islands between the French overseas region of Mayotte and the nation of Madagascar.
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.
The Mozambique Channel is an arm of the Indian Ocean located between the Southeast African countries of Madagascar and Mozambique. The channel is about 1,700 km long and 419 km across at its narrowest point, and reaches a depth of 3,292 m (10,801 ft) about 230 km off the coast of Mozambique. A warm current, the Mozambique Current, flows in a southward direction in the channel, leading into the Agulhas Current off the east coast of Southern Africa.
Anjouan is an autonomous volcanic island in the Comoro Islands in the southwestern Indian Ocean, part of the Union of the Comoros. It is known in Shikomori as Ndzuani, Ndzuwani or Nzwani, and, until the early twentieth century when the name fell out of general use, in English as Johanna. Historically it was also called Hinzuan or Hanzoan.
Mohéli, also known as Mwali, is an autonomously-governed island that forms part of the Union of the Comoros. It is the smallest of the three major islands in the country. It is located in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa and it is the smallest of the four major Comoro Islands. Its capital and largest city is Fomboni.
Grande Comore is an island in Comoros 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 as of 2006 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 2,361 m (7,746 ft) 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.
This article is one of a series providing information about endemism among birds in the world's various zoogeographic zones. For an overview of this subject see Endemism in birds.
Ouallah is a town located on the island of Mohéli in the Comoros. It is part of the Comoros archipelago in the Indian Ocean. Mohéli is the smallest of the three main islands in Comoros, and Ouallah is one of its coastal settlements.
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 Comoros forests is a terrestrial ecoregion which covers the Comoro Islands, which lie in the Mozambique Channel between Madagascar and East Africa. These include four main islands: Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli, of the Union of the Comoros, and Mayotte, a department and region of France.
Said Ali bin Said Omar was the Sultan of Grande Comore. He was the first and last sultan tibe or paramount king of the whole island of Ngazidja.
Mohéli National Park is a national park in the Comoros. It includes marine, coastal, and terrestrial areas on and around the island of Mohéli. The park has an area of 643.62 km2. Established as Mohéli Marine Park on 19 April 2001, it was first protected area in the Comoros. It was redesignated a national park in 2010. In 2015 the park was expanded to include about three-quarters of Mohéli's terrestrial area. It is the southernmost territory of the southernmost Arabic-speaking country.
Léon Joseph Henry Humblot was a French naturalist and botanical collector.
The Comoros island chain in the Mozambique Channel is the result of the rifting of Madagascar away from Africa as well as "hotspot" mantle plume activity. The region is also impact by seismicity and deformation associated with the East African Rift system and the Comoros region is one of the best places in the world to study rift-hotspot interactions. The islands remain volcanically active.
As part of the Comoro Islands chain in the Mozambique Channel, the geology of Mayotte is virtually the same as the geology of the Comoros, the rest of the island chain which is independent of France. The island resulted from the rifting of Madagascar away from Africa as well as "hotspot" mantle plume activity, and is also impacted by seismicity and deformation associated with the East African Rift. However, because Mayotte is a part of France its geology is significantly more researched than that of other islands in the chain.
The Mayotte Marine Natural Park is a marine park surrounding Mayotte, a French overseas region. Mayotte is part of the Comoro Islands archipelago, which lies within the Mozambique Channel in the western Indian Ocean. Established in 2010, the park covers the entirety of Mayotte's territorial waters and exclusive economic zone. It is contiguous with the Glorioso Islands Marine Natural Park, which was established two years later.
The Territory of the Comoros was a French overseas territory consisting of the four main Comoro Islands that existed from 1946 to 1975. It was part of the French Union under the Fourth Republic, then part of the French Community established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic from 1958.
↑ Esson J., M.F.J., Flower, D.F. Strong, B.G.J. Upton, and W.J. Wadsworth, Geology of the Comores archipelago western Indian Ocean Geological Magazine 107 (6) 549-557 1970 Flower, M.F.J., Evidence for the role of phlogopite in the genesis of alkali basalts Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 32 (2) 126-137 1971 Flower, M.F.J., Rare earth element distribution in lavas and ultramaficxenoliths from the Comores archipelago, western Indian Ocean Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 31 (4) 335-346 1971 Flower, M.F.J., R N Thompson, One-atmosphere melting and crystallization relations of lavas from Anjouan Comores Archipelago western Indian Ocean Earth and Planetary Science Letters 12 (1) 97-107 1971 Flower, M.F.J., Petrology of volcanic rocks from Anjouan Comores archipelago, Bull, volcanol., 36 (1) 238-250 1973 Flower, M.F.J., Evolution of basaltic and differentiated lavas from Anjouan Comores Archipelago, Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., 38 (3) 237-260 1973 Flower, M.F.J., Trace-element distribution in lavas from Anjouan and Grande Comore western Indian Ocean Chem. Geol., 12 (2) 81-98 1973
1 2 3 "Biodiversity" Comoros Country Profile, Nairobi Convention. Accessed 10 August 2021.
1 2 Ewan Trégarot, Pierre Failler & Jean-Philippe Maréchal (2017) Evaluation of coastal and marine ecosystem services of Mayotte: Indirect use values of coral reefs and associated ecosystems, International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management, 13:3, 19-34, DOI: 10.1080/21513732.2017.1407361
Ottenheimer, Martin, and Harriet Ottenheimer. Historical dictionary of the Comoro Islands (Scarecrow Press, 1994).
Walker, Iain. Islands in a Cosmopolitan Sea: A History of the Comoros (Oxford University Press, 2019) online review.
Olivier Hawlitschek, Rémy Eudeline & Antoine Rouillé, Terrestrial fauna of the Comoros Archipelago, (Field Guides, 2020), 338 p. ( ISBN979-10-699-5956-9).
Geology
Esson J., M.F.J., Flower, D.F. Strong, B.G.J. Upton, and W.J. Wadsworth, Geology of the Comores archipelago western Indian Ocean Geological Magazine 107 (6) 549-557 1970
Flower, M.F.J., Evidence for the role of phlogopite in the genesis of alkali basalts Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 32 (2) 126-137 1971
Flower, M.F.J., Rare earth element distribution in lavas and ultramafic xenoliths from the Comores archipelago, western Indian Ocean Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 31 (4) 345-346 1971
Flower, M.F.J., R N Thompson, One-atmosphere melting and crystallization relations of lavas from Anjouan Comores Archipelago western Indian Ocean Earth and Planetary Science Letters 12 (1) 97-107 1971
Flower, M.F.J., Petrology of volcanic rocks from Anjouan Comores archipelago, Bull, volcanol., 36 (1) 238-250 1973
Flower, M.F.J., Evolution of basaltic and differentiated lavas from Anjouan Comores Archipelago, Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., 38 (3) 237-260 1973
Flower, M.F.J., Trace-element distribution in lavas from Anjouan and Grande Comore western Indian Ocean Chem. Geol., 12 (2) 81-98 1973
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